good to see that are now fan- and ventilation holes there 
maybe add similar to “normal” R4 case too (not that much but at least 1)?
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And the option to use the BE14 wifi7 extender in a new case for the ‘normal’ R4, so the BE14 can be mounted separately on the side, cooled better and hopefully get less interference and noise.
What are the dimensions?
please allow* the people to replace the FAN to something really good like noctua. i dont care if a FAN costs 20$, when it does what it should (silent cooling) and i am willing to spend some more bucks to get that.
*) which means for me: using standard sizes and connectors
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Few people will use all these holes for the antennas. Can you somehow design these to only be opened (punched out?) when needed. Or maybe have some sort metal stripe to cover those across the front and/or rear.
Supply brackets to rackmount it.
How about an internal DC power supply to power the unit directly from an AC input.
Is there any reason why fan-hole on top has no mounting holes for screws holding the 80mm (?) fan?
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I’m seeing there is a trend with half (10-inch) rack compatibility. Me personally would be thrilled if you guys could design a case for it. So, I could bring R4 Pro into my transportable network mini rack.
I see an issue here, the PHYs are not covered with the heatsink, they usualy produce ~3 watt of heat per 10gbase-T port, and without proper cooling they probably will be dead in a month
It will be better to distribute the board with phy heatsinks attached tho, users usually are not aware of 10GBASE-T problems
- Can you confirm that heatsink will not conflict with m.2 cards?
- Heatsink allow to install fan on it, or it for fanless install?
- I wonder with installed BPI-R4-NIC-BE14 WiFi7 module, will the antena wires long enough to reach the mount places on case
- How soon case will be available for order?
I think you should wait. All this hardware and software is brand new. There may still be hardware bugs or important improvements coming.
Does this apply to pre-sale units?
Does the Pro version in terms of hardware significantly different from non-pro?
From my perspective the same CPU extra m.2 slots, faster NICs, will it require dedicated OpenWRT build at all?
Question would be better located in R4Pro thread than the case one.
But r4pro has 4 2.5 G ports (R4 uses internal switch with 4x 1G), 10G phys (not require 10G sfp) and the selection if you want pcie for ssd or modem.
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Hi，
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The three M.2 slots at the top are for the 4G/5G cellular module, not for the NVMe SSD, most people will only use one. There is a 0.5mm gap between the heatsink and the module, but still, it is recommended to prioritize the one closer to the 26-pin GPIO pin, because the MT7988 + two 10G PHYs generate a lot of heat. This will keep the 4G/5G module slightly further away.
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Depending on your usage, if it’s light use, you don’t need a fan, although the heatsink will get a bit hot. However, if you’re using an R4 Pro + BE14 + two 10GHz PHYs, I strongly recommend adding a fan; this will significantly reduce the temperature.
Choose a fan mounting location you prefer.
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The casing has a total of 26 SMA antenna mounting holes, allowing you to install the antenna in any location you prefer; the length is sufficient, except for the furthest holes. If you absolutely need to use the furthest holes, you can use a longer coaxial cable.
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Our BPI-R4Pro is currently being tested, and the casing is also in production. It will be available for sale as soon as it’s finished (I also hope that the casing can be sold together with the motherboard
).
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The pre-sale units will come with two heatsinks.
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Yes, you’re right, the main additions are these few features.
The board will be pre-flashed with the latest image,
2.5G switch, and 10G PHY drivers, and upstream support will be gradually implemented.
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Hi I bought the presale board. Is it possible to have a copy of the flashable firmware in advance? Thanks
Is there any chance to order/preorder the case this year?
yes , case will ready as BPI-R4 Pro public sale.
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