GL.iNet GL-MT3000 (Beryl AX) Portable Travel Router, Pocket-Sized Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Travel Gigabit Router, with OpenVPN & Wireguard for Public & Hotel Wi-Fi Use, Suitable for Cruise/RV/Airplane/Hotel

Short version:All the positive reviews are legitimate. This thing is great. If you travel, you won't regret the purchase; in fact, your only regret will be that you didn't purchase it sooner. I recommend just using the web UI for set up and configuration. I didn’t even bother with the app because the web UI was so good.Longer version:I cannot believe I didn't buy a travel router before now. This was also my first experience with GL.iNet, but I felt decently confident buying theirs over a competitor. And I'm *extremely* pleased with my decision. My experience was so good I looked into what other products they sell, including looking into whether the sell home network systems.This product is very easy to set up as long as you have very basic knowledge in this area (I have advanced knowledge in networking, but this router doesn’t really require that). It broadcasts a strong signal. Could it maybe be stronger? Well, sure, but there are tradeoffs between portability and broadcasting capability. And this thing is potent.I used the web-based UI, and it is extremely good. I cannot imagine the app being better, but because the web-based UI is so good, I didn't even bother downloading the app. As such, I cannot speak to the utility of the app.For the price point (less than $100, and even less if you catch it on a sale), it's a great deal. It prompted a firmware update on first use, but that was quick and painless. It doesn't run hot, and it's quiet. It has tons of options for configuration, so if you are worried you're going to get a really "watered-down" router given it's a travel router, you are mistaken and in for a pleasant surprise. At the same time, if your needs are pretty basic, it still does well in that domain as well.I tested the router in multiple different locations, both with and without captive portals for initial access to the Internet via Wi-Fi: Hotel (with captive portal), airport (with captive portal), and another hotel (no captive portal). Each time, connection was pretty painless (obviously more annoying with the captive portal, but still not bad at all). And once the router is connected, you can broadcast your own secure network (again, with or without VPN) and connect your devices to that. So convenient. I am eager to try a hardwired connection "in the wild" (I tested at my house and it was great, but that's a far more controlled environment), but if anything, that should be even easier than connecting the router via Wi-Fi. It also supports tethering if you need it, which is smart and an extremely consumer-centric move.You can easily configure it to connect to a VPN client, either through a commercial vendor or to your home VPN server if you run one. You can toggle global VPN connection (all clients on the router will be routed through the VPN) or specify the clients that should be routed through the VPN. The router also supports other functionality (e.g., ad blocking through AdGuard), though I've not tested those other areas, as I use different solutions in those domains.In summary, this is a fantastic product. Two thumbs up to GL.iNet. You have a new fan in me.

I've never been happier with a router as I am with this company's products. I've spent the last 25 years chasing the top rated stuff from brands like ASUS (never again), Netgear (the okay-est), Linksys (decent in the 802.11g days I guess), and TP-Link (underwhelming). I've tried mesh setups, custom homebiilt rigs, enterprise grade hardware, and even gave up entirely on wifi and gone all hardwired ethernet for a couple years.Now I've got a couple of these and an MT-6000 from this brand and I've never had a network more stable than this.The setup and management is also very intuitive and extremely well done. Everything works out of the box. The phone management app works. The FIRST-PARTY IN HOUSE WARRANTY-SUPPORTED FIRMWARE provides full functionality of all advertised features (ASUS, you paying attention? I'm talking to you and calling out your "Merlin" BS).Oh and ya know what else? I simultaneously game online, stream to multiple media centers almost contantly, run a Plex server that always has at leat 2 or 3 remote streams going, provide NAS storage to several users at home as well as remote, run a meshtastic node, run a separate network with a whole mess of IoT light bulbs and thermostats and other wifi-enabled crap, type 3-page run-on sentence reviews on Amazon, and probably a few other things I've forgotten. Away from home in my RV, I'm connecting through one of these and my phone's WiFi hotspot to my home VPN to manage devices on my network through TeamViewer ... and the last time I rebooted the thing (at home) was over a month ago for a firmware update. These things are SOLID.

I got this for a few reasons, and so far am happy with it.The primary reason I got this was for a router in my RV that I could connect a mini-PC to for running my astrophotography setup. This lets me setup the system and the mini-PC automatically gets a fixed IP so I can remote desktop into it from inside the trailer on my laptop. This worked great in my testing this past week. Easy to setup, good signal, and does everything I want.The second reason I got this is as a temporary backup router for home. With the ability to tether through my phone it would be an option to provide Internet access if my cable modem goes down for any reason. That doesn't happen very often, but it is nice to have the backup. While I haven't had to use it, I have tested it out and everything worked great.Along those lines, sometimes when we are camping better cellular coverage is available outside of the RV. I can set this out with a battery pack and my phone, providing better signal to my laptop.Lastly, I'll likely start traveling more for work, so this will go along with me. I've configured this with both ZeroTier to connect to my home network, and also with a VPN provider, and it works great. I have the switch on the side configured to enable/disable connection to my VPN provider, so everything on the router goes through VPN. This will be great when I am in a hotel on travel. Not only will this keep my laptop and phone off the hotel network directly, it will also secure all of my connections with VPN, offering another layer of protection. While I've tested this functionality at home, I haven't yet been able to put it to use.