BPI-R4 Wifi 7 Router board

I have a heavily modified build running WiFi 7 on Zyxcel NWA210BE. I’ve found that these devices need hardware acceleration to get the speeds you probably want. Rather than mainline OpenWRT, I used the OpenWiFi image as a starting point. You probably don’t want to do that. I’m mostly pointing out that it is unlikely that you will ever see the optimal performance you would get out of the box for these Qualcomm devices in a mainline OpenWRT image. This is simply because OpenWRT does not futz with closed source hardware acceleration drivers. Will it work? Yes. I have it working. Will it work well using Linux kernel networking? no. Will there ever be an “LTS” version that performs at the level the chipset can handle? Hell will freeze over first since it would require Qualcomm to opensource its drivers.

I’ll say that you may not get the performance you are hoping for with standard OpenWRT. Options like the banana pi r4 have builds with hardware acceleration that aren’t in mainline OpenWRT and never will as these are proprietary closed source drivers. I have a bpi r4 pro without WiFi for my primary home router. The WiFi 7 hardware does not supply the needed power to the card, so I decided to skip it. One the WiFi 7 side of things I’ve been experimenting with zyxcel NWA210BE and an OpenWiFi controller. It’s something I’ve decided I want to try. Building images with hardware acceleration support is not for the faint of heart, but if you actually want OpenWRT *and* the full performance of the chipset, you have to do that. I have no experience with this, but it seems strangely absent from most conversations about wifi7 and OpenWRT. [The Velo7 Max BE19000](https://a.co/d/0d9syqwb) is the same chipset as the banana pi r4(Mediatek/Filogic 880). If I were to start over and just wanted a single device, I’d probably go for it.

Bpi-R4 with case/etc. is $159 as long as you don’t need WiFi. Otherwise go with the flint 2 or openwrt one.

I am liking the Banana Pi BPI-R4 (2x SFP+). Not saying its the best. I have 10 Gbps fiber going into and coming out of it that connects to a central fiber switch which then connects to multiple fiber switches on multiple floors of my house. Everything is 10 Gbps. I have up to Wifi 6 working without issue. Don't have a laptop or device with Wifi 7 card to test.

I did some digging on the issue you are describing and checked my iwinfo and my numbers are completely fine (27 dBm on 2.4GHz, 23 dBm on 5GHz, and 12 dBm on 6GHz for LPI)—I guess I just got really lucky with my BE14 unit! That being said, I honestly didn't realize how widespread the EEPROM issues were with this additional addon wifi board (some bad batches were sold out there with improper flashing and no easy way to Identify). Also surprised to learn it completely lacks proper RF shielding. Knowing what I know now, I definitely wouldn't recommend buying the BE14. From what I have read, if you are looking to upgrade the BPI-R4 wifi, you are much better off either waiting for the upcoming BE1900 (Wi-Fi 7) which fixes the shielding issues and hopefully flashed correctly, or just grabbing an AsiaRF AW7916-NPD if Wi-Fi 6E good enough.

The Banana Pi R4 is really excellent. Prices have gone crazy lately, but I got lucky and was able to snag one used for $80. WiFi—I use Unifi, so I can’t speak to that on the R4. In general with OpenWRT, I am of the opinion that the best route to go is to leave WiFi to other devices not running OpenWRT. It’s hard to beat proprietary software in that arena. (I do block these devices from accessing the internet though).

You can buy purpose-built OpenWRT routers, but there is definitely a learning curve. I use a Banana Pi R4, which has 2x 10Gb SFP ports. It has a web UI (LuCi) to configure most things, but as you learn more, you'll probably have to SSH into it and configure via CLI. For my use, it's perfect; it can push a lot of packets, it's small and low power (with several power input options) and I have full control of it. OpenWRT also lets me use it as a full Linux computer if I so desire. I have lots of devices on my LAN and about a dozen VLANs (just cos) so the advanced, high-performance router is a good fit for me.