GL.iNet travel router

What hackers pick instead

• MikroTik routerRecommended for detailed control and strong performance per dollar, with a steep learning curve and a clumsy interface that suits people who already know networking.59recommend
• Ubiquiti UniFi Travel RouterLets you bring your home network and WiFi to hotels, with built-in Teleport support, at about $80. Critics note it uses older Wi-Fi 5 and lacks SIM or eSIM support.35recommend
• OpenWrt OneRecommended as fully supported open hardware that runs OpenWrt well out of the box. Main caveat: dual-band only, with no 6GHz and few ports.34recommend
• Ubiquiti UniFi 5GRecommended as a cheap, unlocked 5G router that works on any major US carrier and as failover internet. Main caveat: limited bandwidth, and the outdoor model is directional.17recommend
• AVM Fritz!BoxPopular home router and modem, easy to configure through its web interface and well supported with updates. Caveat: no VLANs or extra SSIDs for advanced users.15recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 65 comments. Each links to the original.

1. It's incredibly useful, with the added bonus that you don't need to install tailscale client in any of your travel devices

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

2. Still a great travel router, but had to buy a BerylAX for what I wanted to do with the usb gps.

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Slate AX: Wi-Fi 6 Gigabit travel router”

3. with something like a GL.iNet travel router + Tailscale, you can watch Jellyfin from anywhere

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Jellyfin founder Andrew leaves team”

4. makes connecting to strange hotel and other captive portal networks pretty straightforward

   Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?”

5. GL.iNet routers don't even need this. It has an option to pass through captive portals.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

6. Cute but without sim capabilities. The router is decent but not for hard wired things.

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Slate AX: Wi-Fi 6 Gigabit travel router”

7. all devices are automatically connected, without captive portal on each one.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

8. it's very rare that I have to do anything special to get on a captive portal

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

9. they are not prohibitively expensive and have a version of openwrt installed

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?”

10. It's easily paid for itself by avoiding ludicrous per-device daily charges.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

11. Good use of space in my opinion, since I can access all the services I host

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

12. Tailscale running in subnet router mode on a GL.iNet router comes close.

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

13. Gl.iNet has been OK for the price but re-flash it with vanilla OpenWRT

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Wanted to download an ISO, ended up writing a kernel exploit”

14. Useful to bridge hotel wifi so all my devices connect automatically

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

15. I find it satisfying that these routers run OpenWRT out of the box

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Starlink Mini as a Failover”

16. So I buy GL.iNet routers, which come with OpenWrt pre-installed.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?”

17. Yeah, I have several GL.iNet routers with OpenWRT preinstalled.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?”

18. been using a gl.inet axt1800 for travel and it's been amazing

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

19. I never travel without my GL-AXT1800. Saved me so many times

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

20. connects into my own hardened GL.iNet router running OpenWRT

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Tenda firmware (multiple versions) contains hidden authentication backdoor”

21. I have had very good experiences with a few of their routers

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?”

22. It also has a mode to jump through the captive portal.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

23. This runs OpenWRT out of the box.

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Slate AX: Wi-Fi 6 Gigabit travel router”

24. cURL was broken in this application with some inscrutable error that went away when I used stock openwrt.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?”

25. I consider it an untrusted device except when I have stock OpenWRT on it.

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router”

26. If you want OpenWRT you don't want this

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Slate AX: Wi-Fi 6 Gigabit travel router”

27. I have really liked my GL.iNet travel router, also with OpenWRT. I didn't think I would need a travel router but they're pretty handy.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router”

28. A nice slick interface for normal people, full OpenWRT nerd power a couple of clicks away for HN readers.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “RISC-V Router”

29. it's great for family travel since you can name your travel SSID the same as your home network

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Starlink Mini as a Failover”

30. Use them to get cheap anker security cams to work as baby monitors while we're in hotel rooms

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

31. I would get a GL.Inet or other off-the-shelf router that supports OpenWrt and flash it.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?”

32. Only Glinet. With all the rest is hit and miss and some are with locked bootloaders.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “FCC Updates Covered List to Include Foreign-Made Consumer Routers”

33. It does work well as a travel router, and can pull north of 400Mbps over WireGuard.

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Slate AX: Wi-Fi 6 Gigabit travel router”

34. I am a very very happy GL.iNet customer, and probably have 10+ of their devices.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?”

35. the feature that makes GL.iNet products popular is: extensibility

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Unifi Travel Router”

36. it's open enough that it does everything I want without having to

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Porting the ThinkPad X61 to Coreboot”

37. do this easily in the newer firmware versions the last few months

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Imgur geo-blocked the UK, so I geo-unblocked my network”

38. Instead I went with a Gl.inet device with three interfaces.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Motorola effectively bricked its entire line of WiFi routers without explanation”

39. use a travel router that supports VPNs like GL.inet

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “How Spotify Made Me Self Host”

40. I've been using 2 of these as APs for a few years.

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Slate AX: Wi-Fi 6 Gigabit travel router”