Is the BPI-R4 Pro still worth it at current prices? (Longevity Concerns & Alternative Setup Ideas)

[PARADOX-X20 (PARADOX)]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been eyeing the Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro for a high-performance, low-power OpenWrt setup. However, looking at the market right now, the pricing has gone completely through the roof. At these inflated prices, it’s becoming a serious financial investment, so I wanted to get some honest community feedback before pulling the trigger.

For those who have been using the R4 series or deal closely with SinoVoip/Banana Pi hardware, I have a few critical questions regarding long-term reliability, support, and potential alternatives:

Is it still worth the premium? Given how expensive it has gotten, does the Filogic 880 performance and all-in-one efficiency still justify the cost?

What is the reality of after-sales service and warranty? If a board arrives dead or develops a fault within the official warranty window, how responsive is Banana Pi with RMA/replacements? Is it handled smoothly, or is it a headache to get support?

What happens after the warranty expires? This is my main concern. If something goes wrong with a $300+ SBC after the warranty period, do they offer a paid repair service where I can ship the board back to be fixed at a cost? If they don’t offer post-warranty repairs, an expensive board like this essentially becomes e-waste if a single component fails, which feels like gambling with a lot of money.

How is the actual hardware and component quality? Is this board truly built to last for the long haul (5+ years of continuous 24/7 routing)? Are there known points of failure like power delivery components, or is the PCB and soldering top-tier?

If it’s NOT worth it, what are the best alternatives? If I decide to skip the R4 Pro due to pricing and lack of support guarantees, what similar setups or routers should I look at? I am looking to achieve: 10G capability (preferably SFP+ cages) and Multi-2.5G ports.

Rock-solid OpenWrt support or any consumer firmware like tplink Asus and other is also good High performance while keeping power consumption as low as possible.

I love the specs of the R4 Pro on paper, but at current market prices, I need to know if the hardware longevity and manufacturer support back up the premium price tag, or if I should spend my money elsewhere. Appreciate any insights, experiences, or architecture advice you can share!

[Xiaomi_ax3600]

Good afternoon. I completely advise against it, and I’m the only one who has uploaded OpenWRT images for this receiver.

BPI-R4 Pro OPENWRT-V24.10.0-Master-Devel source code on github

Good morning — I’m sharing the first image, which is an alpha because it hasn’t been tested. As mentioned, I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention some features. Because it’s an alpha, I’m waiting for the accessories to arrive so I can run the tests properly. If someone would be kind enough to try it and say whether it at least boots or works, I would really appreciate it. Also, I should mention that with the official file arm-trusted-firmware-mediatek-2024.01.17 it was impossible for me to build…

Find yourself a better one; the BE14000 is absolute garbage.

The BE19000 is a marketing project that’s still light years away from being a reality. They occasionally release a new prototype image showing 320kHz on AX. Basically, you ask for things and they don’t even respond.

Banana Pi BPI-BE1900 Wifi7 Module design

What has been shared so far is not sufficient evidence that BE19 fixes the problems people observed with BE14. A screenshot showing only RSSI does not validate range, stability, or RF quality. RSSI without SNR/noise is meaningless High RSSI at short distance can still happen with a poor link (high retries, errors, MCS drops). The BE14 “range” reports look more like a noise / isolation / EMI issue than a simple “TX power” issue. Without SNR / noise floor (or at least serious proxies like retri…

The wiki is outdated and rubbish; at this point, avoid this receiver.

Regards

[oli]

I also recommend highly against buying one of those devices, like Xiaomi wrote. Too many problems like extremely bad software support. Best hardware is nothing when software support is missing.

if you want to use the device only as router (without wifi), then its still a nice device. maybe its possible to use it with ubiquity hardware or any other AP.