1y ago

Should I wait for the BPI R4 ?

Currently looking for a router with the following points

sfp ports for fiber connection (we have fiber internet)
should be possible to use a wireguard on the router, since would like to use for our smart tv.
would like to run some small containers (pihole and maybe some network scanner)

The R3 looks pretty cool specially, since WiFi is built in and there are deals with case and antennas. I don't know of 2gb of RAM would be sufficient to run openwrt + some containers.

The New R4 will have double the RAM, but at least on first glance it looks, like a WiFi extension has to be bought. Also I guess it will me more expensive.

What do you folks think? Should I wait for the R4 or buy one of those package deals including antennas and metal?

Bonus Question: what sfp modules do you use for fiber connection?

5 comments

2GB of memory is fine for openWRT. Routing is surprisingly light tbh, consider that most all home/SOHO routers run integrated SoC's with <256MB of memory.
routing speed is more dependent on CPU +cache speed
i'd eat my boot if a residential ISP let you run your own SFP fiber module. they have to pretty tighttly control those things to keep signal levels right and have wavelengths in the right spots. plus they'll need to upstream reconfigure it somewhat frequently as the local network changes and if it's not their hardware, they'll get mad.
- Aw dang. Never thought about my provider not allowing to use my own sfp fiber module :-( But I think you've got a point. Specially since its a Japanese provider and I don't think its worth the hassle. Mhh now I don't even know if I should go the banana Pi route, since there maybe are some better choices without sfp slot.
  
  You're welcome to call their tech support and ask about using custom routing hardware, at least. It's possible they already have an approved list of SFP's that they would be willing to work with, just don't hold your breath since they probably want (and need) to have management control over the entire router endpoint, not just the module.
  
  My ISP (Bezeq, in Israel) has a list of approved SFP modules, and they can supply the modules themselves, but there's no issue using your own router with their SFP module
  Of course this will differ with your provider, you should check with them, though be aware the level 1 customer service reps might not know what you're talking about

I researched SFP adapter compatibility for my ISP fiber and came to the conclusion it wasn't worth it. The copper converter they provide has to be either registered or run ISP based configs. I found one from the same brand and stats as my ONT but it was $400.
I read ISP optical networks use a lot more config to weed out gremlins and compatibility isn't the same as copper. But it's mostly ISP based and if they didn't have a profile for the device, it probably wouldn't work.
I could be wrong though or things changed since then. I'd like to have fiber straight into my router too.