I’m looking to replace my portable modem with a GL.iNet router because I saw that they claim to use OpenWRT which is a open source firmware.
My question is:
Is their OpenWRT version actually reliable?
You can always reflash it with your own if you hold that concern.
On OpenWRT official Table of Hardware from what I researched, it only lists older models and not new ones, I’m afraid of buying them and not being able to install vanilla OpenWRT on them.
The newest Flint 2 model has mainline OpenWRT support. It will be included in the next stable release but can already be used through the testing branch.
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If you have any question on truth worthiness, you can flash stock openwrt on them. You just lose out on their proprietary webUI and pre installed plugins. I believe their firmware is public on GitHub though.
but in your opinion Do you think their proprietary UI could be a risk for privacy /security ?
I haven’t done a code review so I can’t answer that question with facts. I do think however, that anything that bootstraps a FLOSS framework like openwrt could easily be a risk to privacy.
You use privacy and security interchangeably here. They are not the same.
The biggest issue most people have with it is the dynamic DNS feature, which is automatically enabled and contacts their server to create the record. If you turn this off before connecting the router to the internet, you’re probably good.
The simplified DoH client also only allows either Cloudflare or NextDNS, which aren’t the most privacy-oriented options. Still, it’s possible to set up your own.
Otherwise I’ve never heard of anything major; the devices are cheap and reliable. I’ve had one running constantly for years and only had to reboot it manually once.
I don’t actually know for a fact whether their firmware is trustworthy, but the fact that they put being Free Software front-and-center as a feature instead of forcing you to flash it yourself if you want OpenWRT makes me inclined to trust them more than I would any brand that doesn’t do that.
(I only own one GL.iNet product – a Mango v2 that I impulse-bought because it was OpenWRT and cheap – but if stuff like the GL-AP1300 had existed at the time I was upgrading my network I would’ve gone with them instead of TP-Link.)
I bought a Slate Plus just last month and simply flashed it with vanilla OpenWRT as soon as I opened the box. I certainly wouldn’t trust the stock firmware, but this is so easy to remedy it’s barely worth talking about.
I’m using a Slate router as an access point. It’s really awesome. They just provide a UI on top of vanilla openwrt, but you can still go to that UI via “advanced mode”. We need more of OSS routers!
I’m on a 5yrld Mango travel router right now. The selling points to me were the power requirements and OpenWRT. It’s my main access / media sharing device on my sailboat. Love it.
Their plugins arent really reliable. Can tell you that. The Mullvad VPN Plugin does not like it at all if you ever should run out of VPN Time. If your VPN is not being paid the connection shits itself and doesnt reconnect properly when the VPN is being paid for again. Besides that, the Seamless-Tunnel Option (aka. dont allow network traffic if its not through the VPN) is working but hella buggy if you want to disable it for testing.
Got myself a Opal one. Not sure what I will be using it from now on tbh. Maybe the other Options are more reliable but I couldnt be bothered to check em out in the last months.
I’ve never had any problem with Mullvad reconnecting after I’ve run out and paid up again, that has worked seamlessly on mine
Thanks for the info. Maybe something is bugged with mine. I’ll have a look into it. Currently its not being used of the first few months of use, that were… lets say bumpy at best…
an open source firmware
Firmware isn’t a countable, any more than you’d say “a traffic” as a noun.
🫢 traffic is easy, but i didn’t know about firmware
