RK3528 vs RK3568: Choosing a Router Board for Industry

The industrial 4G/5G router market has long been led by Qualcomm IPQ, but Rockchip RK3528 / RK3568 are emerging thanks to higher price/performance and OpenWrt support. This article benchmarks them across throughput, NPU and price.

Throughput

Both reach ~940 Mbps in 1G NAT; with QoS/SQM, RK3568 is 6–8% ahead.

NPU & AI plug-ins

RK3528 has no NPU; RK3568 integrates 1 TOPS, suitable for local traffic classification and anomaly detection.

Price & ecosystem

RK3528 boards are 30%+ cheaper than RK3568, and ImmortalWrt support landed earlier — making RK3528 the sweet spot for entry-level industrial routers.