802.11ax Routers

The problem with USB3 on routers (and any device that does wireless) is that its signalling rate is right where WiFi 4 works - the 2.4GHz band. And guess what, most of these boards do not have appropriate RF shielding between the USB3 and wireless antenna lines, causing interference, frequent dropouts, or straight up killing your b/g/n networking.

At that point you're probably better off getting a Raspberry Pi 4 - even the cheapest, 1GB 2GB RAM model will work fine for DLNA/SMB purposes, and you're putting less of a strain on your network gateway. And you could even get Plex running on it, for some added user convenience.

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I'm not talking about using the RasPi as a router, but as the media server... The one LAN port is more than enough to hook it up to your router.

Also, the Xiaomi R3G (I presume you have the V1, not the V2, since latter has no USB3), which is NOTORIOUS about the USB lanes not being separate. Try disabling the USB3 port and see your 2.4GHz WiFi improve :wink:

Also just because you see no problems, it doesn't mean there aren't any. Have you done any comparisons with/without USB? And I'm not talking about just unplugging the device, but properly disabling the power supply to the port. Go check it out. You might not even realise you're having issues if the only scenario you checked is with USB3 enabled...

2.4GHz is far from obsolete, though. A lot of devices will use it as fall-back, and a lot of older/IoT devices will not support 5GHz.

As for the price, the Pi4 1GB will set you back a whopping $35 for a device that will be superior to pretty much any current-day router sub-$150 out there today (MSRP/new price, not the price you can snag one used if you're lucky). Which shouldn't be too much for someone who has 4x routers in the $100-150 price range.

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Mostly works. Just the LEDs don't.

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Raspberry Pi 4 - 2G is $35 in the US, but in France it is 43 Euro. Adding on the power supply, case, WiFI, 2nd USB ethernet, SD card, etc etc, brings the price up even higher. It is Broadcom based...

This looks like the same device as Belkin RT1800.

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Sounds about right.

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The Pi4 already has WiFi, why would you add it? Or a second ethernet? Does everyone who reads my comment misses the point that I'm recommending it not as a networking device, but as a media device?

You don't need an SD card, since the Pi4 can be booted from USB hard drives, and even network now.

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then why are you/it in this thread, did you miss the thread topic :wink:

No, I have not. The argument was about USB3 usage, for which the above people used their routers, and have been complaining about the lack of WiFi 6 routers that have the feature.

I've given an alternative option.

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OK, so Raspberry Pi CM4 + CM4IO + EDUP Wifi 6 PCIe card costs how much to use as a USB3 + WiFi 6 media device? :slight_smile: [I am actually interested, not trying to be annoying]

The RPi4 can be a good wired router, but it's shoddy as an AP. Either get a decent AP alongside of it or look for a (very) different device.

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Why would you need CM4IO and a PCIe card (that you couldn't use with the Pi4 anyway)?

The comment I replied to was about having a DLNA/SMB media server. Period. The same you can achieve with a RasPi.

Why are you guys turning a "stop using your router as an AIO server and use dedicated (cheap) hardware for your DLNA/SMB needs" into a fight about how much it would cost to specc out a RasPi into a router? I was incredibly clear about using the Pi as a secondary host for services it's more suited to run.

If you really want an SBC based WiFi 6 router, just get an UP Xtreme, slap a WiFi6 card on it, and call it a day. Or, an even better alternative, get an Odroid H2+ with the NVMe network card, and a few WiFi 6 hotspots (I'm currently running a H2 as gateway, with a Netgear GS308T switch and 3x Belkin RT3200's in AP mode). With that setup you're future-proof with 2.5Gbps ports, and spent the least amount of money on a truly solid setup.

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Apologies, I didn't mean to turn it into a fight, just was trying to see things from F5BJR's point of view.

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No SBC, nor smallish x86 boards, make a half decent wireless router.

  • one PCIe slot for the second ethernet card (assuming the first to be onboard)
  • one PCIe slot for 2.4 GHz WLAN (hello IoT stuff, it's also often needed for indoor range; no, the onboard brcmfmac SDIO card is not good enough)
  • one PCIe slot for 5 GHz WLAN
  • one PCIe slot for 6 GHz WLAN (wifi6e)

four in total, you won't find that below uATX x86 boards - and those arent ideal either (antennas cramped together, too close to each other, behind a big chunk of metal (case). Costs aside, 200+250+250 bucks for the wireless cards alone.

No, the APU2 isn't fast enough for routing at 1 GBit/s with SQM, nor to service wifi6/ wifi6e.

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You don't necessarily need separate cards for WiFi 4/5/6 - you can get away with one or two cards at worst. Nonetheless my recommendation was to use the x86 SBC as wired router only, and have separate wireless APs (for which the RT3200 is perfect, by the way).

It would be great if people actually read my whole comment and not just pulled out a small part of it to argue about.

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Tittle is 802.11ax Routers ( no Raspberry ) ...

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I have receive this day 2 * Ancatus a6 wifi 6 ax1800 ax3

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I hope you have luck porting OpenWrt to it.

Although the CPU is on the low end for a WiFi 6 router/gateway, if the price drops to ~40-60 USD it can be an interesting buy as a dumb WiFi 6 AP.

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Would you have any info on how to connect a serial wire on this modem

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You need a serial adapter. Look for USB TTL or USB UART on eBay or something.

Then you open the router. There are 4 screws on the bottom and two inside.

After that the board actually slides out.

Pin header is prepopulated with pins. Pin out is GND-blank-RX-TX. Something like that.

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