Banana Pi BPI-R3 Wi-Fi 6 OpenSource Wireless Dual-Band OpenWRT Router Board with MediaTek MT7986(Filogic 830),Support 5X GbE and 2X 2.5GbE SFP (Bundle3-BPI R3+Antennas)

In the days before personal computers, my great-grandfather built a crystal radio from scratch. Years later, my mother bought and assembled a Heathkit radio while she was in college, which gave her great pride of achievement. The Banana Pi R3 WiFi router connects with that same maker spirit: "some assembly required", as they used to say in the TV ads. It is a well- packaged, powerful, high-quality device boxed in kit form. It is an excellent value if you are inclined to invest the time to get it assembled and configured. I am thrilled with mine. My WiFi connection is well over ten times as fast as with my old AC router, and I am quite happy with the OpenWRT user experience. Reception is fantastic throughout a large house. I may add an nVME card and use this as a file server. I will also note that the seller (WayPonDEV) responded immediately to my post-sales support questions, and clearly takes customer satisfaction quite seriously. I chose this item because it's the best product I can find that gives me complete control of my network. The Banana Pi R3 is to routers what linux is to computers: a pure experience you control. You can choose to install any system you like, but I chose the latest release of OpenWRT. This is a powerful, versatile, open-source operating system for WiFi routers, distributed entirely for free, developed by passionate volunteers as a labor of love. It has integral support for everything you might conceive of doing with a router: VPNs, DMZs, port forwarding, DDNS, secure file storage with remote access, webservers, databases, etc. As for the Banana Pi R3, it features 5 gigabit RJ45 ports, two high speed SFP ports, 8 antennas, several boot and recovery options, an nVME slot, an NGFF slot, PWM fan controller, tons of I/O headers, status LEDs, a 4G LTE card expansion SLOT + SIM card reader, SD card slot, and several kinds of integrated onboard flash memory. It's like a hybrid between a "Pi" and a WiFi router. With a bit of tinkering, you can get it to monitor the temperature and humidity, open your garage door, or drive a NeoPixel colored light display. Last year my friend asked how she could travel through Europe and work remotely without alarming her employer. With a pair of these routers (one could be the smaller "mini" version), you can establish a secure wireguard VPN to your home network, and no one will be the wiser about your physical location! If you're still excited about this concept but want a preassembled and preconfigured unit, you might consider the OpenWRT one, available from the same vendor. Similarly, if you want the latest and greatest, you can buy a fully-assembled Banana Pi R4, featuring WiFi 7. Pros and cons of these three related products: OpenWRT one: OpenWRT is preinstalled--much easier setup. Reception range is not as great; this is better for a moderate-sized home. Supports WiFi 6 (AX). Integrated serial console port. Only one RJ45 LAN port. Least expensive option. Banana Pi R3: More powerful and expandable than the OpenWRT one, with greater range. Supports WiFi 6 (AX). Requires assembly and software installation. Banana Pi R4: Available preassembled. Features latest WiFi 7. Most expensive. I don't have one of these so I can't tell you more. Assuming that you choose the Banana Pi R3, here is a quick summary of the setup process (complete instructions with screenshots are easy to find online): 1) attach the thermal pads and fan using provided screws and tool 2) attach the antenna pigtails to the tiny uFL connectors 3) attach the other ends of the connectors securely to the case 4) slide the motherboard into the case and screw it in 5) attach the UART adapter to the serial console header 6) image an SD card with the openwrt firmware (available online) 7) connect the UART adapter to your computer's USB port 8) open the UART in a terminal program like minicom 9) set the DIP switches properly for the next step (see instructions) 10) insert the SD card and power on the router 11) quickly choose the menu option to install openwrt to NAND flash 12) turn off the power and remove the SD card 13) change the jumpers again (see instructions) 14) power on, choose the menu option to install to eMMC flash 15) boot openwrt 16) run a couple uci commands (see instructions) to enable the wifi radios 17) you may need to install "luci" (see instructions) to enable the web-based GUI for managing your router 18) reboot the router and connect to the "OpenWRT" via WiFi (no password yet) 19) Use your web browser to secure and configure your router (see instructions) If you have no interest in technology and want a product that you can unbox and set up with a single click of the WPS button, this is not the right product for you. But if you want a powerful and extremely flexible router, with tons of capabilities, at an attractive price, this is it!

This is a great bargain as long as you are up to the task of setting up OpenWRT. It is not for the beginner. You will need some Linux/CLI knowledge. At the time of this writing there is no GUI web interface included in the default OpenWRT package, which is still in Release Candidate stage. But, installing LuCI (the web interface) is pretty straight forward. Once you have LuCI installed, the average bloke, like me, will be in more familiar territory. There are plenty of online resources to help you get started. This was my first experience with both OpenWRT and LuCI, and it was not painful to get it all up and running. Static leases and Port Forwarding was simple. Impressions. Fast. Everything on the router is fast. Installs and restarts are mere few seconds. I used this replace a consumer grade TP-Link that absolutely crawled, not just in the GUI, but routing too. I have a lot traffic on my home network with 6 security cameras, 2 servers, all the smart-home stuff we surround ourselves with, Rokus... yadda yadda.. The latency on the LAN and WIFI was really really bad. I was going to segregate the cameras to a separate network, but this BPI is so fast, it wont be necessary. Assembly is required. The unit's metal case is built like a tank. It has a small foot print. The Wifi antenna leads were plenty long enough to hook everything up. The Banana-Pi is really a marvel, and at a great price point. It puts consumer routers to shame with its performance and speed. It really speeds up browsing. I immediately had web sites popping up instantaneously on my PC (milliseconds), all I did was swap out the router. My only regret is that I didn't buying it sooner.

All right, the Banana Pi BPI-R3, it gets a 4 out of 5 star from me, as it has almost everything you would need. The problem being the KIT that you buy, that comes with the pre made case, 2 heat sink pads (which are not enough and are not the correct size!!!), and 8 antennas with pigtails so short that you literally have to put one of the wires through the heat sink just to be able to connect it. First, the case. It's metal, it has no air holes and this device gets quite toasty running a minimum of 58c with the case closed, and 38c with it open. So 1st strike against the case, no air flow. 2nd strike, if you populate and of the PCIE slots you will have no access with this case, if you populate the PCIE 2.0 x2 slot on the back with SATA device or another wireless device, you won't be able to access it with this case. They provided 2 heat sink pads but you need 6! What should be included = 1 (0.5mm pad) , 5 (1.0mm pads) . 0.5mm covers the switch chip, and the rest are for the CPU, the memory, the EMMC, and especially the 2 WiFi chips that should definitely be cooled in some way. The other problem, which is obvious from the picture, is that you have to have a masters degree in puzzles to assemble this is you use the provided antennas and pig tails! As I said previously they are WAY TOO SHORT, like so short that you will literally have to run at least 1 cord smashed under the heat sink cooler, and even then you have to leave the entire left side off the case so you can swing the board up to install the heat sink array, then install all 4 antennas on the other side which will prevent you from ever taking this out of the case again without going through the entire process backwards. So complete failure on that part. So checklist, you need longer pig tails from the antennas and you will need a different case if you intent on using the mPCIE or the other PCIE slot, you will also have to drill holes in the case and put a mesh over it so you can clean the dust, you will need to buy 0.5mm and 1.0mm heat sink pads and cut them for the other chips. So the board works, it is just the did not think through the design very well and they went too cheap on the antennas wires, to the point that it is a huge issue and as you can see one of the pig tails literally just fell off in my hand. Quality control problem too. If I had known these problems before I bought it, I would have just bought the board and purchased everything else separately. If they want to contact me to address any of these problems I will be happy to amend the review and inform everyone. Now I currently have to re-order the antennas from a different vendor because of the one defective pig tail, but I can't return the one part I have to return the entire kit! So now I am stuck in spend mode to fix obvious mistakes on vendors part. ** Update 2025 ** , purchased a 2nd device to do meshtastic and received one where the WAN / LAN ports did not function. I followed schematic and tested resistors but I didn't have an oscilloscope to debug further. Without at least the LAN working it was a no go for a mesh router add on I was wanting. I will be grabbing a 2nd one once they issue the refund. As I do want to experiment with MESH, that was the whole point of the 2nd device. My first build is rocking steady, replaced all the u.fl connectors with longer more durable set and have been satisfied with it. It's approaching winter here and all my indoor projects usually start. My only suspicion is with the returns process. I've never had AMZN say it will take up to 30 days to receive a refund AFTER they receive the product, that is usually the sign of a stall scam, but we shall see, will keep posted. This means that receiving a defective unit will set me back an entire month while I wait to see how they handle their returns. Next update will clarify returns process...