GL.iNet Flint 2
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 6 of 15 routers by recommenders
Recommended for its full OpenWrt support and root access, plus solid, reliable performance. Common caveat: weak Wi-Fi range through walls.
Recommended for its full OpenWrt support and root access, plus solid, reliable performance. Common caveat: weak Wi-Fi range through walls.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Full OpenWrt flexibility and root access
“absolutely delightful piece of hardware. I really love it. Having the flexibility of OpenWRT is a serious boon.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?” “I wouldn't buy any of their stuff if not for OpenWRT— that's the killer feature for me.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?” “changing VLAN settings breaks the entire router.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?” - Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router”
- Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Wanted to download an ISO, ended up writing a kernel exploit”
Solid, reliable, works great
“overall it works great. I recommend this to anyone who asks me about it.”
Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “Motorola effectively bricked its entire line of WiFi routers without explanation” “Very, very happy with my Flint 2. Rock solid.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router” “the Flint 2 is always a solid pick”
Comment from 24 Dec 2025 in “Unifi Travel Router” Owners happy and would recommend it
“overall it works great. I recommend this to anyone who asks me about it.”
Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “Motorola effectively bricked its entire line of WiFi routers without explanation” “Doesn't the Flint 3 require a binary blob to run the broadcom chip?”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router” “Very, very happy with my Flint 2. Rock solid.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Lacks upstream OpenWrt support
“I stayed away from it because it didn't have upstream openwrt compatibility”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Wanted to download an ISO, ended up writing a kernel exploit” “the Flint 3 doesn't work with vanilla OpenWRT”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router”
Other routers people recommend
The four most recommended other routers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MikroTik router | 59 | 26 | 69% | 11 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| GL.iNet travel router | 54 | 5 | 92% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Ubiquiti UniFi Travel Router | 35 | 16 | 69% | 2 | — | — |
| OpenWrt One | 34 | 10 | 77% | 7 | 3 mo3 owners | Approved |
| GL.iNet Flint 2This page | 15 | 4 | 79% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
20 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I stayed away from it because it didn't have upstream openwrt compatibility”
“I like that I can SSH to root and do whatever I want.”
“it's just easier and more convenient”
“I wouldn't buy any of their stuff if not for OpenWRT— that's the killer feature for me.”
“absolutely delightful piece of hardware. I really love it. Having the flexibility of OpenWRT is a serious boon.”
“There are some routers with OEM fork of OpenWRT that allow you to flash stock openwrt without any obstacles”
“very happy with this. I can do any kind of OpenWRT setting I want”
“changing VLAN settings breaks the entire router.”
“I’ve heard great things about that model.”
“Flint2 is in the top 5 for SOHO OpenWRT supported routers”
“the only blocking issue is with the Realtek switch connected to the LAN ports”
“Very, very happy with my Flint 2. Rock solid.”
“I'm really happy with it for the reasons you mentioned.”
“Doesn't the Flint 3 require a binary blob to run the broadcom chip?”
“It’s not bad, but still doesn’t reach enough through the walls.”
“the Flint 3 doesn't work with vanilla OpenWRT”
“overall it works great. I recommend this to anyone who asks me about it.”
“I've had issues with connectivity that I don't have with OpenWRT on a Linksys router.”
“Faster SoC, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, one more 2.5 GBe port, twice as fast WiFi 6”
“the Flint 2 is always a solid pick”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.