Yes what this guy said! But better open source CPU
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Yes, but basically these are the specs for the Beryl AX; so you've added the need for a fan and 15w. A flat form factor might obviate the fan, but I was hoping for a low power device.
If that's it, then I'll keep the Mango as is.
I have a NanoPi R5C with a Rockchip RK3568B2 quad‑core Cortex‑A55 processor @2GHz, 4 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of eMMC storage (not flash). It has dual PCIe 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports, two USB 3.2 ports, and USB‑C power, all in an aluminum case that takes up less space than my original Slate.
For WIFI, I use two external USB adapters, although an internal WIFI module is available. I have it connected through a USB volt/amp meter, and it draws about 0.77 A at 5 V, so just under 4 watts with both USB WIFI adapters active. It stays under 50°C without a fan, even under full load, as my main travel router.
It is absolutely possible to build a small, fast router that draws less than 5 watts and does not need a fan. The specs of the R5C are overkill for the Mango V2, so it should be possible to build it cheaper than the R5C.
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Maybe. The Filogic 820 is in the Beryl AX, so I was reacting to that as the suggested upgrade path. I'm hoping something that isn't larded up is possible. A 2 core Mango, full stop.
more internal memory out of the box. I know you can plug in a USB to extend memory. But of the box Mango had hardly any free memory to install any app.
Filogic 820 was only an example, and I think there are many 2-core ARM SoCs available on the market - it can be a 0.9-1GHz CPU with better power consumption. MT7621 has good open source support, low power consumption, can have 256mb RAM conig, and can be paired with AX radio (AX1800) and 1Gbit ports with hardware ofload, but it has less RAW power for VPN if compared with ARM (MIPS architecture) - in case of VPN with DCO about 100Mbit+(there is thread on OpenWRT forum about MT7621 performance with VPN). But if we speak about a low-cost solution with better hardware than Mango - it can be an option
Since even the company behind MIPS has abandoned further MIPS development and moved on to RISC‑V, I would not release a new product based on MIPS. I want a device that will be supported for years, not one that risks being dropped as semiconductor fabs scale back older chip-sets. There are plenty of low‑power ARM chip-sets available today that could be under-clocked if needed, to meet the needs of a small, fan less router.
I’m also voting for ARM (MIPS just example what we have on market but it is legacy hardware and build new device in 2026 better based on top modern hardware)
Just my 2 cents, but voting for CPU architectures or even CPU models is out of scope here. That's the job of their engineers and product managers.
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Software is important. Best chipset might be from an existing product (such as the Slate Plus) to simplify software development and give economies of scale, under clocked to reduce heat and maintain product hierarchy.
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Size is important too. I think the size should be between the Brume 1 (larger) and Brume 2 (smaller more ideal).
Also, even if it cost $50-$60 shipped, as long as it has dual core and 512mb, Wi-Fi 5, it's a winner in my book.
It sure is, it’s the main criteria for me.
Well, I think the size should be the same as it is now. It’s just perfect, it will fit almost anywhere, the current Mango is always my choice when taking carry-on only.
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Sounds like an interesting toy I’d maybe buy to play with but there’s no way I could use such a thing as my actual travel router, with all the dongles attached it would end up far larger than mango/shadow. Someone wanted it to stay yellow for fear of leaving it behind, if dealing with a multitude of dongles that risk increases dramatically along with the increased chance of breakages during travel. This idea is interesting but quite a deviation from what the mango/shadow is and we’re most definitely into new product territory!
That said I agree if a new mango/shadow device had the same 2x RJ45 within the main case and usb c as power which could also provide a third ethernet via dongle that would be a useful option to have for the few occasions when a third port would be nice.
First time I’ve seen that and it does look impressive, a tiny fraction smaller volume than mango/shadow as well BUT that flimsy plastic flap for the ethernet ports does worry me a lot, when that inevitably snaps off it doesn’t look like the ethernet cables would be held in place properly so I’m not keen. I’d much rather have reliability than aesthetics and the decade old gl.inet design has proven itself. That said if the Brume case could be slimmed down a little that would be nice, ultimately the overall shape doesn’t matter as much as:
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keeping the reliability with no flimsy plastic parts to snap off
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keeping the overall device volume to current mango/shadow standard (or smaller if somehow possible), getting any larger than current mango/shadow and we very quickly lose the whole point of it existing - I’d be devastated if after all this hope gl.inet just made us a fractionally smaller version of the existing frankly gigantic slate ax sized devices.
It's the ethernet jacks that drive the height. If you only in rare situations need the ethernet ports, you never need to travel with the dongle--the Mango can be squashed down to a thick (yellow) credit card.
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I 100% need the ethernet ports all of the time, it’s a critical feature, only having ethernet via a spaghetti junction of dongles is no good for anything I’d actually use in the real world. Having a super thin router that needs dongles for everything does sound like a fun toy I’d probably buy if cheap but actually thinking of a real use case for it… I’d struggle. Anyway that sounds more like a minimalistic GL-USB150 microrouter v2 product suggestion gl.inet could work on, doesn’t really cover the mango/shadow use case we’re discussing here so don’t want to get too distracted and off topic.
At the moment it’s a real struggle to work out what to travel with:
My Shadow is perfect in every way except it’s so old and slow it’s reaching the point where I’m forced to take other devices as it just can’t keep up these days.
My Brume 2 is significantly larger so not ideal for travel, I couldn’t find any usb wifi dongles to work with it and from memory all the gl.inet menus for wifi were removed anyway so all a bit of a nightmare, good option if I don’t need wifi but it’s risky to travel with no wifi options so I rarely take it.
My Brume 1 (and tiny wifi dongle) works but is by far the largest device and way too big, there’s no way I’d call this a truly portable device, I’m being forced to take this more often due to lack of options and of course it’s well out of date (and running v3, obsolete v4 beta doesn’t work with wifi)
I did buy a slate ax to play with but it was so laughably gigantic sat next to the shadow I returned it same day, not a chance I’m carrying that monstrosity about, much larger than even the brume 1!
I’ve been desperately messaging gl.inet for years now in the hope they’d finally update a micro router and fix my dilemma so extremely happy we’re finally getting an acknowledgement and some hope, best news of 2026 so far - please just cram the best cpu/wifi/ram possible in the original mango/shadow case and release it - I’ll happily stay up until 5am again to immediately purchase as many pre-orders as you’ll let me have the instant they go on sale!
Flimsy and Unifi have never coexisted in the same sentence…. until now. Their design has also always been top notch. Trying to find one in stock is really the tricky bit here.
I was going to write my own opinion but user “ad-d” did it for me and I will just paste what he wrote and I quote. “please just cram the best cpu/wifi/ram possible in the original mango/shadow case and release it”.
This sums up pretty much what I was looking for!
Regards,
Me
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Exactly, and that’s why the design is no good and not something I’d ever want gl.inet to copy - if there was a graceful curve widening the casing at one end up to the height needed for a full rj45 socket but keeping 90% of the device as thin as the unifi travel router I don’t have a problem with that and I’m sure would keep most people happy (although that is definitely a new product NOT the updated mango/shadow we still want and should be treated as such), relying on a fragile plastic hinge for critical functionality is just insane though.
As a toy maybe it works but I’d never dare rely on it, being stuck abroad and having to gaffer tape it together whilst praying the ethernet cables don’t come loose is the stuff of nightmares. We already created a far superior design with the mango/shadow a decade ago, no point reinventing the wheel a different shape in the hope it does a better job (hint: it wouldn’t!)
Glad you agree, so many people I’ve seen here, on reddit and elsewhere (for many years in fact) have all been saying the same thing - I’d hope gl.inet have already started working on a replacement with the same form factor given the overwhelming consensus.
That said there have been some interesting side projects mentioned in this thread that gl.inet could possibly spin off into new projects within the micro category (thin credit card shaped router that relies on usb c dongles for all connectivity other than wifi for instance), in no way would that be an adequate replacement for even the current mango/shadow let alone the updated one we’re all anticipating but the old GL-USB150 microrouter still has fans and maybe some of these suggestions could work as a kind of microrouter v2 to cover all bases?