GL.iNet - GL-SFT1200 (Opal)

Gli.net Opal is a great deal at $35 (amazon) if youre budget minded, but newest Beryl or Slate are great if you want to spend around $100.

I have a glinet berryl.ax.and a opal and both are great. Berryl is better but costs twice as much.

Hello, Quick question for you all: I have a GLI net travel router in my rack connected to my XR 18 and my computer will be connected to that GLI net router. And The X Air edit app for Mac. I frequently see it disconnect and say auto reconnect is active, but it doesn’t automatically reconnect. Any tips for fixing the situation? This is the Router: GL.iNet GL-SFT1200 (Opal) Secure Travel WiFi Router, AC1200 Dual Band Gigabit Ethernet Wireless Network, IPv6 USB 2.0, Repeater Bridge Access Point Mode, Router for Public Use, Easy Setup with Guide

I have three GL.iNet routers: a Beryl AX, Opal, and Marble. The user interface may be similar across them, but I haven't been able to get the Marble to pass through the login portal so that it can authenticate and use the free wifi available here. Both the Beryl AX and Opal connect to the same wifi network, then display a link to the login portal. After I authenticate, I can access the free wifi. It might be user error, but I think the Marble simply doesn't offer it because a home router doesn't need to connect to public wifi.

Beryl AX hands down. When I connect to the free wifi, I get 50mbps through the Opal, but I get 220mbps and up via the Beryl AX (even with the VPN running) With the Opal, I have to connect via the 5ghz band, and then I cannot use it for connecting devices to it, they have to use 2.4ghz. Again, this could be user error. The speeds for connected devices are fine, but if I did need to transfer files across the network, then I may see some limitations. The only advantage the Opal has is the three ethernet ports. The Beryl is superior in every other way. It can connect to the free wifi, as well as run the vpn and Tailscale without skipping a beat. The speeds are much better when connecting to the same wifi, and I can use the 5Ghz antenna both for the free wifi and to allow devices to connect to it. The Opal can run a vpn also but at lower max speeds. Tailscale is too much for it. If you have time, you can wait for sales on the Beryl AX. I bought mine at the lowest price a bit before Black Friday, and it comes back around at that price every few months. Right now I have the Opal acting as a failover connection for my Marble, mostly because of the low power draw. But if I didn't care about the cost of it all? I'd have just gotten a second Beryl AX and connected a switch to it rather than the Marble and Opal combo. It's that good, and the speed of the free wifi are better than one of my home networks. I just need to find someone selling a lightly used Beryl AX 😆🤣😂

The hardware is. I've left the Opal running for days at a time, and the Beryl AX should only be better. However, the challenge here is that the free wifi provider could drop due to overuse, or staying connected too long. At least with my free wifi, that's the case. Someone on the sub mentioned the same issue with the same provider (Cox), so it could be chalked up to being on the provider's end. Can't control that. They set up a daily reboot to help with that, but it isn't a perfect solution. No idea what would be necessary for your provider. Also, at 36mbps, you might be able to get away with the Opal. Just a thought. As I said earlier, I've had it running for days here.

It could work in some extender mode it has.. But in extender mode it normally becomes part of whatever network it connects to - it doesn't nat and provide its own isolated network from the network it attaches too. Maybe that c50 your looking at does - but I doubt it. And know for sure the gl.inets do. Which could work but then really anyone on the same trailer park wifi could say see her printer and other devices, etc. I have a gl.inet (Opal (GL-SFT1200)) router - and can tell you its range is quite good.. And its nice an tiny.. So unless your mom is in some 8 wide trailer or something I doubt coverage would be an issue. Mine is only a AC (wifi5) but they do sell AX (wifi6) models - but I doubt speed your seeing from the trailer wifi would warrant the extra cost since just wifi 5 should be able to handle it. I see that c50 on amazon for 79 bucks, the gl.inet is only 39. Also the c50 only has 100mbps interfaces.. So anything wired would be limted to max 100mbps.. Half the cost, better features, firmware that gets updated, etc. The firmware on that c50 looks like last time it was updated was 2020.

So get yourself something like a mini router like [THIS](https://www.amazon.com/GL-iNet-GL-SFT1200-Secure-Travel-Router/dp/B09N72FMH5?crid=PTZK7C1J4BH0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hs1OPJDykvs6nbvLopN23dCN_7VAePS8jBeEQbFBZDqt6aSbqs5ohb55yW8-SWZoRWYEKpvm5WptBBBAO61_YPOA7LuCcTP4-kFBMKuBP61BYOru5QKe7BXVCZ-x0go74aq_4vjYb3eVd1CzWjGjELWpS-IFJ-3A6X-xzBK9BqLKUDw6GlpwQj8HNh3if79Gl8czR0Psha1yE_Ab2ga7pLpPlLJUmmzbCgXirLTcbtQ.1YfMZYJfYWhL0UQW6hSm8DTHw89v0dekwwV5KNOIcFs&dib_tag=se&keywords=gli%2Btravel%2Brouter&qid=1746217968&sprefix=gli%2B%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-4&th=1). Then put your phone in tether mode or HotSpot mode. With your router, set it’s wifi to find and use your cell phone. Then, on your TV or streaming device, set it to look at your mini-router and you have a connection. Now, all this being said, tethering mode from a phone is very limited and both speed and data amount. You will burn up your gigs faster than you can burn your eggs. This is why most people choose a remote internet service like AT&t, Verizon, T-Mobile, StarLink… etc. You can get unlimited data and a fast connection (in most cases). I have T-Mo Home Internet and even though you sign up with a home address, I take mine camping with me. They have not “geo-locked” the service yet. They tried it once, and there was such an outcry, they quickly stopped that. If you really, really want to use a phone, I would forgo the router and put your phone in HotSpot mode and find that internet connection directly from your phone to your TV.

How small you wanna go? Look at Gli-net's travel routers. I carry one in my luggage and they're great.

How small you wanna go? Look at Gli-net's travel routers. I carry one in my luggage and they're great.

1. I got into self hosting because I was tired of paying for services that never quite delivered how I wanted and stopped working if my internet did. 2. I travel enough that I frequently use an older Gl.Net router to provide some protection and get more of my devices connected if I have to pay for a connection. I have also been wanting a KVM for my home server so I can better administer it from afar. In particular one that might let me restart or power it up with button presses or a jumper interface. 3.I learn a lot from Reddit, but probably most from encountering a problem and researching it until I find a solution that suits my needs and capabilities. That research takes me everywhere… but mostly Reddit these days. 4. I’d love a lower-power feature rich NAS. I consult for a lot of friends and families, and these have become a popular request. Ugreen might have the best offering for now, but I do feel like there’s still room for improvement. Edit: Products I’d choose if I won would be the POE KVM and travel router.

Most “normal” routers cannot use an existing wifi network as their WAN. GL.iNet is really best in class when it comes to this.

Agreed, I have their $37 travel router and it would work great for 700 square feet, hell, it stays connected a long way away. I had it set up in my 4th floor hotel room in Jamaica and was still connected at the pool outside.

I think this is a great use case for a Gl.inet travel router. It doesn't sound like your mother in law is really in need of super download speeds, so the 36MB free wifi should be more than enough. So connect the travel router to the free wifi and then everything in her trailer to that travel router. The travel router will hide all her internal devices like the printer and chromecast. Really, if you think about it, the trailer park is not all that differant than say a hotel, but instead of hotel rooms all connecting to one public wifi you have trailers connecting to one public wifi. no differant. so perfect for a travel router. I think this would be easier to maintain and configure over a normal router. Sure a normal router can be configured to act as a bridge, but why bother with having to figure out how to do that on the normal router when the travel routers already have all that functionality build right into it and are designed for that right out of the box. Plus a Gl.inet router is < 100 bucks, no. If you were to go with the 20 buck a month solution from the service provider after 5 months you would be spending more than just buying a travel router.

I love their products, I have one of their travel routers and it’s extremely handy.

GL.inet for sure. Easy.

I think any of their currently listed travel routers will run tailscale.

The last time I had gone on a cruise they didn't say anything about the gl inet travel router I had with me. Anyone with a small one been caught with one yet? Just curious about how often those small ones have been noticed

If you have a small enough apartment, travel routers (like the GL.iNet ones) are designed for this use case - connecting to a WiFi network like a hotel network and then rebroadcasting your own.

Correct. You don't want any routing. You want the clients to pick the closest network. Even something as small as a Gl.Inet Travel Router will do the job, because you turn it to "AP" mode so it doesn't really do much.

Correct. You don't want any routing. You want the clients to pick the closest network. Even something as small as a Gl.Inet Travel Router will do the job, because you turn it to "AP" mode so it doesn't really do much.

As someone who just got done traveling to multiple places and staying for a week at those places, trying out a couple different travel routers at each place (GL iNet & Asus Go), I like the Asus the best. I love the form factor of the GL iNet, but after 6 hours or so it disconnected. I had to unplug it and plug it back in. Google mentioned something about the WAN settings (I’d have to find it). Whereas the Asus just worked. It never disconnected, worked fine in WISP mode and just regular eithernet. So now my go to is the Asus Go for my travel router.

Hi, I hade similar problem, I used Mikrotik than Ubiquity Edge X, but half year ago I have found GLI.net It’s OpenWRT by default and it cost similar to TP-Link. It have WireGuard, Tailscale and AddGuard as native app ;)

Exactly. Don't waste money on these shitty consumer routers. The only decent ones are from gl.inet that come with openwrt. If you need more, look into opnsense on something like qotom or other minipc, mikrotik, ubiquity and separate access points.

Poor performance, very poor routing performance. And overpriced.