GL-BE3600 Slate 7 Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router Touchscreen 2.5G | Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7, dual 2.5G ports, OpenWrt 23.05, touchscreen, OpenVPN plus WireGuard, 300 g pocket size

This is a fantastic travel router. I already have a GL.iNet AXT-1800 (Slate 6), which is the previous model. There are a few noteable differences. The Wifi 7 has a new network mode (MLO) which I can't use as currently have no Wifi 7 devices. There is no SD Card slot, which means that there's no longer an easy NAS device without using the up the USB slot. The USB slot can also have an LTE device plugged into it to give mobile data access. There are 2*2.5G RJ45 ports, rather than the 3*1G on the Slate 6. Finally instead of the LED on the front there is now a screen which gives a whole bunch if useful information. The device looks a little blockier than the Slate 6, but it's very close size wise. The difference is very minor between the two, and it really is a case of whichever you prefer. In my hands it feels like it's a little more solid than the Slate 6. Setup of this router is very easy, but then I've already got experience with the GL-.iNet routers, for a complete beginner, it's pretty much plug in, follow the instructions that you get when you first connect and you can't really go wrong. For more experienced users, there's a whole bunch of customisation that you are can do and that's before digging deeper into the underlying openWrt settings (I've not had to play with that at all). Security wise, I have no concerns with this, the screen does not remain on all the time, and it's a touchscreen, which gives some nice convenience features. Being able to pulling the QR Code to allow phones/tablets to join the network is great, it also can show a seperate barcode for each frequency of network. In addition to the main network it can also offer a Guest network too, which will let people gain internet access through the router but without being able to access anything else. The main feature of these routers are when you go to a hotel, and connect to their network, you can connect all your devices to your router and hey presto they all share that one internet connection. Combine that with the support for OpenVPN and WireGuard (I use this myself) and you have a fantastic router, with lots of configuration possibilities and loads of versatility. I already have the Slate 6 and have been extremely happy with it, so why upgrade and get the Slate 7? There is one feature that requires having two compatible routers, and getting the Slate 7 was both a minor upgrade, and allows me to access this mode. It's called WDS network mode. At one of the places I go, I need to have more range that my Slate 6 could provide alone. (I needed an extre 10-20ft of Wifi Range) So having both routers, I can use them together to provide a larger network. With minimal changes, I've been able to turn the Slate 6 into an access point that extends the Slate 7's network. The way it works is that the Slate 6, will broadcast it's own SSID, and will route all the traffic to the Slate 7. But in WDS mode, the Slate 7 controls everything, so the devices join the Slate 7's network directly and it can act as a single network with 2 Wifi Access Points. For my use case, I have a wifi telescope, which I have setup to be able to connect to the Slate 6, or Slate 7's WIFI and either way, my phone, which will also connect to one of the two routers will be able to directly access the telescope from a much much larger range than if I were connected via just the one router. The plan is that I can put one of the routers in the house that I'm staying at (The Slate 7 of course) and the other (the Slate 6) out near the telescope, and have a much larger area covered by wifi that I could have done with only one router, thus solving the range problems that I have had in the past. Or course this is a special case, and for the most part, just one router alone will do for 90% of people.

Worked exactly as expected! Very easy to set up and very portable and worked on all the networks i have tried. Set up NordVPN (very easy) and this VPN runs all the time when connected to any other network. I took this on holiday with me and connected it to the hotel WIFI, then all my devices (no device number restrictions) connected and were protected and ‘in the UK’ due to VPN. I did also purchase a protective case just for protection and to store any extra cables. It is very well built but like to have everything in one place. Has a nice display on front to show what status is and to start and stop the VPN as well. As a router it is very fast, when running the VPN, throughput drops by around 20% (max 150mbs) and WIFI range was very strong. I now carry this when travelling so i dont worry about hotel / public connections. Have not tried on a plane but told it works there !

Excellent bit of kit. We've used this a few times on holiday or away from home. It can do a number of things, including wifi extending, 4G/5G modem support, VPN connections (both client and server), and act as a standard router. Plenty of expandability and power available at your fingertips. Nice speedy wifi connections too, with wifi7 support (not that many other devices can take advantage...!). Easy to set up with its companion app, or even via the web interface. The screen is good, but fairly superfluous and unfortunately not really programmable which is a bit of a shame! Decent value for money considering its extensive featureset, but could do with being a little bit cheaper!!

I bought the Slate 7 to upgrade from a brume (GL-MV1000) and what an upgrade it's way faster than the the old one and has WiFi wireguide VPN is easy to setup and Max's my 500mb connection out no problem it works well with my network switch as well so all devices can connect to the VPN at the same time as the others I recommend it to anyone needing a good travel router and to use at home so you can add multiple devices to one VPN connection don't hesitate I did and wish I had not it's an excellent little devices and it can be controlled from the built-in screen

The GL.iNet GL-BE3600 (Slate 7) is a brilliant little device. It’s impressively compact, which makes it perfect for travel or home setups where space matters. Pros: Small footprint, but full of features Setup was straightforward for the basics Great for VPN use and privacy-conscious users Travel-ready and feels well-built Cons: Some advanced options in the menus can be a bit over your head if you’re not a techie (but not a dealbreaker) Despite the more complex settings, I was able to get everything I needed up and running without any real issues. If you’re even reading this review, you likely already know you want one — just go for it. You won’t regret it. Strongly recommend for privacy nerds, digital nomads, and curious tinkerers, I just had to knock a star off due to it been very advanced in some areas for me.

A truly excellent bit of kit to take travelling. A solid and fast connection. They’ve just about thought of everything already but another feature would make it even better in a future version. When you’re heading out of your hotel room, to say use it beside the pool, disconnecting it from the mains power supply drops the connection to the free WiFi. When you reconnect to a suitable portable power supply you’re soon back in action. If only the Slate 7 had a small internal battery sufficient to maintain connectivity for a few seconds as you swapped the USB power sources. On an occasion I reached out to technical support their response was first class. It’s great how the Slate 7 gets round the 4 concurrent device limit at some hotels but probably best to keep that under your hat.

Superb

Great little router, packed with features and works perfectly for what I want. Planning on using it whilst travelling too, which is a bonus.

Installed in our Mobile home together with Starlink Mini. Works perfectly and is most likely overkill for my use. But as we travel around, you never know what problems you encounter, and then I have all the features I need in this cute little router. High quality as expected and quite easy to set up.

Great device. Very high speeds and coverage.

Een goed reis maatje en voldoet aan de eisen die aan een reisrouter gesteld worden. Zeer tevreden

Excelente calidad, muy intuitivo, el mejor modelo a la fecha de la marca en su rubro.

I bought this unit as a temporary wifi solution for my business. We moved our offices to another building then we had to wait for a week until the internet company move our equipment and reconfigure the system. We did not want to lose a week of business due to no internet, and no ability to accept payment cards etc, would have created lost income of more than 5k as a minimum. Below our floor in the building was a guest wifi access point that was public but it did have a fixed portal log on screen for that business. This device allowed us to create a temp private wifi internet for our business by using the guest access, and at the same time the fixed portal login in page became a none issue. Once you logged onto the fixed portal page it would remember the details so you did not have to repeat the process. This worked flawlessly for a week until our new system was installed. Very good device with some very nice features, a must if you are accessing free wifi as this device can utilize built in vpn, (you need a vpn subscription). while at the same time it works very well when you need a work around to the fixed portal issue. 100 recommended.