GL-AX1800

I’d been eyeing up the GL.iNet GL-AX1800 (Flint) for a few weeks and when it became available on a Prime Day deal for £73 I went for it.Firstly the build quality is great, this is a small but solid little router, feels quite heavy and substantial compared to other routers. In terms of footprint it doesn’t take up much room at all, smaller than a BT SH2.The user interface is comprehensive but simple to use allowing lots of configuration and setting up VPNs both OpenVPN and WireGuard are easy and I’m using SurfShark.Lots of added functionality with the ability to add apps. You can disappear into the advanced OpenWRT configuration if you want to use a nonstandard DDNS provider.I’ve about 40 devices on my network including cameras, computers, smart devices, streaming devices and it copes easily with them all. No performance issues and I’ve been using it for about 3 weeks and it has been rock solid in terms of reliability with no drop outs or reboots.The Wifi range is really good and I’ve removed two repeaters as the Flint covers the whole house.I’ve used Gl.iNet routers for about 5 years now and they always provide great value and terrific performance/reliability.Highly recommended and a bit step up over ISP routers.

I’ve tried several routers, Asus and netgear and both are not very user friendly, the glnet is user friendly I just drop and drag the vpn scripts and I can choose which location to connect to and it has a kill switch, dns management and it’s such a breeze to setupI just plugged it in via the Ethernet, I then connected to the hotspot, added the VPNs, renamed the network and WiFi password and it connected straight away to the vpn and the kill switch works (it’s renamed in the latest version) I’m getting good speeds and there is an adblocker and you can even encrypt the dns traffic.As someone who games and gets attacked in online gaming on console, it’s a must for Xbox or PlayStation to keep your safe in online lobbies as by default consoles don’t have settings for VPNsAll in all this is easy to set up and use but for the advance user you got the advance tab where you can manage everything in Openwrt and install applications.The router is a nice size if you don’t have a lot of room to put up the router and the WiFi covers my whole home.With the nethear I had it was a difficult set up 1 vpn location let alone add more and it had no kill switch you had to configure the firewall to act as one which is okay but far from idea.Glnet has the best applications and vpn clients for both wireguars and open vpnit will work with PIA for PIA users but you’ll need to use the app to set it up. The Glnet app is pretty good for managing the router.Good quality, a bit pricey but I was willing to pay a little bit more to get the ease of use and familiarity as I’ve used Glnet in the past I had the travel router but it wasn’t as fast as this one is because this one had more processing power and WiFi power and better antennas

My use case scenario: the ISP (Virgin) provided router is in bridge mode, whilst this router routes the traffic to all the devices in the house (about 20 or so devices).Likes:- Based on OpenWRT router software. This is an open source platform that allows you to enable features that are normally reserved for server grade routers. DNS over HTTPS , smart queue management to mention but a very small sample of the features that can be used.- Powerful CPU and NPU that enables gigabit Ethernet transfer speeds even when smart queue management is enabled.- Great Wi-Fi coverage and speed. I get an average of 667MB/s download speed on my iPhone when connected to the Wi-Fi and the signal is great throughout our home.- User interface makes it easy for most people to set the device up.- Small- Silent (some reviewers have mentioned that their units make a high pitched sound.)Dislikes:Short power lead. I would have preferred at least a 1.5m cable.A fantastic router at the price I brought it for. (£80)

UPDATE: After 4 weeks use I've downgraded my Rating to 3 Stars. It's still good value-for-money but I hit a few current unresolved issues with a) IP6 over BT Internet and b) being able to access the Internet via WireGuard VPN back to this router. GL-iNet's Support has been great, it just looks like the Firmware is a bit immature. Have now Returned this device (if you need a 'basic' router, their SF1200 for £30'ish is a steal - even as an Extender).This is a brilliant small footprint, unobtrusive, cheap router - >>note: you do need a separate modem<<. I've bought many routers in my time from all the well-known brands; previous fav. was a £300 ASUS AX-88U device. This AX1800 is as good if not better. Thought I'd try this - along with the GL-inet GL-SF1200 - to cheaply extend a wireless backbone and WiFi coverage down the garden. I'd previously used power-line adaptors to extend in the house and didn't want to spend a lot on Mesh etc.. Was very sceptical as both these devices came to £135 total. After 1 week using them I'm blown-away by a) the performance b) functionality and c) flexibility. They've both been rock solid, both with powerful 2.4G & 5G signals; the GL-AX1800 Flint includes a WireGuard (& OpenVPN) Server meaning you can easily VPN back to your home broadband from anywhere in the world (saves paying for a commercial VPN service). WireGuard clients are a doddle to set-up on iOS etc. via QR code. These routers use OpenWRT as their operating system; the standard GLi-net Admin Interface is very easy to use; the Luci interface allows advanced access to OpenWRT. If you're really bothered about this being a Chinese brand then just flash the router to use the bog-standard OpenWRT. In summary, this is a truly great router at an unbelievable price. Tip: As always, make sure to download any new Firmware and install it before Setting-up.