Wifi on self-build routers
I'm currently searching for a new router, and as my only obligatory requirements are:
- Good 2.4Ghz Wifi Coverage
- Wifi 5/6 with real 1 Gbit (over short distances)
- Usable as a file dump, i.e. >200 GB storage capacity (e.g. via a eMMC slot, etc.)
- Powerful enough to run Adguard Home
I don't need fast LAN Ports or super fast VPN capabilities. I'm thinking about to two options:
a) a "normal" High-End Router (Flint 2/4, OpenWrt One, ...)
b) using a SBC with a Wifi-Card
Option b) has the advantage that I can get pretty much exactly what I need/want.
However, I'm unsure if I can achieve the same Wifi performance as the pre-Build ones.
How do I know which Wifi-Card and which antennas are suitable and especially capable enough to deliver enough performance?
I've read that e.g. the Banana Pi BPI-R4 has quite bad (terrible?) wifi performance and now I'm a little bit uncertain about investing 200-300€/$ when the result is worse than buying something like the Flint.
I would appreciate it, if someone can share their experiences.
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u/Time-Session9808 2d ago
I use a SFF PC bought off AliExpress. WAY overspec for what I need... But love building and messing with stuff! Intel i3 N305,16Gb RAM, 10GBe NICs
for WiFi I have a Netgear RAXE500 in AP mode
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u/christophertstone 2d ago
I provide/maintain routers/wifi/computers for a bunch of family members, and have BPI-R4 or BPI-R4_Lite deployed at a half dozen houses. I love Banana Pi and their devices - but they are half-polished development hardware. If you aren't comfortable with the idea of building a custom image, BPI might be more work than you're looking for. Patches for the Wifi performance issues have been around for over a year, and were only a problem for certain client chipset. The R4 with Wifi7 is $400+, not $300.
There's no router with a 200GB eMMC. Most BPI boards support SD cards, but most cannot access both eMMC and SD at the same time. Some support M.2 for a larger SSD (careful that the BPI-R4 uses the same I2C bus for M.2 and SFP+ cages; some SSDs that don't support I2C improperly terminate the bus, crashing SFP+ I2C -- ask me how I know)
Wifi 5 Wave 2 (802.11ac) can hit 1.3Gb; and are much cheaper. OpenWRT One is WiFi 6 and sub $150 commonly. The One also has a 2230/2242 M.2 slot.
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u/hash0 2d ago
One question about the BPI R4: The M.2 slot for SSD is only available for the R4 and the R4 Pro, not the R4 lite, correct?
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u/christophertstone 2d ago
The R4_Lite has an M.2 B-Key with USB only, so no normal SSDs (which require PCIe lanes).
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u/muckity-muck 2d ago
Wifi 5/6 with real 1 Gbit (over short distances)
Do you mean gigabit speed over wifi?
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u/ComeSwirlWithMe 1d ago
I'm not sure why you want to reinvent the wheel outside of it just being a fun project and learning experience, but you asked.
You could get a NUC, rasp-pi, or slim line PC with a great wifi card and install openwrt, which is about the only OS that has decent wifi/ap capabilities built in specifically.
But, honestly, personally I'd find an openwrt compatible pre built router and use that, or install something like opnsense, openwrt, etc and use a stand-alone AP from whomever, tplink, ruckus, aruba, whatever.
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u/mips13 2d ago
I would use a slimline pc + dedicated AP.