Supernetworks Launches Its Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5-Powered "Secure Programmable Router"

Programmable networking startup Supernetworks has announced the launch of its SPR, a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5-powered compact router designed as part of the company's Secure Programmable Router (SPR) project.

"I started working on this project because I think that Linux provides a tremendous amount of agility and power for secure home networking," explains Supernetworks founder Alex Radocea of SPR, "but I felt like there was no router project out there that pulled it all together. SPR simply enables users to do better than today's status quo. It lets users run a hardened, secure network without restrictive drawbacks. It lets users connect their consumer electronics to the internet with the peace of mind that doing so does not weaken their home network security."

Launched following dissatisfaction with both off-the-shelf router devices and devices capable of running open source firmware like OpenWRT, Radocea's SPR project began as a proof-of-concept built atop a low-cost Raspberry Pi single-board computer. With the software handled, Radocea turned his attention to the hardware side — deciding to keep a Raspberry Pi at the heart of the project, but moving to a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 connected to a custom-built carrier board with additional networking hardware.

"The carrier board has 2× USB 3 ports, 1× USB 2, USB-PD [Power Delivery], 1× 2.5Gbps [Ethernet] port (PoE+ [Power-over-Ethernet+]), 1× 1Gbps [Ethernet] port, CM5 Lite support with an SD Card, an mPCI slot for Wi-Fi, UART, and can work as a general purpose programmer for compute module boards," Radocea explains of the design, which includes a 3D-printed housing with a honeycomb lid for improved cooling. "The CM5 [module] as well as the Mediatek MT7916 [Wi-Fi] card we prefer both run hot," he admits.

The stock model from Supernetworks comes with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 CM5104032 pre-installed, meaning a BCM2712 quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of eMMC storage that disables the carrier board's microSD card slot. The carrier includes an on-board PCI Express switch providing connectivity to a bundled Mediatek MT7916 Wi-Fi 6 3×3 module, running side-by-side with the Compute Module 5's built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, plus gigabit Ethernet and 2.5-gigabit-Ethernet wired connections.

The hardware serves to run Radocea's SPR software, which provides routing functionality along with more advanced features including access control with unique passwords per Wi-Fi device, device group management, multicast support, and traffic statistic reports; a "Plus" subscription at $8 unlocks a programmable firewall, mesh networking support, and site forwarding, with all router hardware coming with a code for free "Plus" mode as standard.

Supernetworks is selling the SPR router on its website, priced at $399.99 including SPR Plus code; those who would prefer to roll their own can find the project's source code, and a pre-built image for Raspberry Pi devices, on GitHub under the permissive BSD three-clause license.