Hardware
Every router Start9 has sold, newest first. Each entry lists the specifications and how to tell that model apart. What is for sale now is at store.start9.com. For servers, see Start9 Hardware in the StartOS documentation.
Start9 Router
- Sold: October 2026 – present
- Base hardware: BananaPi BPI-F3
- CPU: SpaceMiT K1, 8-core RISC-V
- RAM: 4 GB LPDDR4
- Storage: 16 GB eMMC
- Ethernet: 1× Gigabit WAN, 1× Gigabit LAN, plus a TP-Link 4-port switch in the box
- Wi-Fi: AsiaRF AW7916-NPD mini-PCIe module (MediaTek MT7916), Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) — 2T2R on 2.4 GHz, 2T3R on 5/6 GHz, up to 2402 Mbps; StartWRT runs it on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz concurrently. Sold separately to US customers, as FCC regulations require
- Ports: 2× USB 3.0 Type-A, 1× USB-C (USB 2.0), and a microSD slot for flashing
- Power: 12 V / 3 A DC; shipped with a C13/C14 mains cord
- Warranty: 1 year
- How to identify it: Start9 wordmark on top, a small DeepComputing logo on the back, and a Wi-Fi password sticker on the bottom
- Known issues: none
The sections below publish the K1 schematic this router’s board descends from, and record where the router differs from it.
Schematic
SpacemiT K1 reference schematic (PDF, 28 sheets)
This is SpacemiT’s SPACEMIT-K1_LP4XP200_32X1 design, revision V3.0, dated April 2024. It documents the power tree, the clock and GPIO maps, the processor, memory and storage, and the peripheral interfaces the K1 supports. StartWRT boots the k1-x_deb1 device tree, which describes this same design.
Why It Differs From Your Router
A schematic is a design document, not a parts list for the unit on your desk. Two ordinary things put distance between the two.
A reference design carries every option; a product populates a subset. The schematic draws every interface the processor can drive, so that anyone building on the K1 can see how each one is wired. A finished product fits only the parts it uses. Nothing is removed from the drawing — the rest is simply never populated.
Parts get substituted. Regulators, transistors and passives are second-sourced routinely, and a pin-compatible replacement drops into the same footprint without anyone redrawing a sheet. Memory is the most visible case: capacity variants of one package are interchangeable, so the density printed on a schematic is not necessarily the density installed.
Note
Read the schematic as documentation of the platform, not as a bill of materials for your router.
Notable Differences
| On the schematic | On the router | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Memory densities up to 16 GB | 4 GB LPDDR4 | Same package and ballout, so the density is a drop-in substitution. |
| An onboard 2T2R Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radio on SDIO | No onboard radio. Wi-Fi comes from an AsiaRF AW7916-NPD Wi-Fi 6E module in the mini PCIe slot the schematic also documents. | A removable module carries a far stronger radio, and can be replaced or upgraded. |
| A USB 3.0 hub, a USB 2.0 Type-C port, and a barrel jack for power | 2 × USB 3.0 Type-A, the USB 2.0 Type-C port, and a 12 V barrel jack | Only the ports the enclosure exposes are fitted. |
What the Schematic Does Not Cover
The schematic shows how components connect. It is not the circuit board layout: it does not include the copper artwork or the layer stackup, nor the bill of materials naming the specific parts fitted to a production run.