GL.iNet has released the Flint2 (also known as GL-MT6000), a new AX6000 router based on the MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) ARM SoC. This router supports VPN speeds of up to 900 Mbps using WireGuard and 190 Mbps with OpenVPN. Compared to previous GL.iNet routers like the Spitz AX and the Beryl AX, which were based on the Filogic 820 (MT7981B) CPU with transfer rates of up to 300 Mbps using WireGuard, the Flint2 is expected to triple the VPN performance.

The GL.iNet Flint2 router comes with the following specifications:

• SoC – MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz with hardware acceleration engines for Wi-Fi offloading and networking
• System Memory – 1GB DDR4
• Storage – 8GB eMMC flash
• Networking:
  • 2x 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports
  • 4x Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports
  • 802.11b/g/n/ac/ax WiFi 6 with 4x external Wi-Fi antennas
    • Up to 1,148 Mbps @ 2.4 GHz
    • Up to 4,804 Mbps @ 5 GHz
    • DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) support
  • VPN – OpenVPN server/client tested up to 190 Mbps, and WireGuard server/client tested up to 900 Mbps (tests over Ethernet in client mode)
• USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-A port
• Dimensions – 233 x 137 x 57mm

The GL.iNet Flint2 router comes pre-installed with OpenWrt 23.05 (or a fork) with Linux 5.15 and the GL.Inet Admin Panel, which is common to all GL.iNet routers. It supports four different network modes: router, access point, extender, and WDS. The router also includes features such as AdGuard Home, parental controls, and Cloud remote management.

The significant improvement in WireGuard performance, tripling the previous model’s speed, is noteworthy. While the upgrade from a 1.3 GHz dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 CPU to a 2.0 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU partially explains the increase, the main reason is likely the switch from Linux 5.4 to Linux 5.15. The Filogic 830-based router benefits from in-kernel WireGuard support introduced in Linux 5.6. As a point of comparison, the first Flint router achieves speeds of up to 500 Mbps with WireGuard.

The Filogic 830 SoC used in the Flint2 is also found in other devices, such as the Banana Pi BPI-R3 and BPI-R3 Mini router SBCs.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

The PALMSHELL NeXT H2 is an affordable micro server and single-board computer (SBC) powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded R1505G processor. It offers impressive networking capabilities with two 10GbE SFP+ cages and one 2.5GbE RJ45 port. The system also supports up to 32GB of RAM and has storage options including an M.2 NVMe SSD and two SATA drives. It features wireless connectivity options such as WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and the possibility of adding a 4G LTE or 5G module. These network features make it an interesting option for various homelab uses. Theoretically, the device could support ECC memory as the Ryzen Embedded R1505G has such support, but this is not mentioned in the specifications for the NeXT H2 specifications, although it is mentioned in the specifications for the CPU. It should be noted that such support also depends on motherboard and firmware, not just on the CPU.

The system is equipped with a customized copper heatsink and a 3000 RPM PWM speed control fan for efficient cooling. It can be powered by a 12V to 19V DC power supply. The PALMSHELL NeXT H2 is designed to support multiple operating systems, including Ubuntu, Arch Linux, Fedora, Debian, OpenWrt, Windows, pfSense, and ROS.

The SBC without memory, storage, or wireless connectivity starts at $199. The barebone model with a metal enclosure is priced at $249. Two models with 8GB RAM/256GB SSD and 16GB/512GB configurations, along with the Intel AX210NGW WiFi 6E/BT 5.2 module, are available for $299 and $349, respectively. Power supply is not included with any of the options.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.