GL.iNet GL-A1300 (Slate Plus) Wireless VPN Encrypted Travel Router– Easy to Setup, Connect to Hotel WiFi & Captive Portal, Phone Tethering, Range Extender, Assess Point, Pocket-Sized, Open Source, NAS

The GL.iNet GL-A1300, also known as the Slate Plus, is a remarkable piece of technology that has quickly become an essential part of my travel kit. Here’s why:

Compact and Powerful: Despite its small size, this router packs a punch. It’s simple to use, and its performance is consistently reliable, making it a favorite for me.

Travel-friendly WiFi Solution: One of the standout features for me is its ability to create a new WiFi network in places like hotel rooms. This means I no longer have to go through the tedious process of reconfiguring WiFi settings on each of my devices. Even better, it effortlessly handles networks with login pages. Log in once, and all your devices are good to go!

Versatile Power Options: The inclusion of a standard USB-C port for power is a game-changer for me. It means I can power the router using battery packs, which is incredibly handy in locations without readily available power outlets.

VPN Integration: The easily configured VPN option is excellent for frequent travelers. Whether you’re trying to maintain an IP from a different country or just value your online privacy, the Slate Plus has you covered. Its support for the OpenVPN protocol ensures compatibility with a vast array of providers.

The GL.iNet GL-A1300 (Slate Plus) Router is a traveler’s best friend. It’s versatile, powerful, and incredibly user-friendly. Whether you’re on a business trip or a vacation, this router ensures you stay connected seamlessly. Highly recommended!

I love this thing so much that I bought a second one. I leave one at home behind my main router to act as a WireGuard VPN server and as an AdGuard Home DNS, so I can block ads on all devices on my home network. The second one is used as a travel router with a WireGuard VPN client for when I’m at a hotel, and can have a little file server for media.

I had to reserve DHCP and set up port forwarding my main home router to get the WireGuard VPN to work, and I had to set up port forwarding on the Slate Plus at home, so that all DNS requests on my home network traffic could get routed to AdGuard Home from Port 53 to Port 3053 (it didn’t work when I just set the primary DNS in my main router to the IP of this router or the IP that AdGuard uses). There is a handle “Gateway drop-in mode” that is supposed to minimize tinkering with your network. However, my SmartThings hub kept going offline and online when that mode was enabled, and some of the PC games my son plays were not working well with that mode enabled. I could exclude those devices, but I didn’t want to do that. I just manually adjusted my network.

This thing has so many features, and I like that it runs OpenWRT. I spent a week in a hotel, and used this setup to set up an encrypted private tunnel back to my home network. I set the SSID to match that of my home network, so that all of our devices (phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and streaming devices) would automatically connect without me having to set each of them up. Also, I only had to deal with the hotel’s captured portal for sign-in once in total. In the past, I had a WireGuard client set up for each device, and I’m glad to be done with that cumbersome process of setting them up and remembering to turn it on and off when we arrive and leave the hotel, especially on my wife’s and son’s devices. This way all of our devices automatically connect through the VPN at the hotel and all get ad blocking. I enabled VPN kill switch (don’t allow non-VPN traffic).

I love that this has several ways to connect to internet, ethernet, wifi (both 2.4 and 5 Ghz), USB cellular dongle, or tethered to a phone (hotspot or USB). It also has WPA3.

The latest firmware update allows the LED light to be turned off. Before that I used black tape over the light.

This thing blows my old travel router out of the water! I liked it so much that I purchased the nice little GL.iNet net case for carrying the travel router, it’s charging cable, a few ethernet cables of various lengths, and a portable battery to run the router for a short while if I’m somewhere without a power outlet (like in a car as a file server for road trips).

This router is running on my 12v powered starlink setup. I’m using 12v to 9v buck converter to step voltage down. This thing powered right up and talked to the starlink dish right out of the box. With a few tweaks in the settings it’s working perfectly. I chose this particular router for a few reasons. It has built in VPN compatibility so when we are outside the USA we can use VPN to localize our connection and still access things like video streaming accounts, VOIP/FaceTime calls using our US phone #, not to mention security when doing banking etc. In addition, it has both 2.4ghz and 5ghz capability so I can choose one to the other based on what is working best in wherever we are parked. It also has a guest network feature. We are often posted up in areas with no other Internet access and this allows me to share our internet with others without giving them access to our main network. I can turn the guest network on/off as needed. I have the router installed in a cavity between a couple of cabinets and the signal is strong and carries 50+ feet away from the camper. It is also full strength inside the cab of the truck so we have high speed internet in the cab while driving. This is a GREAT feature for off-road navigation as I can use Google earth or similar for top-down Satalite view of our location in real time. Can’t beat that!
Overall setup was easy, the admin menu is pretty simple, and the feature set is more than enough for me.

The ONLY thing that I wish it had built in was the ability to block websites on the guest network. We end up places where I don’t want to allow others to post to their ‘effing social media accounts. I prefer some places to be left for others to discover on their own instead of blasted out for the world to see. But hey, that’s just me.

Overall this is a fantastic little router for our mobile setup.