The Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro router board is now available following its earlier preview. Built around the MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 processor at 1.8GHz, it targets Wi-Fi 7 access points and multi-gigabit gateway applications.

The BPI-R4 Pro was first introduced in May 2025 and is offered in two variants. The “8X” model provides 8GB of DDR4 memory, while the “4E” variant includes 4GB of DDR4. Both versions feature 8GB of eMMC storage, 256MB of SPI-NAND flash, and a microSD card slot for additional storage.

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro 8X bottom view

Wired networking capabilities differ between the two models. The 8X version provides dual 10G SFP+ ports for WAN and LAN, each paired with a corresponding 10G RJ45 combo port. It also includes four 2.5G RJ45 LAN ports, one 1G RJ45 LAN port, and an additional 1G LAN interface via an FPC connector.

The 4E variant instead offers a 2.5G RJ45 WAN port paired with a 10G SFP+ WAN combo interface, a single 10G SFP+ LAN port, two 1G RJ45 LAN ports, four 2.5G LAN ports, and the same 1G LAN FPC interface.

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro 8X top view

Expansion options include two miniPCIe slots with PCIe 3.0 dual-lane connectivity for Wi-Fi NICs, two M.2 M-Key slots with PCIe 3.0 x1 for NVMe SSDs, and three M.2 B-Key slots with USB 3.2 support for 4G or 5G cellular modules.

Additional interfaces include one USB 3.2 Type-A port, one USB 2.0 Type-A port, a USB Type-C debug console, dual PWM-controlled fan headers, and a 2×13-pin GPIO header. The board also integrates a CR1220 RTC battery connector.

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro + metal case

The MT7988A supports tri-band Wi-Fi 7 across the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands when paired with a compatible companion chipset. MediaTek specifies support for 320 MHz channel bandwidth, 4096-QAM, Multi-Link Operation (MLO), Multi-RU, and Automatic Frequency Coordination (AFC).

The SoC also integrates MediaTek’s Tunnel Offload Processor System (TOPS) to accelerate tunneling protocols in gateway and routing applications.

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro

OpenWrt 24.10 images are available for the BPI-R4 Pro according to the official wiki. Recent builds add support for Quectel RM500U and EM05 4G/5G modules, MLD configuration via SSH, and expanded Ethernet PHY support including 1000BASE-T and 2.5GBASE-T operation on the 10G RJ45 ports.

Specifications listed for the Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro:

Further Information

The BPI-R4 Pro is available in multiple configurations and accessory bundles, including options with a metal enclosure and power supply. At the time of writing, the 8X variant is listed at $218 on the Banana Pi website.