GL.iNet Flint Alternatives

[achnisch]

Hi all

I will be in the market for a new router soon and the Flint seemed like the perfect fit, however I've been reading that the firmware can be buggy and as they use their own flavour of Open-WRT it would not have the latest features/security updates.

I've been looking into some of the WiFi 6 routers from Asus and the ones that are supported by Merlin are unfortunately out of my price range (around $150 CAD). Am I better off keeping an eye out for a used Merlin supported router?

I guess my requirements are:

• Coverage for 3,600 square feet
• Reliable
• Well supported/updated
• Disable internet between set times on a per device basis
• Parental controls
• VPN support
• Mesh support for future expansion
• Adguard support (nice to have but not essential)

Writing all that down I realise I'm probably asking way too much for my budget! It seems that a used Merlin supported router would tick all my boxes but just wanted to ask if there were any other routers I hadn't considered (e.g. would a cheaper non-Merlin supported Asus router cover most of my needs?) Am I wrong about my reservations with the Flint and should go with that over an Asus?

If a Merlin supported router is my best bet, which are the better models to look out for as I've read that the AX-88U is not necessarily better than the AX-86U for example.

Thanks in advance

 

[Tech Junky]

Why not keep what you have and add an AP instead that's within your budget?

Nwa220ax6e runs $150 or nwa210ax is $125.

 

[achnisch]

I don't currently have any equipment, will be moving to my own place soon and I don't believe the ISP I'm likely to go with provides a router. I don't think APs were a big thing when I last looked into routers, but I'm guessing I can't use one on its own (i.e. I'll need an actual router first and then I can add APs to that in future?)

 

[Tech Junky]

A router gives you nat/firewall protection. The AP provides the WiFi and if you split the two it's a cheaper upgrade when WiFi improves.

Since you don't have anything currently it's a good position to be in. You're not swapping $300+ routers for better WiFi speeds

Get something cheap with at least a 2.5ge port for an AP to connect to and an AP. Wired routers start out fairly cheap and provide the foundation to build off of.

 

[L&LD]

For 3,600 SqFt, you don't need a router + AP. However, your budget seems off vs. your expectations too.

For a well-supported router that should easily handle your new home's WiFi, the GT-AX6000 is the minimum you should be looking at.

A very well-balanced (hardware) router, which is stable, proven (over a year now), has RMerlin support, and will receive the 3.0.0.6.xxx level firmware as it becomes available (not valid for all AX routers, but note that all Asus AC class routers won't be receiving the latest firmware and security features either).

Bump up your budget to today's reality. Or, wait until you see what the ISP provides. Any other path forward is sacrificing the network potential not only today but far into the future too.

 

[snah001]

I bought as earlybird the new Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) for $ 93,- including shipment.:

OpenVPN speed up to 190 Mbps; WireGuard® speed up to 900 Mbps
Wi-Fi 6 Max. 1148 Mbps (2.4GHz) + 4804 Mbps (5GHz) Wi-Fi Speeds
Preinstalled with native firmware based on OpenWrt 23.05 (Kernel version 5.15)

Will receive it somewhere next week so really curious if it is as good as they promise it is.

Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) | High-Performance VPN Router

Experience blazing-fast VPN speeds and full OpenWrt customization with Flint 2, our best Wi-Fi 6 router yet. A new realm of power, freedom, and security.

www.gl-inet.com

 

[CaptainSTX]

I bought as earlybird the new Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) for $ 93,- including shipment.:

OpenVPN speed up to 190 Mbps; WireGuard® speed up to 900 Mbps
Wi-Fi 6 Max. 1148 Mbps (2.4GHz) + 4804 Mbps (5GHz) Wi-Fi Speeds
Preinstalled with native firmware based on OpenWrt 23.05 (Kernel version 5.15)

Will receive it somewhere next week so really curious if it is as good as they promise it is.

Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) | High-Performance VPN Router

Experience blazing-fast VPN speeds and full OpenWrt customization with Flint 2, our best Wi-Fi 6 router yet. A new realm of power, freedom, and security.

www.gl-inet.com

I haven't used that particular model but their firmware is excellent and it offers many options. The VPN client either OPEN or WireGuard work well but I would be surprised that this or any router could get the WireGuard speeds that you quoted with the limited processor most routers usually have. Even on my VPN appliance with an I7 processor I seldom get speeds over 840 Mbps when running a WireGuard client.

Let us know what your router can actually get when it arrives.

 

[sfx2000]

I haven't used that particular model but their firmware is excellent and it offers many options. The VPN client either OPEN or WireGuard work well but I would be surprised that this or any router could get the WireGuard speeds that you quoted with the limited processor most routers usually have.

GL.inet can back up their claims - they're not known to exaggerate their numbers...

Regarding the i7 appliance, remember, WG uses chacha20-poly1305, so no HW assists there, it's all on core...

 

[sfx2000]

I guess my requirements are:

• Coverage for 3,600 square feet
• Reliable
• Well supported/updated
• Disable internet between set times on a per device basis
• Parental controls
• VPN support
• Mesh support for future expansion
• Adguard support (nice to have but not essential)

I think the big challenge is decent coverage for 3600 sq ft - 2.4 can do it, but 5GHz is a challenge for a single router/AP, mesh systems like Eero, Google Nest, and Netgear Orbi can cover that with good 5Ghz coverage, but those platforms don't really hit your other asks...

Synology RT6600ax along with a couple of MR2200ac's can hit that coverage area, and more features are available there, however, at the moment, they don't support WG, but they do OpenVPN and their own VPN clients.

GL-Inet is a good value solution, outside of the mesh requirement - but everything else is good - their SW is pretty solid, they have a good VPN solution that does support WG and OpenVPN for both client and server, and many of their models these days support AdGuard...

The GL-Inet devices do support both AP mode, along with Wireless Bridge, so if you can backhaul over ethernet, you can run a couple of routers in AP mode - so while it's not mesh, it's more classic multiple AP stuff...

SW - they build on OpenWRT and support it upstream with code commits...

HW - they do a good job - basically from Brume onwards they've been super solid, some of their earlier stuff was a bit noisy on the radio side, but that's been addressed in the WiFi5/6 models...

 

[CaptainSTX]

GL.inet can back up their claims - they're not known to exaggerate their numbers...

Regarding the i7 appliance, remember, WG uses chacha20-poly1305, so no HW assists there, it's all on core...

On the VPN appliance because both WireGuard and OpenVPN use just a single core not much difference in throughput.

I just tested by my GL-Inet AR750 which has a lessor processor than the OP's purchase but it can do 40 Mpbs when connected using a WireGuard client.

Interested in seeing what the OP actually gets and I agree that GL-Inet avoids most of the marketing boasts so I'm sure the speed will be good.

 

[sfx2000]

I just tested by my GL-Inet AR750 which has a lessor processor than the OP's purchase but it can do 40 Mpbs when connected using a WireGuard client.

I have an AR750 as well, great little travel router - I don't know much much later they'll be on the market, as QC-Atheros is end-of-lifed many of their legacy chips (foundry capacity is what I'm told) - and the AR750 is fully supported by OpenWRT on the ath79 branch...

 

[CaptainSTX]

I have an AR750 as well, great little travel router - I don't know much much later they'll be on the market, as QC-Atheros is end-of-lifed many of their legacy chips (foundry capacity is what I'm told) - and the AR750 is fully supported by OpenWRT on the ath79 branch...

Amazon has several newer models on sale. Really don't see upgrading as in hotels 20 Mbps is a fast connection.

 

[snah001]

Yesterday I came home from a long travel to Asia for work and had time to open the 1 week ago delivered GL-MT6000.
After unpacking install was very easy. After some fiddeling due to finding out how the software works it's doing quite well (coming from an AX-RT88U).
My ISP offers me over cable 500down/50up and straight out of the box it is delivering it wireless over Wifi 6 5Ghz 509down/49.9up without a problem as well on my desktop as my phone.
After that I did set up a Wireguard client connection and the speed I got in multiple speedtests it delivers 490down/49up so just due to the headroom the Wireguard protocol uses it is spot on.
With Wireguard on mu AX88U using the Wireguard option from the router I got 350 down/45up so the AX88U shows it limits due to the Broadcom soc.
For now for the € 114 paid (including import duties) it is delivering what it promisses and will figure out more of it's possibilities because it uses Open-WRT so a lot to explore.

 

[Justinh]

@snah001 I hope you can educate us on the performance, stability, and firmware features of this Flint 2.

 

[snah001]

Performance is really great on 5G.
My ISP is 500/50 and from 8 meters away (Wifi 5G) with 1 wall between I got still with Wireguard enabled 490+/49.
Setup with GL.iNet GUI is easy and when you really want to dive deep into things you can switch to the Lucy GUI of Openwrt where you can really setup the device to your likings.
Next to that the device comes with Adguard Home and you can load there the blocking lists of you likings so no need for Diversion or something like that.
Stability is great and within a period of 2 weeks I already received 2 firmware upgrades.
For more than 10 years I used ASUS routers with Merlin firmware but the bottleneck is that all these routers do not have hardware acceleration for their Broadcom soc's so 1 core is only used for Wireguard VPN connections so you don't get the maximum speeds with Wireguard.
The Flint 2 is able to deliver up to 900 Mbps Wireguard connections and from what I see now is that it really can deliver that (when the VPN server you connect to can support that speed).
Only small remark one must make is about the 2,5 Ghz Wifi band, it is underperforming but since I have no equipment that use that protocol it is not an issue for me.
Some will complain that is is not a Wifi 6e router but it as 2 double WAN 2,5 Ghz inputs and is able to get 4098 Mbps in 5G so I suppose only people with a 2 Gbps connection will loose out a bit.
So all in all the Flint 2 delivers what GL.iNet promises and it is SO much cheaper than a good ASUS router that is it a no brainer to buy this device.
Just my 2C.