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Evaluate – I wonder if this has happened to you, but the chances are very good. You’ve arrived at that great vacation destination — you know, the one with the $50-a-day resort fee that includes “free” WiFi — only to find out you’re limited to 2 devices at a time. Being the gadget geek that you are, you have a phone, tablet, laptop, and a few other connected devices (not to mention the other devices your travel companions have). The two just don’t cut it and the cell service in the hotel beeps with a “pluk” tune. A travel router can help with this and more, but is the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router up to the task? Read on to find out…
what is this?
The officially named GL-iNet GL-AXT1800 (in Slate AX) is a dual-band router/bridge that’s good enough to travel with. Similar in size and design to previous GL-iNet travel routers, the Slate is the first to support the 802.11ax protocol (hence the AX in the name). The Slate is truly a slate of color, and can achieve 600Mbps throughput on the 2.4G band and up to 1200Mbps on the 5G (non-cellular) band. All this comes in a box that measures 5 inches wide, 3.25 deep and 1.5 high and weighs 8.5 ounces.
What’s in the box?
- GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router
- USB-C power adapter with US plug
- Ethernet cable for wired connections
- Two page setup guide
Design and function
If you’ve ever seen a travel router, you already know what the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 gigabit wireless travel router looks like. The front panel has a WAN port (for connecting to wired networks), two LAN ports for plugging in your own wired devices, a USB-3 Type A port (for connecting a storage device or your phone – coming soon), and a USB-C power port. Note: There is no battery in the Slate, so you must provide a 5v/4a power source.
Both left and right have foldable antennas – fold flat with the router for transport, bring it to a full and upright position, to get the best signal. There’s a lot of good stuff under these antennas, but now when you’re ready to use it, the router looks like this.
About those “good things”…on the right side under the antenna is both a reset switch and a power button. When you plug in the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router, it turns on automatically. If for some reason you can’t connect the router to reset it, press and hold the reset button for 3 seconds. Press and hold for 10 seconds to perform a complete factory reset.
The GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router is an open source Linux version of OpenWrt (short for Open Wireless Router) designed for devices that handle network traffic. The OpenWrt software architecture allows device manufacturers to add LuCI, Gargoyle or, for that matter, anything the vendor runs on Linux to a web-based router configuration. OpenWrt also allows plugins to perform special functions, and that’s where the toggle button comes in. The Slate comes with some of these pre-installed: AdGuard Home (as the name suggests, this blocks ads from the router globally), OpenVPN client (to connect to any virtual private network that supports the OpenVPN protocol, making this router a secure extension of the corporate network) and WireGuard client (something that allows you to connect to secure sources through a VPN tunnel). The toggle button can be assigned to turn any of these apps on or off, or default to any of them.
On the left side of the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router is a card slot that can hold up to a 512GB microSD card. This card can be used as a file sharer, media streaming source (although a USB 3 port is probably better for this type of application), or anything else you want to share over your network.
The back panel (or front, how you want to put it) has a white flashing LED when the router is ready and a slow blue light when the router needs to be configured.
The GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router has a wide range of connectivity options to help you access the Internet. In addition to both wired and wireless connections, the router also allows reserved portal connections. These types of communications are actions that “hold” your connection and deny you access to the Internet until you opt-in, agree to an agreement, or take some other action. Slate can do this either directly or by masking your device’s MAC address as your computer to the host network.
You can also use your phone’s USB network sharing option to share your mobile connection. Simply plug your phone into the USB port on the Slate and enable network sharing in your device’s Settings app. Sure, you can connect most phones these days, but this approach opens up sharing with more than one device at a time.
Setup and operation
Once the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router is turned on, you can connect to it the same way you connect to any router. At the bottom of the router is a label with the network name and default key to connect. The tag also has a QR code you can scan to link it. You are now connected, but you have no internet connection.
To fix this, open a browser on your connected device and navigate to https://192.168.8.1 (the default LAN address, although this can be changed by configuration). On the page that opens, you will start the configuration process that allows you to connect any of the available options. But first, select your language:
You will then be prompted to set an administrative password. Security is a good thing, and Slate will tell you if the password you choose is weak or strong. With housekeeping tasks out of the way, you’ve arrived at the router’s main page where you can configure any part of the router you want.
You should probably start by connecting to a host network that provides Internet access. In my case, this meant connecting the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 gigabit wireless travel router to another WiFi network. By scrolling down the home page, you will see a card called Repeater. This is the method for connecting to a home or other non-captive network. Just click on the Connect link.
Next, you’ll see a list of networks that the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 gigabit wireless travel router can access. Select the appropriate network (note: network names have been changed to protect my location). If you don’t see the network you want (or the network doesn’t broadcast its SSID), select Join another network to enter the SSID manually.
With the network selected, provide credentials for access.
If this is a one-time connection, you can order the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 gigabit wireless travel router to forget about the network once it’s disconnected. Hit apply and voila! You are connected.
The Slate AX can handle much larger devices than previous GL-iNet travel routers, making it a great addition to your home network in addition to being a capable travel router. In my testing, I had a few devices connected: 2 Android phones, 2 Android tablets, 2 smartwatches, a Smart TV, a wireless inkjet printer, and 3 Google Assistant devices. All these are connected seamlessly and while all the devices perform their various functions, there is no noticeable loss of speed on any device.
The real test of a travel router is… well, travel. I have a big trip in October, but as a dry run I took my GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit wireless travel router and headed to the bar with my laptop and tablet to what looked like “Bar Chances”. The first contact with the network was as easy as it was at home, but agreeing to the terms and conditions was a slightly different story. Up front, I should say that this wasn’t a problem with the Slate, but rather the operator of the Slate (ie, me). I had the AdGuard plugin turned on, so when I opened a browser window on my laptop or tablet, I couldn’t access the T&C page. That’s probably because 90% (generous) of those types of pages are ads. It took me a few minutes to figure this out, and once I disabled AdGuard I was able to connect and be on my way.
After this I locked my computer’s MAC address in Slate. Not only does this allow me to maintain my correct MAC address, but it allows me to connect around one device with the equivalent of one connection rule that some vendors put in the game. Basically, I can make the host network think there is only one device connected to it, while all my devices are connected and put behind the Slate.
The all-around GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router is an excellent network utility player. It’s the fastest travel router I could find, even at home, it serves the purpose of a secondary guest network, protecting the home network when my aunt’s virus collector comes to visit. Whether you just need a reliable (and easy-to-use) router, or if you have more complex situations that require greater flexibility in your equipment, it has everything you need. Even if all you want to use it for is connecting multiple devices without paying a resort fee to do so, a single trip will more than pay for the cost of this device.
my favorite
- Its size and weight make it the perfect travel companion
- One of the fastest travel routers available
- Flexible enough to solve any communication problem
I will change
Final thoughts
Pre-pandemic I traveled a lot for work and leisure. Back then, I used the GL-iNet Opal and thought it was great, stopping just shy of great as it was a little annoying and not very fast. I have to admit that going into this review I expected a good but not great 802.11ax implementation. To say I was surprised is an understatement. The GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 Gigabit Wireless Travel Router rivals many standard stay-at-home AX routers in features, and dare I say it surpasses most in terms of the depth at which you can control your network. Plus, with the plug-in style architecture’s expansion capabilities, device size and portability, and the ability to perfectly meet any connection situation, there are no downsides to purchasing the GL-iNet Slate AX WiFi 6 gigabit wireless router. Router – If you’re looking to connect all your devices at your favorite Vegas hotel or you’re a network engineer needing to control the transmission frequencies in your home lab, this is the router to hit.
Price: $124.90
Where to buy: Amazon or GL-iNet store
Source: The sample for this review was provided by GL-iNet.
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