Banana Pi BPI-R4 Mini wifi7 Router board design with MT7987

Banana Pi Router design BPI-R4 Lite /BPI-R4 Mini(MT7987A)
21

Where can I write to get the first samples?

22

This board is probably not yet for sale. If it is available for purchase, there should be a purchase link on the official website.

23

any updates on the progress of the R4-Mini?

24

Hi @sinovoip,

You mentioned in December that mass production would start in Q1 2026. Weā€™re now at the end of Q1 ā€” is the R4 Mini still on track?

Iā€™m looking to buy one as soon as itā€™s available. Iā€™ll be using it with a Quectel RM530N-GL 5G modem in the M.2 B-key slot, running OpenWrt/ROOter.

A few questions:

  1. When will it be available to order?
  2. Whatā€™s the expected price?
  3. Will it be sold on AliExpress and Amazon, or only through certain resellers?
  4. Can you confirm the M.2 B-key slot supports both USB3.0 and PCIe3.0 for 5G modules?

Thanks!

25

I wrote to them by email about this and they told me that if the testing is completed successfully, then it is best to expect mass sales in the fall of this year.

2 Likes
26

Good question as bananapi bpir4 is not hardware compatible with rm520n-gl in pcie mode

27

Does anyone know if the Wifi 7 is a full tri-band Wifi 7 like the full R4 had? The antenna connectors shown in the picture are labelled 2/5G and I donā€™t see 6G anywhere, so that has me concerned this is just a dual-band WiFi 7.

28

In the MT7990 + MT7976C configuration (BE3600), Wi-Fi support is limited to the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Although this is a Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) compliant chipset, it lacks a dedicated radio for the 6 GHz band.

29

It was a good solution to place both M.2 KEY-B slot and M.2 KEY M PCIe interface together on the BPI-R3 mini. M.2 KEY-B slot with USB3.0 for 4G/5G Module and M.2 KEY M PCIe interface for SSD. R3 Mini (IMHO) is still the best solution as a travel router for me since I can use it as a modem and as NAS. Why you decided to place only one m.2 key-b slot on the plate? Stepback:( I thought about upgrading R3 mini ā†’ R4 mini but Iā€™d wait until you produce someting lite R3 mini with two m.2 slots. Maybe in R5 mini youā€™d put both;(

1 Like
30

Agreed. I currently make use of both the M-key NVMe and the B-key USB on the R3 Mini. In theory, the combined PCIe lanes and USB 3.0 on the B-key slot can be split out to two devices, but I havenā€™t found any available parts that can do that, even with ribbon cables. I would have preferred that the B-key add PCIe while still keeping a separate M-key NVMe slot, like the full R4 has. But instead we get B-key only and have to choose between PCIe or USB 3.0, unless a splitter device actually exists.

32

Sorry to start that discussion but I was thinking couple of weeks on this productā€¦ But I have no answerā€¦ This is only my private opinion but I cannot find any single reason to buy itā€¦ Why?

  1. Wifi7 limited only to 5GHz
  2. B-key modem 5g only PCIE 3.0x 1 so limited
  3. Only one Ethernet LAN
  4. Very poor support from Mediatek

If I buy miniPC it could be better out of box :confused: Low prise? Please convist me to buy it :slight_smile:

33

The board is about the size of a travel router (e.g. the Beryl 7) and can also function as a cellular modem.

To me, this indicates that its primary use case is mobile or travel applications.

Consequently, low power consumption and good thermal performance are essential.

34

What about power supply? You need it and it is not small oneā€¦ Also if you add antenas for sure it is not travel ready device :wink: