Maybe You missed it? Banana Pi R3 Review
Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini
The Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini is a powerful sbc router board designed for individuals and businesses that require high-speed networking capabilities. This router is the small brother of the popular Banana Pi R3 router board, equipped with advanced features and is built to deliver reliable performance, making it an excellent choice for those in need of a reliable network solution.
One of the most striking features of the Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini is its compact design. The router is small enough to fit in your hand, yet it packs powerful enough when it comes to performance. This makes it an ideal solution for those looking to create a high-speed network in a small office or home environment.
Hardware Interfaces & Layout
Demo Video: Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini
There is also a short video demonstrating OpenWrt booting on the board posted by the company.
Hardware
The Banana Pi BPI-R3 mini is powered by a quad-core ARM MT7986A (Filogic 830) processor that offers high processing power. It also comes with 2GB of DDR4 memory, which ensures that the router can handle multiple devices and network traffic without any lag or slowdowns. It additionally features 8GB eMMC, a NAND flash chip, two types of M.2 interfaces (B&M), a Nano SIM slot, two 2.5G Ethernet ports including dual-band Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity.
Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini specifications
- SoC – MediaTek MT7986A (Filogic 830) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores @ 2 GHz
- Memory – 2GB DDR4 RAM
- Internal Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, NAND flash, support for (a short) M.2 NVMe SSD
- 1 x USB 2.0 Type-C port
- 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via Airoha controllers
- Wi-Fi 6 via MediaTek MT7976C (2.4GHz: 574Mbps + 5GHz: 2402Mbps)
- 4x u.FL antenna connectors
- Expansion: 1x M.2 B-Key socket + 1x M.2 M-Key socket
- Debugging – 3-pin Debug UART header for serial console
- 1x DC power input
- 1x Nano SIM card slot
- Misc – 6x LEDs, fan header, NAND/eMMC boot switch
- Power Supply – Via USB-C PD port
- Dimensions and Weight – TBD
Software
One of the standout features of the Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini is its support for multiple operating systems. The router can run on various systems such as Ubuntu, Debian, and OpenWrt, giving users more flexibility in terms of customization and configuration. This makes it an ideal choice for businesses and individuals who require a high degree of flexibility in their network setup.
5G & 4G LTE Ready
Perhaps, the main highlight of the R3 Mini is the NanoSIM socket addition, which supports both 4G LTE as well as 5G modules. This makes the board suitable for a wide range of IoT and industrial applications. This upgrade is most likely done via the M.2 B-Key socket.
Hardware and Software Compatibility
The good news is that the MediaTek MT7986 used by the Banana Pi 3 Mini is compatible with Linux. This means that users can run Linux on devices that are powered by the MT7986 processor. MediaTek has been working with Linux developers to ensure that their chipsets are fully supported on Linux platforms, and the MT7986 is no exception.
The compatibility of the MT7986 with Linux is a significant advantage for developers who want to build Linux-based applications or customize their devices with a Linux operating system. The chipset’s performance and power efficiency make it an ideal choice for devices that require high processing power, such as gaming consoles, smart TVs, and streaming devices.
In addition to its compatibility with Linux, the MT7986 also supports various software frameworks and libraries that are commonly used in machine learning and artificial intelligence applications. This makes it an excellent choice for developers who want to build intelligent applications that require high computational power.
In conclusion, the MediaTek MT7986 is compatible with Linux operating systems, which is great news for users who value flexibility, security, and customization. The chipset’s high performance and power efficiency make it an ideal choice for devices that require high processing power, such as gaming consoles, smart TVs, and streaming devices. The compatibility of the MT7986 with Linux, along with its support for machine learning and artificial intelligence frameworks, makes it a versatile chipset that can meet the demands of various applications and use cases.
Practical Applications
A range of advanced features are also available with the Banana Pi BPI-R3, including VPN, firewall, and QoS support. Consequently, users can secure their networks and prioritize network traffic to ensure critical data is always prioritized. Moreover, the router comes with built-in Wi-Fi, which provides wireless connectivity for connecting with devices without Ethernet ports.
Additional useful applications:
- Internet service Router
- Wireless Router
- Wireless Repeater
- Home security Gateway
- Home Automation
- NAS device
- Network and communication applications
Summary
To summarize, the Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini offers high-performance, reliability, and low cost. Its compact design, powerful processor, and support for multiple operating systems make it a great choice for small businesses and individuals. For anyone looking to build a fast and reliable network, the Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini Router is an excellent investment.
Price and Availability
Based on a forum post, we only have general tech information about the BPI-R3, without any final price at this time. Banana Pi BPI-R3 router boards sell for about $94 shipped on AliExpress, so we expect the BPI-R3 Mini to be much cheaper, perhaps between $70 – $80, making it a potential competitor to NanoPi router boards powered by Rockchip hardware.
