GL.iNet Beryl AX review

Design and Configurations

The folding antennas make the Beryl AX easier to pack than a conventional home router. At 196 grams, the router itself is a modest addition to a work bag, although you also need its power supply and any cables required for your setup. Use a supply that meets the specified 5 V / 3 A requirement.

The verified purchasing options are a single router and a package of two. Both use the same Blue GL-MT3000 hardware. Two units could serve different trips or locations; the quantity package should not be mistaken for a mesh system that arrives configured for a particular home.

There is a small fan inside. CNX Software heard it only at close distances after sustained Wi-Fi and storage activity in a room around 24°C.¹ I would leave ventilation clear and avoid describing it as a fanless device, but that test does not suggest that ordinary travel use is necessarily noisy.

Connectivity

A wired connection from the hotel room or an existing router is straightforward when one is available. Otherwise, repeater mode connects the Beryl AX to an existing Wi-Fi network and lets your devices remain on the local network you have already set up. Compatible USB tethering or a separate cellular modem offers another route online.

Public hotspot login pages can interrupt that process. GL.iNet provides a login mode for supported firmware, but it may temporarily suspend services and switch DNS settings to complete authentication. Finish the login and confirm your intended VPN and DNS settings afterward. The router cannot guarantee access to every hotel network.

The Gigabit LAN port is useful for a laptop, console or another wired device. It also sets a limit: the 2.5-gigabit WAN port does not give a wired client a 2.5-gigabit path through the default LAN connection. ServeTheHome measured roughly 1 Gb/s in each direction during a simultaneous wired test using Keysight CyPerf; that was about 2 Gb/s in aggregate, not a 2 Gb/s download.²

Compared with the original Beryl GL-MT1300, you gain a faster WAN port but lose one LAN port and the microSD slot. USB storage remains available through Samba or WebDAV. A traveler who relied on the older model’s card slot should account for the extra USB drive or reader.

Wireless Performance

Wi-Fi 6 gives suitable devices more local wireless capacity than the original Wi-Fi 5 Beryl. That can help when several devices share the router or exchange files locally. The speed of a hotel’s Internet service remains a separate limit, and there is no 6 GHz radio.

CNX Software’s early test used a Rock 5B Wi-Fi 6 client and an Ubuntu laptop with 2.5-gigabit networking. After initial connection difficulties, one download run reached about 342 Mb/s and a later run about 910 Mb/s.¹ That variation is a reason to treat the figures as results from that test setup, rather than a dependable speed for every client.

Current GL.iNet documentation lists Beryl AX for EasyMesh support from firmware 4.10, with wired or wireless backhaul. This can give it another use at home, but requires compatible software and supported peers. Its two radios do not become a dedicated-backhaul system simply by enabling mesh.

VPN

Running a VPN on the router lets suitable connected devices use the configured tunnel without installing a separate VPN app on each one. That is useful for devices with limited software support, or when you want to manage a group of travel devices together. You still need the appropriate server configuration or provider account.

GL.iNet rates client-mode throughput at up to 300 Mb/s with WireGuard and 150 Mb/s with OpenVPN in local-network tests. Those are manufacturer figures, and it says server-mode speeds are lower. The connection at your destination and the remote VPN endpoint can reduce the result further.

Policy routing lets you decide which traffic uses the tunnel, rather than treating every connection identically. The router can also run a client and server together. I would configure and check the intended setup before leaving home, especially if reaching a remote network is important to the trip.

Software and Security

The regular GL.iNet interface covers common tasks, while LuCI exposes more detailed OpenWrt controls. That makes the Beryl AX more adaptable than a travel device with only a handful of fixed modes. It also means advanced changes deserve care: a useful travel network should be easy to restore if a setting causes trouble.

AdGuard Home can filter DNS requests, and the router supports encrypted DNS and WPA3. Newer parental controls include schedules and content filters from firmware 4.9. These features provide choices for managing access; none is a substitute for checking that the particular device and application behaves as intended.

The core local controls and VPN protocol support are included. A commercial VPN provider or additional cloud service can have its own plan, so the router purchase alone does not supply every remote service. Update the firmware and test tethering or USB storage with the accessories you plan to carry.

Alternatives

The newer Beryl 7 adds Wi-Fi 7, two 2.5-gigabit Ethernet ports and broader USB-C Power Delivery compatibility. It is worth considering if those connections solve a specific limitation. Mesh support is model-dependent: GL.iNet’s current supported-model list includes Beryl AX but excludes Beryl 7.

If you travel with only a phone and laptop and already use a satisfactory phone hotspot, carrying a separate router may add little. Beryl AX earns its place when keeping several devices connected, applying router-level VPN rules or sharing local storage makes each stop easier.

Verdict

The Beryl AX remains a useful travel companion for someone who wants control over a small network away from home. Its connection options and VPN tools are the reason to buy it. I would prepare it before a trip, accept the single Gigabit LAN port, and choose newer hardware only when its extra capabilities meet a clear need.