I see other brands like Asus and Unifi release multiple AX routers for Home and Office Network. AX1800 of Flint is not attractive enough to make a buying decision. There are AX3000, 3200, 6000, bla bla from competitors. Furthermore, ASUS routers can connected to each other to create a mesh system (AirMesh) and widen the Wifi coverage. Honestly, users expect a new AX Router from Gl.inet that has
REAL latest OpenWRT firmware
Higher speed (AX3000,3200,…)
Ability to connect with Flint or itself to create a mesh wifi
Better UI (chart) to monitor total Internet bandwidth (Download/Upload)
Sadly OpenWRT itself still does not offer some sort of meshing feature. I would love that if OpenWRT would do something like Fritzbox does, which allows you to build a mesh by attaching all devices on one master device, which then controls the mesh.
I am using the Fritz! Mesh, right now. At first it works okayish on a DLAN, 2 floors at ca. 140qm. 4 Fritz!Box 7x90
But when I replaced the DLAN with CAT7 cables to every room, the performance issues are still appear.
On the bright side, it is some kind of self repairing. After a while (up to 5 days after each restart of the infrastructure) all clients are happy and the Mesh overview makes sense.
If I could, I would every time select a 802.11s over the closed solution. At least I can mix up different vendors for different purposes.
I need VLAN for IOT on the top of my roof, but no DECT. But in the Garden, I love the DECT repeater Feature from AVM Mesh.
No, please don’t orientate at AVM (Fritz!Box Vendor). Please make it better, GL-Inet team
I like the fritzbox solution from a user perspective. You do not manage each device by itself in that mesh, you manage the whole mesh from just one of the devices. I like how easy it is to manage the multiple APs/DECT that way. Not as technical solution. There the mentioned OpenWRT method (especially if you go b.a.t.m.a.n. and setup FT etc etc) will be way way better. But the average person cannot do that.
I did, I purchased 2 AX58U (3000) from Asus recently for my parent’s home and it worked very well to create a mesh system. I still used AX1800 Flint for my primary home because I love AX router running on OpenWRT to customize my needs. That’s maybe the reason why I see clearly the disadvantages between AX1800 Flint from AX58U ASUS, and of course, its advantages. In my country, both devices are at the same price as well. I created this topic to share my opinions and showed the room for GL.inet’s improvement.
I have an Asus RT-AX88U as my main router (with wifi turned off) and 2 mesh Unifi access points for wifi. The setup just works, is super reliable and has never crashed on me.
AsusTek and Ubiquiti are both multi-billion dollar companies and GL.iNet revenue is in the few million dollars (as far as I could find via Google search). Each company has their own target market and there are advantages/disadvantages to products from each that appeal to their customer base. In North America, the Asus and Unifi products are at higher price points than GL.iNet.
I agree with continuous improvement, but not with attempting to mimic products from huge companies to sell at lower prices. Instead, I would prefer to see GL.iNet use their limited resources to make their products stable/reliable and to fix all their bugs that seem to show up with every release, so that they can retain and grow their customer base.
If that’s the case, I can clearly show you an example of Wyze camera vs Google Nest, and Arlo which are giants in the security cam industry. With limited resources, Wyze can even offer affordable price for their cams. About the features, AI person detection is a huge advantage. I did not say that GL.inet needs to lower the price of the router they sell, but improve the current features and develop some important features.
They started with travel routers, swept the advanced travel user market with the best travel/portable routers out there and should continue to concentrate on that sector of the market in my opinion. Further diversifying is nice in theory but will undoubtedly result in losing focus on their unique products and their consumer base. As the others said, if you want a home router, then go and get an Asus, Ubiquiti…etc. although I have been using my Slate AX1800 at home as main router that covers most of my needs more than my high-end Asus GTAX6000. As for the mesh, then I use an Asus Mesh system as an access point and leave my GL.iNET to do all the routing tasks.
It is best for us just to agree to disagree. For every 1 example of success, there are many, many examples of company failures.
As I stated, GL.iNet products are at lower price points in the big North American market and I believe that is the major reason for their degree of success here. If they have similar products that are priced the same as Asus, Ubiquiti, TP-Link, Netgear, Linksys, then I do not expect they will be able to compete as well.
Note that GL.iNet is a technology follower, in that they use OpenWRT that is developed by others, which in turn is a follower of major hardware/software companies around the world that develop the 802.X/803.X technology standards. I doubt that the vast majority of people who buy network products for home use know what OpenWRT is or even care.
I have no use for a travel router. The reason I purchased a FLINT Router was for the Wireguard.
ASUS were woefully behind on implementing Wireguard (Alot to do with the fact they use Broadcom from what I’ve seen)…ASUS are an example of a company that produced really innovative routers offering features above and beyond what other’s were offering…Unfortnately it seems during COVID development went kind of stagnant…Now they are offering new AX routers that are just now getting Wireguard (But in a hobbled manner due to Broadcom)…AND their prices are now SKY HIGH…Bottom end stuff is in the 250 to 300 dollar range with prices going up to almost $700 retail in the U.S. That’s fine for someone with lots of throw away cash…But if I ever decide to spend $700 on a home router you can call the guys in the white coats to come and throw a net over me…The FLINT Router is doing an exceptional job for me as an Edge Router doing the WIREGUARD and routing to my VOIP adapter AND my LAN Router (ASUS older model)…This is my first GL.iNet router and I’ve been very happy with it thus far. I do feel however FLINT and their HOME routers should get a more customized version of firmware differing it from the TRAVEL Routers…On top of my list would be the flexibility through the GL.iNet interface to assign LAN Ports as WAN ports for failover/fallback (Like is offered by TPLink and others) without the need to do complicated configuration in LUCI. But I realize that GL.iNet is a smaller company so maybe this is something that will evolve as time goes on and further HOME ROUTERS are offered.
I doubt you can run a big business just on those OpenWRT nerds, who use travel routers. I honestly do not mind that GL-iNet makes several of the somewhat complicated tasks a lot easier, so more consumers could use their product.
I do hope that they do also make sure their routers will get stock OpenWRT for the more tech/advanced users, but I honestly have no issues with them diversifying.
Home networks are somewhat different to travel routers. I generally will only use 1 travel router. In my home I sadly do not have enough with just 1 wireless access point. So meshing/multi-device management is more handy in a home environment versus multi-wan/mobile tethering/wisp mode.
GL.iNet is still a fairly small company and, as far as I can find via Google search, has 50-ish people and $6M-$8M annual sales.
It would not be any surprise to me if the clever co-founders Alfie and Jianyi have already thought and/or are thinking beyond the current routers, with complementary products and services.
It is great that you are happy with your GL-AX1800 Flint router for your specific needs!
I have different needs and none of the GL.iNet routers matches my specific requirements as well as the Asus RT-AX88U router, which I only paid ~$180 for and was not much higher cost than the Flint. I do not require WireGuard (OpenVPN is fine for me) on the main router, but the Asus has 8 x GbE LAN ports (6 ports currently occupied) and dual WAN (failover/fallback/load balance on either Ethernet or USB), plus other features that are handy and/or I may use in the future.
In terms of price, I consider the total cost of all my network/Internet connected devices that rely on having stable and reliable networking:
… plus the total cost of music/video streaming services, software and related electronic accessories for the devices.
For me personally, spending a few hundred dollars on my home network infrastructure is worth every penny, without having to encounter and deal with constant bugs and issues.
RT-AX88u for $180…That’s $100 under the sale price on Amazon…Quite a good deal…
I paid $80 for my Flint new…The Flint does what my ASUS Router will not so it augments it…
I have no immediate desire to shell out $300 plus dollars for a new ASUS router especially since
I’m totally wired and don’t need wifi. For me right now I’m good.
(Around 30 computers/devices on my network…All wired.)
If you are spending over $300-700 for a router you should just get a Ubiquiti Networks UniFi Dream Router or Dream Machine Pro and some access points. I think I saw a Ubiquiti dream pro for $379. Plus you get access to their Wifiman heatmap generater.
To be honest 4 ports is generally plenty. It is easy to use a switch or even multiple switches to get yourself more ports. 4x4 wireless is also tricky, because there are not to many/if any 4 stream (windows) clients; Linux there are some! MU-MIMO does not always work out, so I really doubt you get the most out of a RT-AX88U. It does have a very quick CPU for VPN use, but I really wonder if that is worth its price.
A Flint will do failover/fallback/load balance on either Ethernet or USB.
