Has anyone used or has experience in using SBC as a full-fledged home router ?
I am currently eyeing NanoPi R5C and the only thing that concerns me regarding it is the bundled Realtek WiFi card and it’s functionality in AP mode.
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Have NanoPi R6s deployed at one of my cousins house. No issues. Works perfectly. The only challenge would be getting it at a decent price.
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How is WiFi being deployed and managed because standard NanoPi R6S neither comes with Wireless module nor has M.2 slot to put in a WiFi card ?
Using an Access Point. Wifi routers can be repurposed to used as such. Like an AP
To keep the footprint small, instead of a dedicated Wireless AP, can a USB WiFi dongle prove to be a decent replacement, in case of R6S?
Wouldn’t suggest that. I had issues with it while configuring. Was using Alpha networks Usb Wifi.
Better get an AP or use router like these
Does Cudy router supports running AdGuard/PiHole and Unbound natively or in containers?
Not with those specifications. You will be better off with a SBC for the tinkering part. This one is just for your convenience.
UniFi Express 7 - Ubiquiti Store - this will be able to handle your requirements if there is no budget constraints.
I have a spare GLiNet Beryl AX if you are looking for preowned. It comes with Adguard out of the box. You can also install Unbound using LUCI. Though UX 7 is a much more capable device if you can stretch the budget.
@anchberry I have used, been using SBCs in conjunction with Wireless router for Network gateway related services, mainly DNS and DHCP. As they take up physical space and add cable management and device management as additional tasks, I want to simplify and consolidate. Thought of using a Tiny PC with 4 port NIC as Network gateway but that is proving to be a costly alternative and Uber kill for the task intended and the config it has. Moreover, wireless AP issues with Intel Wi-Fi card add replacement cost to the whole setup. UniFi Express 7 goes out of budget, even in pure dollar terms. It’s closest cousin available, the plain UniFi Express is also being shown available at cost of 13K+ and is limited to 1GbE interface.
@desi_gamer Please PM me, cannot initiate PM yet.
Besides this I don’t think - anything else comes to what your requirements are.
Realtech cards are a bit finicky no doubt about that.
This without a wifi card will cost you around 9k.
During search, found this too but it’s India reseller has only the board available and that too on back order.
If you can source it for less than the price of a Nano Pi R6S - then it is decent alternative with a performance hit. The problem with these solutions are the price and warranty for me.
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Depend on what you want to use, OpenWRT has great support for SBCs.
But then again, adding expansions to SBCs is not as easy as doing it for x86 based systems.
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Let’s go back in time to 2008:
This was amazing with m0n0wall way back then.
Oh my heart. Brb, need a breather.
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The main issue, at least in my intended usage scenario, with SBC as router is lack of a robust Wireless solution. Almost all the off-the-shelf solutions to get WiFi on SBC are designed to get WiFi to SBC, that is work in client mode. Wireless AP mode is still a broken dream which none seems to be interested in fixing because it is simpler and easier to piggyback a cheap wireless router with the SBC for Wireless network creation and transmission.
That’s because the best wifi is proprietary.
It was true back in 2008 and it’s still true today.
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