An overview of GL.iNet’s router offering

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
For travel
Microuter	GL-USB150	Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9331	400 MHz	16 MB	64 MB	–	b/g/n	150 Mbps	–	–	Internal	–	5V, 1A (USB)	–	USB stick format	–
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	–	SIM card slot Micro SD card slot GPIO UART	Quectel EC25-A CAT4 LTE mPCIe module for US AT&T Quectel EC25-AU CAT4 LTE mPCIe module for Australia Quectel EC25-E CAT4 LTE mPCIe module for EMEA Quectel EC25-J CAT4 LTE mPCIe module for Japan Quectel EP06-A CAT6 LTE mPCIe module for US Quectel EP06-E CAT6 LTE mPCIe module for EMEA/AU/BR All variants with or without built-in 5000mAH Li-Pol battery
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	GPIO UART Mode switch	GL-AR150: Internal antenna, no PoE GL-AR150 (POE): Internal antenna, PoE GL-AR150-Ext-2: External 2 dBi antenna, no PoE GL-AR150-Ext-2 (POE): External 2 dbi antenna, PoE
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)	–	GPIO UART Mode switch	GL-AR300M16: Internal antenna, 2.4 GHz only, 2x LAN, 16 MB NOR only GL-AR300M16-Ext: 2 external 2 dBi antennas, 2.4 GHz only, 2x LAN, 16 MB NOR only GL-AR300M: Internal antenna, 2.4 GHz only, 2x LAN, 128 MB NAND GL-AR300M-Ext: 2 external 2 dBi antennas, 2.4 GHz only, 2x LAN, 128 MB NAND GL-AR300M-Lite: Internal antenna, 2.4 GHz only, 1x LAN, 16 MB NOR only GL-AR300MD: Internal antenna, 2.4 & 5 GHz, 2x LAN, 128 MB NAND (discontinued)
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)	–	GPIO UART Mode switch	Proprietary WiFi driver, “Opensource wifi drivers also work but it has some bugs and cause kernel panic. This problem was never solved by the community.” (Source)
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	MicroSD slot I2C UART Mode switch	With or without PoE option (“48V power injector” = passive, not compatible with IEEE 802.3af/at!) With US, UK+EU or AU power adapter
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)	–	MicroSD slot Dual flash I2C UART Mode switch	US, UK, EU or AU plug
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)	–	SIM card slot Micro SD card slot	Quectel EC25-E CAT4 LTE mPCIe module for EMEA Quectel EC25-A CAT4 LTE mPCIe module for US AT&T Quectel EP06-E CAT6 LTE mPCIe module for EMEA Quectel EP06-A CAT6 LTE mPCIe module for US All variants with or without Bluetooth module (currently n/a) All variants with or without ZigBee module (currently n/a)
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)	–	Mesh networking MU-MIMO UART	US, UK, EU or AU plug
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)	–	Mesh networking MU-MIMO Built-in Bluetooth/Zigbee module UART	“Coming soon”