FriendlyElec NanoPi R3S LTS

Overview

The NanoPi R3S LTS is a compact network appliance SBC from FriendlyElec built on the Rockchip RK3566 — a quad-core Cortex-A55 SoC designed for power-efficient networking and edge computing tasks. At just 57×57mm, it fits into a small CNC aluminum enclosure and is purpose-built for router, firewall, and IoT gateway applications.

The board features dual Gigabit Ethernet: one native GbE and one PCIe GbE, letting it act as a WAN/LAN router with line-rate throughput for home and small office use. RAM is 1GB or 2GB LPDDR4X, with an optional 32GB eMMC for OS storage alongside a microSD slot. No onboard WiFi is included — the design targets wired networking deployments, though USB WiFi adapters are supported.

For display applications, a full-size HDMI port and a 30-pin MIPI-DSI connector are available, along with a MIPI-CSI camera interface. The USB 3.0 Type-A port handles peripherals and USB storage. An RTC with backup battery header enables time-keeping for always-on deployments, and a power button plus user button provide physical controls.

Armbian, OpenWrt, FriendlyWrt, Ubuntu, and Debian are all supported. The LTS designation ensures production availability and software maintenance for extended deployments. It is widely used as a DIY router, WireGuard VPN gateway, Pi-hole DNS server, and compact home lab network node.