Previously, most of the articles were censored, with too much valuable content, which led to a lack of motivation to write more. After reorganizing, I decided to gradually share the things I have accumulated. After all, some people enjoy exploration and innovation.
More than a decade ago, I slowly transitioned from routers to router hardware modifications and practical applications, learning from others and applying it in practice, gaining a lot of useful knowledge. Today, I will share my insights on playing with the R2S soft router.
What is a soft router?
According to Baidu’s explanation: A soft router refers to a routing solution formed by using a desktop computer or server in conjunction with software, mainly relying on software settings to achieve the functions of a router; while a hard router is equipped with specific hardware, including processors, power supplies, and embedded software, to provide designated router functions.
What is the use of a soft router?
Normal users understand it as: more stable than hard routers, faster internet speeds.
Less normal users: FQ becomes more convenient, YouTube, Facebook, these basic things are no longer troublesome.
HK users: single line multi-dial, multi-line multi-dial, black technology, 50M becomes 500M broadband.
I don’t know if writing below will get censored again, but the intention is good. For example, let me ask you a question, do you really understand your home broadband?
Let me talk about the purpose of buying the R2S:
First, cost-effectiveness.
A soft router for less than 200 yuan, currently there is no lower price on the market. If you want to argue, you can use an old laptop to modify it. But don’t compare power consumption with me; the R2S outputs 3W, maybe you use the power for an hour, it can last two or three days.
Second, performance.
Currently, the routers on the market have dual-core CPUs + 128MB or quad-core CPUs + 512MB, with basic configurations priced at over 500. If the configuration is slightly better, it’s normal to exceed 1000 yuan. So what is the configuration of the R2S?
It is evident that it can fully utilize gigabit speeds.
Third, a must-have hardware for HK players.
Before August, my home broadband was always the minimum package of 50M from China Telecom, with an annual fee of 500 yuan. Through single line multi-dialing, it can reach 300M, while the annual fee for 300M bandwidth is around 1700 yuan, saving 1200 yuan invisibly. So if the actual bandwidth is 300M, multi-dialing three lines to achieve gigabit bandwidth is only natural. As long as you are not blacklisted by the operator, you can use it indefinitely. So I simply canceled the China Telecom broadband and transferred the monthly mobile plan to my home. The downside is that mobile broadband is notoriously laggy, so the soft router’s role can now be demonstrated, achieving 300M to 1000M through multi-dialing, with a powerful router firmware system supporting stable bandwidth fluctuations.
Entering practical combat:
The R2S I just bought is a bare machine, meaning it does not come with a TF card, the author’s team did not write the system, and there are no cables, just a bare machine. The TF card and system actually take up around 700MB. According to the wiki, the R2S only has one WAN port, LAN port, a flat charging port, and a USB port. As long as the TF card is not too subpar, it can be used.
Preparation work: one TF card
one USB power adapter 5V 3A
TF card burning tool win32diskimag
router system firmware (https://dl.friendlyarm.com/)
Starting the flashing process:
Download the OpenWrt R20.7.1 router system firmware, insert the TF card into the card reader and connect it to the computer, open the burning tool, load the system, and write it to the TF card.
Here, Iād like to mention that there are many types of soft router systems, some of the more famous ones are: Hi-SpiderRouter,bbiagent,Coyote,FreeSCO,Floppyfw,SmoothWall,RouterOS,Fli4l,Clarkconnect,Red Cat, DD-WRT,openwrt.
The more affordable ones are still DD and OP, and here I am flashing the OP system from DYC. Address: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1MqzeomE4_P61RyWf7F9_zw
Password: iv2h
The flashing process is relatively simple, so I won’t post pictures to describe it, the focus is on system configuration.
Power on the R2S, insert the TF card, connect the network cable to the LAN port, connect it to the computer, and enter 192.168.2.1 to access the router login interface.
The default login name is root, and the password is password.
Enter the main interface of the router.
Router configuration is successful, and the system is running normally. Up to this point, it is relatively basic and not difficult at all.
Connect the network cable from the optical modem to the WAN port of the R2S, and then connect the network cable from the LAN port of the R2S to the LAN port of the wireless router, so that devices such as mobile phones, TV boxes, and computers can all connect.
For FQ, I am using a relatively stable airport that I have used for many years, but the airport author informed me that it can only be used for computers, mobile phones, and iPads, and there is no specific tutorial for connecting to the router system. Therefore, the previous hard crack of the Netgear R7000 did not have suitable firmware to support this airport, and I was too lazy to change it, so I always relied on third-party software and apps to achieve FQ. But this time, since it is a soft router based on Linux, the operability is quite friendly, so I chose DYC’s firmware, also taking Dongdong’s suggestion into account, after all, there aren’t many systems that are easy to use, stable, free, and safe. Returning to the router interface, find passwall on the right side.
Enter the configuration page.
I won’t detail the process here, censorship is not tasty. I just want to say, if you happen to encounter the same troubles as I did, this is a very good solution.
Usage experience:
Optical modem ā R2S ā Wireless router ā Home devices
All devices can use FQ without restrictions, the 300M mobile bandwidth is stable at 51M/s, and the connection remains stable for a week without disconnection. The original bandwidth was limited by the operator, reaching a maximum of 15M/s. Now, the box can watch YouTube, Netflix, and play games simultaneously, with latency maintained below 60, speed at 20MS. Theoretically, combined with the current optical modification policy, this is already more than enough.
There are many more ways to play with the R2S, I will write about them when I have time in the future, such as modifying cooling, water cooling, WiFi antennas, NAS, servers, charging for shared WiFi, etc.
Where to buy the R2S? Search on Taobao.
NanoPi R2S
Remember, it must be from FriendlyARM.
This thing is made by the FriendlyARM team.
If you want to buy an airport, private message me.
