So far I’ve been an avid user of TP-Link gear when it comes to routers, for their price and feature set (e.g. USB ports) but most of all because you can rather easily run OpenWrt on them. A few times, however, GL.iNet has been rushing through my timeline.
Now I would be lying if I’d claim that GL.iNet were a particularly well-known company. They appear to be Hong Kong-based and seem to offer a variety of routers. Luckily they are openly disclosing the technical details for their gear, so let’s have a closer look, assembled into a table for comparison. And the best thing is: they all seem to run OpenWrt out-of-the-box, although with a custom Web UI, but this is then easy to get rid off.
Friendly name | Product name | Chipset | Clock rate | Flash size | RAM | LAN/WAN | WiFi standards | 2.4G bitrate | 5G bitrate | WiFi antennas | LTE | USB | Power supply | PoE | Special features | Variants |
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For travel | ||||||||||||||||
Microuter | GL-USB150 | Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9331 | 400 MHz | 16 MB | 64 MB | – | b/g/n | 150 Mbps | – | – | Internal | – | 5V, 1A (USB) | – |
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GL-MiFi | GL-MiFi | Qualcomm/Atheros AR9331 | 400 MHz | 16 MB | 64 MB | 2x 100 MBit | b/g/n | 150 Mbps | – | Internal | CAT4 (150 Mbit) or CAT6 (300 Mbit) Internal antennas | 1x 2.0 | 5V, 2A (Micro USB) opt. 5000mAH Li-Pol battery | – |
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White | GL-AR150 | Qualcomm/Atheros AR9331 | 400 MHz | 16 MB | 64 MB | 2x 100 MBit | b/g/n | 150Mbps | – | Internal or 1x External, 2dBi | – | 1x 2.0 | 5V, 1A (Micro USB) | opt. IEEE 802.3af/at |
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Shadow | GL-AR300M | Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9531 | 650 MHz | 16 MB NOR opt. 128 MB NAND | 128 MB | 1x 100 MBit or 2x 100 MBit | b/g/n | 300 Mbps | – | Internal or 2x External, 2dBi | – | 1x 2.0 | 5V, 1A (Micro USB) | – |
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Mango | GL-MT300N-V2 | MediaTek MTK 7628NN | 580 MHz | 16 MB NOR 128 MB NAND | 128 MB | 2 x 100MBit | b/g/n | 300 Mbps | – | Internal | – | 1x 2.0 | 5V, 1A (Micro USB) | – |
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Creta | GL-AR750 | Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9531 | 650 MHz | 16 MB | 128 MB | 3 x 100MBit | b/g/n/ac | 300 Mbps | 433 Mbps | Internal | – | 1x 2.0 | 5V, 2A (Micro USB) | opt. Passive |
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Slate | GL-AR750S | Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9563 | 775 MHz | 2x 16 MB NOR 128 MB NAND | 128 MB | 3 x 1000MBit | b/g/n/ac | 300 Mbps | 433 Mbps | 2x external 2 dBi (undetachable) | – | 1x 2.0 | 5V, 2A (Micro USB) | – |
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For residential use | ||||||||||||||||
Spitz | GL-X750 | Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9531 | 650 MHz | 16 MB | 128 MB | 2 x 100MBit | b/g/n/ac | 300 Mbps | 433 Mbps | Internal | CAT4 (150 Mbit) or CAT6 (300 Mbit) 2 external antennas | 1x 2.0 | 12V, 1.5A (Roundhole) | – |
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Convexa-B | GL-B1300 | Qualcomm/Atheros IPQ4028 | 717 MHz | 32 MB | 256 MB | 2 x 1000MBit | a/b/g/n/ac | 400 Mbps | 867 Mbps | Internal | – | 1x 3.0 (internal pins for 1x 2.0) | 12V, 1.5A (Roundhole) | – |
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Convexa-S | GL-S1300 | Qualcomm/Atheros IPQ4029 | 717 MHz | 16 MB 8 GB EMMC | 512 MB | 3 x 1000MBit | a/b/g/n/ac | 400 Mbps | 867 Mbps | Internal | – | 1x 3.0 | 12V, 1.5A (Roundhole) | – |
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