CWWK/Topton/... Nxxx quad NIC router

[lucker]

So, while I have probably found a fan that would fit inside the HUNSN, I ordered an adapter cable with a plug that is far too big. Does anybody know how these mini mini four pin connectors are called? (It's smaller than it looks).
Also, as this connector is mounted far too close to the edge of the board, ultra thin & flexible cables would be needed.

Have no idea what a proper name for the connector should be, I have one in the arrived package from CWWK store on Ali. Maybe Wikipedia has an article about connector types for fans (it has for storrage drive like SATA etc.).
You probably need a L-shape connector judging by the picture you shared.

 

[lucker]

I might be wrong but shouldnt the x4 NVME disk be much faster in the individual benchmark than the x1 connected? Looking at the numbers they both look like x1 connected drives (1Gb/s max) the mirrored speed could be so high due to the caching of zfs (I could be wrong though)

I think you are right, that's why I'm quite puzzled by the test outcomes. The SSDs claim the speed of SeqRead 2500 MB/s and SeqWrite 2100 MB/s.
Haven't explored the issue yet, just set up the OSes and ran the tests. Probably this weekend will dig into that.

 

[athurdent]

I am also considering buying the N100 router and running Proxmox, Home Assistant, Opnsense, etc. on it. Since I am based in Germany I was wondering what do you guys think of Hunsn. I see only opinions about CWWK and Topton, but have not read a single line for Hunsn, which also seems to be using variant C with better thermal dissipation: https://amzn.eu/d/fc3YtfT. If I look on AliExpress, the price between this one and CWWK barebone N100 is negligible, plus the CWWK device is listed as not shippable to Germany, if I select another country within the EU, it works, but when I switch to Germany, it says that they won't ship it.

And did someone compare N100 with N200 power consumption both in idle and also under load, as the difference is not that big, and if they can provide much higher performance might be an interesting middle ground between N305 and n100. By the way, does anyone know why there are no i3-N300 boxes?

I have ordered a HUNSN one from Amazon Germany. The device is great (Prime eligible, shipping from Amazon Germany directly https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0C985FVT1 ) and they have the most awesome support I have ever seen in the last years. They got me a new BIOS to fix the speed issue I mentioned here, within a day. Send me all the tech specs for multiple devices pre-sales and, as I could not find a fan cable, they now offered to send me a kit / cable for free. The most interesting part about their support person is that she seems to talk to the engineers directly and they 100% understand every technical question, each reply is spot on. I am in no way affiliated with them, but I really like them so far.
My device is around 11 watts idle without any BIOS tweaks (OPNsense guest on top of Proxmox, NICs passed through), and runs stable and does not get too hot. But as I like to tinker, I'm going to try and install a fan anyways. Sadly Noctua does not have a fitting 80x80x10 4 pin fan, but I found a different one on Amazon. Will post pictures once the fan kit arrives. Here are my temps through the night, around 23° Celsius ambient ATM.

 

[idle_user]

Wanted to provide the final update on my situation.

TopTon was being extremely unhelpful in our private messages, but AE granted my partial refund request. TopTon tried to message me after AE's decision, they were trying to get me to low the partial refund by about 50% lol.

I know for certain that my TopTon unit is defective, but I've been able to use it for non-critical applications just fine. I think as long as I don't run the unit to near max, I should be fine. So at least it wasn't a complete loss. So I'm satisfied with the partial refund solution.

I also went on Amazon and saw that CWWK had the same unit (their case variant) on sale. It arrived quickly - in less than a week and it wasn't even a Prime item. I was nervous on running it and having the same issues. But I'm happy to report that it ran perfectly fine so far! It passed all the memory tests and I will be running stress tests tomorrow.

I even went ahead and tested the RAM that's in defective TopTon unit and can confirm that the RAM passed in the CWWK unit. So that completely finalizes that my TopTon unit is truly defective.

 

[B0rg]

I have ordered a HUNSN one from Amazon Germany. The device is great (Prime eligible, shipping from Amazon Germany directly https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0C985FVT1 ) and they have the most awesome support I have ever seen in the last years. They got me a new BIOS to fix the speed issue I mentioned here, within a day. Send me all the tech specs for multiple devices pre-sales and, as I could not find a fan cable, they now offered to send me a kit / cable for free. The most interesting part about their support person is that she seems to talk to the engineers directly and they 100% understand every technical question, each reply is spot on. I am in no way affiliated with them, but I really like them so far.
My device is around 11 watts idle without any BIOS tweaks (OPNsense guest on top of Proxmox, NICs passed through), and runs stable and does not get too hot. But as I like to tinker, I'm going to try and install a fan anyways. Sadly Noctua does not have a fitting 80x80x10 4 pin fan, but I found a different one on Amazon. Will post pictures once the fan kit arrives. Here are my temps through the night, around 23° Celsius ambient ATM.
View attachment 30637

Can you provide a link where to download the firmware?

 

[athurdent]

Can you provide a link where to download the firmware?

I have no official download link, I'm afraid. The file was shared privately by HUNSN including a how-to, so I think it would be best if you contacted them directly. As previously mentioned, they are very helpful.

 

[B0rg]

I have no official download link, I'm afraid. The file was shared privately by HUNSN including a how-to, so I think it would be best if you contacted them directly. As previously mentioned, they are very helpful.

if have a ccwk model but want to see if the firmwares are identical because i think there all the same units with different brandnames. Possible to share it via dropbox, wetransfer, mediafire, etc?

Maybe you can also post a screenshot of the bios version?

 

[ohm]

Am I able to adjust the memory timings in that BIOS? I'm not familiar with this one, but I couldn't find anywhere to up the voltage on the RAM a bit or turn down the timings.

You can find it at Chipset > System Agent (SA) Configuration > Memory Configuration.

 

[athurdent]

Have no idea what a proper name for the connector should be, I have one in the arrived package from CWWK store on Ali. Maybe Wikipedia has an article about connector types for fans (it has for storrage drive like SATA etc.).
You probably need a L-shape connector judging by the picture you shared.

I got word from HUNSN support yesterday, it‘s a 1.25 DuPont female 4pin.

 

[Donut7059]

Wanted to provide the final update on my situation.

TopTon was being extremely unhelpful in our private messages, but AE granted my partial refund request. TopTon tried to message me after AE's decision, they were trying to get me to low the partial refund by about 50% lol.

I know for certain that my TopTon unit is defective, but I've been able to use it for non-critical applications just fine. I think as long as I don't run the unit to near max, I should be fine. So at least it wasn't a complete loss. So I'm satisfied with the partial refund solution.

I also went on Amazon and saw that CWWK had the same unit (their case variant) on sale. It arrived quickly - in less than a week and it wasn't even a Prime item. I was nervous on running it and having the same issues. But I'm happy to report that it ran perfectly fine so far! It passed all the memory tests and I will be running stress tests tomorrow.

I even went ahead and tested the RAM that's in defective TopTon unit and can confirm that the RAM passed in the CWWK unit. So that completely finalizes that my TopTon unit is truly defective.

which cwwk did you get on amazon? thermal good with their case?

 

[idle_user]

which cwwk did you get on amazon? thermal good with their case?

This is the one I purchased: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C274PGW1?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Thermals are good. Re-installed proxmox on the TopTon and CWWK units and ran a stress test on them at the same time. They stayed around the same temps, but the TopTon one was cooler by about 3-4C. This is probably do to the fact that TopTon's case is a bit bigger.

 

[Donut7059]

This is the one I purchased: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C274PGW1?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Thermals are good. Re-installed proxmox on the TopTon and CWWK units and ran a stress test on them at the same time. They stayed around the same temps, but the TopTon one was cooler by about 3-4C. This is probably do to the fact that TopTon's case is a bit bigger.

Thanks, think I’ll order that rather than via Ali express

 

[sos_nz]

Thanks, think I’ll order that rather than via Ali express

Ummm. Wasn't the Amazon link to the CWWK version, which is smaller than the TopTon?

The larger, newer, cooler, more expensive chassis are the TopTons:

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005005397523761.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.718f5811FPkWiF&browser_id=25062ee2e4024cb589ac7a7342ca61ce&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=eeecbacacace189a1dae1cd2276da17db1ee30f03d&gclid=&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21NZD%21554.79%21360.62%21%21%21335.83%21%21%40212243c316906376237644386d0bfb%2112000032899367747%21sea%21NZ%21884966444&algo_pvid=0d7673b1-8321-45a2-90ea-35974aa90f39

 

[idle_user]

Thanks, think I’ll order that rather than via Ali express

Ummm. Wasn't the Amazon link to the CWWK version, which is smaller than the TopTon?

The larger, newer, cooler, more expensive chassis are the TopTons: ...

Yes, the TopTon one has a larger case and a bit better on thermals. But if you order from AE and get a faulty device, you're gonna have to deal with AE's return policy which is very time consuming.

CWWK's unit even came with a Fan adapter, SATA adapter, and extra screws. TopTon's didn't have any of that.

 

[Donut7059]

Yes, the TopTon one has a larger case and a bit better on thermals. But if you order from AE and get a faulty device, you're gonna have to deal with AE's return policy which is very time consuming.

CWWK's unit even came with a Fan adapter, SATA adapter, and extra screws. TopTon's didn't have any of that.

exactly why i was thinking go ebay route, easier to deal with if i have problem

 

[sos_nz]

Fair enough. You're paying more on ebay and Amazon, but then you get easier problem resolution. Pays ya money & makes ya choices, I guess.

FWIW, I'm glad my AE unit is working without incident as a bare metal OPNsense box.

 

[thimplicity]

The only thing I am missing here is a 10GBe (sfp+) port

 

[athurdent]

The only thing I am missing here is a 10GBe (sfp+) port

Not sure about the general limits of those boards, but you'd only get 4G through those with the way my interfaces are connected. I have no idea about board design or PCIe in general, so no sure if those could be aggregated.

[    1.776118] igc 0000:01:00.0 (unnamed net_device) (uninitialized): PHC added
[    1.799577] igc 0000:01:00.0: 4.000 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth (5.0 GT/s PCIe x1 link)

If it's of any interest, with 5 concurrent streams, I'm getting line-rate 2.5G throughput, with Zenarmor active. Have mapped 2 CPUs to the OPNsense VM:
Zenarmor throughput with N100 / i226v

This is OT, sorry, combing through Amazon Germany, I was actually surprised to find smaller appliances with 10G ports (e.g. HUNSN RJ40), but they seem to be limited regarding 10G throughput:

WAN-LAN Throughput: Throughput through 2.5 gigabit nic from lan to wan forwarding speed is 2.5Gbps
Throughput through 10 gigabit optical from lan to wan forwarding speed is around 5Gbps or more

 

[Ileikcaek]

I have had the N100 version (Topton on AE) for about a month but discovered yesterday when really using it with external storage that all four USB Ports are wired to a 480Mbps USB 2.0 root hub. Quite frustrating when they have the USB "SS" logo printed above them (though I should have been more careful when purchasing I suppose)! Under further investigation there is a USB 3.1 root hub from the CPU but it's not wired to anything, seemingly not even to an internal header! I'm not sure what I'm going to do now because USB storage speed is too limited by this.

I see that it might be possible to buy a NVME M.2 to USB 3.0 thing on AE which then it might be possible to route a USB 3.0 port or two out of the case but who knows if it will work.

 

[alexw1982]

I have had the N100 version (Topton on AE) for about a month but discovered yesterday when really using it with external storage that all four USB Ports are wired to a 480Mbps USB 2.0 root hub. Quite frustrating when they have the USB "SS" logo printed above them (though I should have been more careful when purchasing I suppose)! Under further investigation there is a USB 3.1 root hub from the CPU but it's not wired to anything, seemingly not even to an internal header! I'm not sure what I'm going to do now because USB storage speed is too limited by this.

I see that it might be possible to buy a NVME M.2 to USB 3.0 thing on AE which then it might be possible to route a USB 3.0 port or two out of the case but who knows if it will work.

Do you have a box with SATA ports? If so, why not connect them directly? USB attached disks should always be the last option due it various issues associated with the USB connection (regardless if it’s 2.0 or 3.1)