New post: Introducing Banana Pi BPi-R3

Signed-off-by: Joachim Wiberg <troglobit@gmail.com>

Author: troglobit

_posts/2025-10-27-banana-pi-r3.md

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+---
+title: Banana Pi BPi-R3 Support
+author: troglobit
+date: 2025-10-27 08:02:00 +0100
+categories: [showcase]
+tags: [boards]
+---
+
+Infix now supports the [Banana Pi BPi-R3][1], a WiFi-capable router board with
+a built-in gigabit switch, and dual 2.5 Gbps SFP ports.  The board offers a
+good balance between features and cost, making it suitable for home networks,
+small office deployments, and development work.
+
+![](/assets/img/bpi-r3-board.jpg){: #fig1}
+_**Figure 1**: Banana Pi BPi-R3._
+
+### Hardware
+
+The BPi-R3 is built around the MediaTek MT7986A (Filogic 830), a quad-core
+Cortex-A53 running at 2.0 GHz with 2 GB of DDR4 RAM. The networking hardware
+includes a MediaTek MT7531A 5-port 10/100/1000 Mbps switch, and two 2.5 Gbps
+SFP ports.
+
+Storage options include microSD, eMMC, and an M.2 Key-M slot for NVMe drives.
+The board also has a USB 3.0 port, which can be used for upgrading, external
+storage, or logging.
+
+WiFi is provided by a MediaTek MT7976C chipset supporting 802.11ax (WiFi 6),
+though access point functionality is not yet supported in Infix.
+
+![](/assets/img/bpi-r3.png){: #fig2}
+_**Figure 2**: Banana Pi BPi-R3 in case and fully armed._
+
+### Support Status
+
+The BPi-R3 is currently classified as Tier 2 support in Infix.  Linux images
+are built and included in [official releases][4], but the board is not yet
+part of the automated regression test system, and SD card images for initial
+deployment are currently generated manually.
+
+Most hardware features work out of the box:
+
+- routing between interfaces
+- built-in 5-port switch with switchdev offload
+- 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports
+- SFP connectivity
+- USB 3.0 port
+- microSD, eMMC, and M.2 NVMe storage
+- system LEDs and reset button
+
+Thanks to Linux switchdev, all bridging and VLAN configuration is fully
+offloaded to the MT7531A switchcore, allowing wire-speed switching between
+ports without CPU involvement.
+
+WiFi access point support is the main feature still in development.  You are
+welcome to try out the client support meanwhile!
+
+### Getting Started
+
+To get started with the BPi-R3, download an SD card image from the [latest
+bootloader][5] builds. For instructions on how to flash the image to a
+microSD card or eMMC, see the [flashing guide][6]. Insert the card into
+the board and power on. The system will be accessible via serial console
+or SSH to the hostname advertised over mDNS.
+
+Once running, the system can be upgraded using the Linux images from official
+[Infix releases][2].
+
+Detailed setup instructions are available in the [documentation][3].
+
+[1]: https://wiki.banana-pi.org/Banana_Pi_BPI-R3
+[2]: https://github.com/kernelkit/infix/releases
+[3]: https://github.com/kernelkit/infix/tree/main/doc
+[4]: https://github.com/kernelkit/infix/releases/tag/latest
+[5]: https://github.com/kernelkit/infix/releases/tag/latest-boot
+[6]: /posts/flashing-sdcard/