GL.iNet Slate 7 (GL-BE3600) is yet another travel router from the company, but it adopts the latest WiFi 7 standard with combined link speed of up to 3600 Mbps. The Slate 7 router supports both OpenVPN up to 100 Mbps and WireGuard up to 540 Mbps, and integrates with over 30 VPN services.
The WiFi 7 router is relatively affordable starting at just $96 for pre-orders, but that’s limited to the first 800 orders, and after that the price goes up to $102 for the next 1,000 pieces, and the retail price will be $120 after that. Orders are limited to one per customer for the first two offers, and 10 per customer at the $120 price tag during the pre-order period. Deliveries are scheduled to start at the end of April / beginning of May.
GL.iNet Slate 7 (GL-BE3600) specifications:
- SoC – Qualcomm quad-core @ 1.1GHz (Likely the IPQ5322, now part of Qualcomm Dragonwing N7, and found in the TP-Link Archer BE3600)
- Memory – 1GB DDR4
- Storage – 512MB NAND flash
- Networking
- 2.5GbE WAN Ethernet port
- 2.5GbE LAN Ethernet port
- WiFi
- Protocol – IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be
- Wi-Fi Link Speed – 688Mbps (2.4GHz), 2882Mbps (5GHz)
- Antennas – 2x foldable external Wi-Fi antennas
- Up to 120+ simultaneous clients supported
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 port
- Misc
- Reset and Toggle buttons
- Touchscreen display on front panel
- Power Supply – USB Type-C port (5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/2.5A)
- Power Consumption – Up to 18 Watts without USB
- Dimensions – 130 x 91 x 34 mm
- Weight – 295 grams
- Temperature Range – Operating: 0 to 40°C; storage: -20 to 70°C
- Certifications – CE, FCC, MIC, RoHS, WEEE, IC, UKCA
The router runs a fork of OpenWrt 23.05 with a rather old, but still supported Linux kernel 5.4.213 LTS. It supports OpenWrt and Wireguard VPN, AdGuard, various network modes (Routing, AP, Wireless Bridge and Wired Bridge), and more. I’d expect the same GL.iNet Admin Panel v4 web interface is used as in the other company’s routers like the Flint 2 tested up to 900 Mbps with WireGuard.
The Slate 7 (GL-BE3600) WiFi 7 travel router ships with a US power adapter, EU/UK/AU plug adapters, an Ethernet cable, a warranty card and a user manual.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Does these support connecting USB LTE (4G) adapter as mobile data modems?
I guess not. GL.iNet says the USB 3.0 port is for storage. They have other travel routers with built-in 4G LTE, maybe that’s why it’s not implemented. But if mainline OpenWrt can be installed (TBC), I don’t see why it would not work.
I tried to plugin a FM350-GL, it won’t should as cellular in web-gui.But after some setting like install some packages, it can work perfectly.
Hm too bad the lack of 6Ghz channels ( can it have Wifi7 label without 6Ghz ? be/mlo is enough ?) is a no go for me 🙁
The exact supported bands have little to do with it being or not being WiFi 7, it’s just a protocol. You can run WiFi 7 on 2.4 GHz only.
What’s confusing is that you have Wifi6 and 6E to differenciate the availability of 6Ghz band. Here.. you need to read the specs of each device
Ordered on pre-order. You can spin the wheel and get extra 10% off, making this pretty attractive price. It is slightly too large to be travel. It is larger and weights 100g more than Beryl AX. The Beryl AX is taller than Cudy TR3000. Overall the front screen seems to be gimmick, interesting though.
GL.Inet routers are great and open, so you can run your own network security apps on one. I’m still waiting for them to come out with a decent 5G hotspot, they are stuck on 4G.
I reviewed the GL.iNet Spitz AX (GL-X3000NR) with 5G and WiFi 6 two years ago. What’s wrong with that one except it’s rather expensive?
https://www.cnx-software.com/2023/05/04/gl-inet-spitz-ax-gl-x3000nr-5g-nr-wifi-6-router-review-part-1-specs-unboxing-and-first-boot/
Big fan of GL-iNet travel routers (I have two, an A1300 Slate Plus and an AR300M-16 Shadow) but I see few benefits and many disadvantages of this (and their other recent travel products) over the Slate Plus. It’s bigger, heavier, uses more power, has fewer LAN ports and is more expensive. I’ve never seen real world hotel / public WiFi which will deliver the throughput to justify the extra WiFi7 / 2.5GbE performance. If they could make an optimised (even smaller / lighter) Slate Plus I’d be far more interested than their current direction of loading more “features” (who on earth needs an LCD display on a router??) to justify ramping up the cost.
+1 x🔥