Creta (GL-AR750) Travel AC Router

I really like this travel router. It fills several needs for me. My use-cases for this device include: Hotels (which often limit the number of devices connected), commercial campgrounds (which often have poor propagation), portable hotspots that limit the number of devices connected, and at home as a range-extender. Even for hotels that do not limit the number of devices connected, it's convenient to allow all of my devices to connect to this device so that I only have to set up one upstream connection rather than doing the captive portal dance for each device. In other words, I can connect this to the hotel wifi, and then all my other devices will just work without individually walking them through the hotel wifi authorization steps. The most common use case for travel routers, I believe, is exactly that; log the router into the hotel's wifi, and all your devices that you've previously set up with the router will just work without the hassle of logging each of them into the hotel wifi. This is especially important when the hotel wifi allows only one or two devices. The other reason to have a travel router in a hotel setting is security. More on that later. It's also useful as a VPN; you can connect it to a VPN, and all your devices that connect to it will benefit from the VPN. Once again, it's really nice to put the VPN on the router and not have to set it up on each device. Easier, and more secure since there's no risk of forgetting a device. OpenWRT and the web-based GUI are nice to work with; powerful, feature-full, and simple enough. More router manufacturers should just use OpenWRT instead of their own (often inferior) custom firmware. On first use I set it up at home. It's useful to remember to turn off "auto-connect" from your laptop so that it doesn't try to connect to your home router while you're in the middle of trying to get this router configured. Once you've done that, you follow the steps in the documentation. But they're really fairly straightforward and didn't have any surprised. It was also easy to update the device's firmware. There are less powerful models out there; some that provide 802.11bgn, for example. This one provides 802.11ac, so better throughput than some inferior models. And because it is dual-radio, you can, if you prefer, connect the 2GHz band to the upstream router, and then your devices to the 5GHz band. Or vice versa. In theory this can perform a little better than using a single radio for both the upstream router connection and the downstream device connections. The size is small enough to fit into my backpack's side pocket along with my travel 5600mAH portable battery pack. And it is lightweight. For security, in addition to allowing for VPN setup, it also provides DNS over TLS through Cloudflare; free, and a lot more secure than unprotected DNS which lets your upstream provider to see your DNS requests. So, no more asking my kids to drop their internet connections so I can get some work done while we're traveling. No more having to help everyone connect to a hotel's captive portal. Connect this single device, and all the other devices that already paired up to this previously will work automatically. Set everything up in spare time at home, take the router when you travel, connect it to the provider, and everything else works. Just what I needed. Update: I've now had this device long enough to also use it during a hotel stay. The hotel I stayed at had a couple of options: Wifi at a charge (limited to two devices), or wifi for free (rewards members only, and limited to two devices), or wired LAN. I travel with two small Thinkpad X1 Carbon laptops; one belonging to work, and one for personal use, plus my cell phone. So I have a need for three simultaneous connections. Although I'm a rewards member, and so entitled to free Wifi, it was so much easier to just plug the router into the hotel's wired network; all my devices are already set up to connect to the router's wifi, so I didn't have to go through a process for each of them. Without the router I would have had to keep my phone on 4G/5G data and would have had to do the captive portal sign-in for my two laptops. Because of the router, it was just a matter of connecting it to the hotel's network, and all three devices connected immediately. Everything worked exactly as it should. So I'm pleased. And now I've been able to use it as a wifi extender (at home), and as a travel router at the hotel. The next test will be as a range extender at a commercial campground, where wifi is often not all that great. Oh, one last useful feature I've discovered: TLS encrypted Cloudflare DNS: If you are privacy conscious, you may already realize that even if you are browsing the web using https connections, your DNS requests are visible to your ISP, or to your hotel, etc. With this device you can easily switch to encrypted Cloudflare DNS, which makes your DNS (domain) lookups essentially invisible to your ISP, your hotel, or anyone else in the middle who might be snooping. I'm not a big tinfoil hat person, but it is a little more reassuring that I have this extra level of privacy and security available. At home I'm using the router as a range extender, an application it offers with ease. I only wish that GL.iNet made full-size home routers, too.

I’ve bought several cheap little routers to use in art projects. The features I need are a) Wifi b) WISP / tethering that allows it to act as a wifi extender and c) Ethernet ports to which I can attach wired network devices. The last one before this was a WiseTiger brand. Worked ok initially, but then it would constantly disconnect from my home WiFi requiring me to reconnect it. Very frustration. When it started giving me SSL certificate errors and failing to let me connect to certain websites, I was immediately alarmed and started researching. Apparently it either comes preloaded with malware or is easily hacked! I disconnected it immediately and now it’s in a box, I will never connect it again to my own network. I replaced it with this and it’s better in literally every way. The speed is fast. I can use it in tethered WiFi mode without noticing any speed reduction. It has never dropped my WiFi leading to frustration when I can’t access the internet. It runs on 5v meaning I could potentially power it from a USB power bank. The interface is great, it’s very configurable and easy to use. I can’t recommend it enough and bought another one almost immediately.

# ABOUT VPN SUPPORT & INTERNET SPEED - It supports VPN. Working good with NordVPN with OpenVPN client. - The internet speed is ok as a travel router. Not recommended for daily home use. With VPN, it gives me around 8 Mbps speed. Without VPN, it gives around 12 Mbps internet speed. You need to check how much speed will the router give before purchasing any. In the description of this router, they say "up to 17Mbps OpenVPN Speed" but I am getting half of it. But I am okay with it as a travel router. # ABOUT STABILITY It stops working time and again. The wifi connects but internet doesn't work. Have to reboot the wifi time and again. # OTHER GREAT FEATURES - Good WiFi Repeater - Supports WAN Cable. - Supports Tethering Device or you can plug in your Smartphone for tethering. - Supports 3G/4G USB Modem for the internet. - Supports OpenVPN Client (Working Good with NordVPN) - Supports External MicroSD card upto 128 GB. - Dual band WiFi (2G & 5G) - Small and portable router - The admin panel is also good with nice features and easy to use.

Was traveling to China and was very concerned about getting hacked. Wanted a travel router that had OpenVPN loaded so I could turn on and use my VPN subscription when needed. General Google and internet searches didn’t turn up many options but I found this one on Amazon and decided to give it a try. The price was good and it came with open source DD-WRT and openVPN preloaded. Using this does require some basic knowledge of network security and isn’t for those who typically can’t manage these settings without assistance. The device worked flawlessly. It was easy to set-up my third party VPN account in the software. It easily connects to secure and public WiFi without any issues. For IOS users that have problems with getting the login page of public WiFi to show up, using this router gets around this IOS problem. An unexpected bonus. Another unexpected bonus was the fact that this router can run off micro-USB power. It doesn’t require its own specific power supply. This allows it to run off a standard USB battery pack, so you can use it without an outlet. When originally looking for a travel router, I was hoping to find a battery-powered travel router with OpenVPN, but could not find one. However, I now prefer this one because it is much smaller in size than battery powered travel router, and allows me to easily run it off a usb battery pack if I need to. It’s the best of both worlds since I always have a few battery packs with me when traveling.

De momento lo he usado para dos funciones diferentes. 1. Tethering de uno de los móviles de la empresa hacia nuestra red local para sustituir provisionalmente el router de fibra 2. Una vez instalado el router de fibra por el operador, crear una red WiFi para invitados En los dos modos ha funcionado perfectamente hasta ahora, aunque solo llevamos unos días usándolo. Todavía hay que esperar para valorar su funcionamiento a largo plazo, pero realmente parece de calidad. En cuanto tenga oportunidad probaré la VPN

Very useful in the special case you want one or more (could be a lot if you connect it to a hub or switch) UTP cable connected devices to connect to a WIFI network. You can even close its own host 2.4G and 5G network while doing that.

Vor allem fürs "sicherere" Online-Erlebnis auf Urlaubsreisen und Experimentieren im Bereich IoT sollte ein flexibler Router zum Einstiegspreis her. ### Performance ### 5/5 Um ein Open-Source-Betriebssystem, wie beispielsweise eine open wrt Distribution, aufspielen zu können, sollte ein Router etwas unter der Haube haben (mit weniger als 4MB flash und/oder ≤32MB RAM ist man dafür allerdings schlecht bedient). Der GL.iNet wartet zu diesem Zweck, mit seinen 128MB RAM / 16MB Flash, mit mehr als genug Leistung auf. Die erzielte Geschwindigkeit mit VPN beträgt mit meiner 50Mbit-Downstream-Leitung zwischen 6-8 Mbit, was nicht überragend aber OK ist (das Protokoll und Kryptierung lastet nunmal aus). Ich vergebe hierfür die volle Punktzahl, da keine High-End-Performance, welche für 300 € aufwärts zu haben wäre, zu erwarten ist. Zusätzlich könnte ich das Gehäuse öffnen und direkt den Chipsatz des Routers verwenden, wenn ich bspw. nur einen Sensor dranhängen möchte. ### Ports ### 5/5 Für seinen Zweck, nämlich "kleinere", experimentelle Anwendungsszenarien, sind ausreichend Anschlüsse vorhanden. ### Nutzeroberfläche ### 5/5 (or a solid 5/7 :D) Ich bin sehr positiv überrascht. Bisher habe ich nicht einmal das native Betriebssystem überschrieben, da, vor allem nach dem jüngsten Update, die Funktionalität sehr umfangreich ist und einen VPN-Client (für den Anbieter nach Gusto) beinhaltet. (Man sollte dennoch prüfen, ob der eigene Anbieter den Zugang über Fremdsoftware erlaubt - auch wenn die meisten zeitgemäßen Methoden auf OpenVPN basieren.) Natürlich bietet der Router die gängigen Konfigurationsprofile als Access Point, Router, Repeater etc. ### Verarbeitung ### 5/5 Wirklich sehr(!) handlich, vergleichbar mit Raspberry Pi in dessen Größe, und in Sachen Verarbeitung nicht zu beanstanden. Taugt auf jeden Fall für die Reise also. ### Lieferumfang ### 5/5 Alles was zum Einstieg an Kabeln nötig ist, ist vorhanden. ### Verbindungsqualität ### 5/5 Ich vergebe hierfür die volle Punktzahl, da ich noch keine Verbindungsabbrüche bemerkt habe und das HD-Streaming beispielsweise klappt. ### Zusatzfunktionen ### 5/5 Dieser Router kommt wirklich mit ein paar guten Ideen um die Ecke, wie z.B. die Möglichkeit MicroSD-Karten als Speichererweiterung zu verwenden oder ein Schalter, um eine Bestimmte Funktion zu triggern. Habe ich schon den integrierten VPN-Client erwähnt...? - Ohja! (siehe oben...) ### Fazit ### Hier vergebe ich die volle Punktzahl, da man echt ein schönes Spielzeug von einer bisher recht unbekannten Marke für sein Geld bekommt. Wer weniger Einbuße bei der Verbindungsgeschwindigkeit bei der Nutzung von VPN sehen möchte, muss in einem höheren Preissegment suchen. (dies ist eine Bewertung aus Eigeninitiative)

Estaaa increible este router de viaje, facil de configurar y utilizar, jamas crei que este pequeño dispositivo pudiera manejar tanta seguridad. Contiene todo lo que indica el proveedor. Cumple perfectamente todos los modulos de seguridad (firewall, dmz, port forwarding, VPN, DNSsec, Portal cautivo, red para visitas, etc) y lo pueden conectar a una power bank sin problema, yo lo he conectado en una pequeña de 2000 mah y me duro 1 hr. Totalmente satisfecho y maravillado. Lo pueden usar de 4 formas tal cual se muestran en las imagenes. Se los recomiendo!

以下の2つの用途として2つ購入しました。 ①Oculus questを用いたVR展示を行う際に、Chromeキャストを用いたミラーリングをしたかったのだが、私物では無いものを毎回、私物のテザリングやポケットルータに接続するのが嫌で、尚且つ面倒なので購入。 ②外出先のホテルや友人宅でChromeキャストでYoutube、Amazon Primeビデオなどを観たい時にも接続設定が楽であったりやネットワークセパレート機能の対策のため、私物として2代目も購入。 有線LAN→本機→有線LAN 有線LAN→本機→無線LAN 無線LAN→本機→有線LAN 無線LAN→本機→無線LAN USBテザリング→本機→有線LAN USBテザリング→本機→無線LAN USBドングル(3G/4G)→本機→有線LAN USBドングル(3G/4G)→本機→無線LAN どのパターンも使える上に、本機のルータorブリッジを選択できる為、様々なパターンに対応できる優れものです。 ①の用途では、Oculus quest5台とChromeキャスト5台(1代目x2, 2代目x3)でそれぞれキャストしてみましたが、ほんのりあったかくなる程度でバッチリ仕事してくれました。接続機器はこの時は上の10台に加えて設定用のタブレットx2とPCx1の13台でしたが問題なく動きました。13端末のネットワーク設定がこれ一個だけやれば済むのでめちゃめちゃ楽です。この時は「有線LAN→本機→無線LAN」でもちろんルータモードです。 ②の用途では、「有線LAN→本機→無線LAN」と「無線LAN→本機→無線LAN」でルータモードで利用しましたが、どちらも問題なく利用できました。自宅のOpenVPNサーバを用いてVPNも利用できたので海外や、そこらへんのフリーWi-Fi環境でも利用できそうですね。 これらの設定も198.168.8.1にwebアクセスしGUIで設定できるためLinuxに詳しく無い方でも利用できる上に、SSHでアクセスしCUIで設定もできるため、何個も設定する場合があっても(？)楽だと思います。 もちろんwebUIはスマホ(Android, iPnone)やiPadからでもアクセス可能なので超楽です。(アプリ使えばSSHででもできるけど逆に面倒)