Which travel router to show home IP address while travelling?

Umpire90 · 2024-10-08T19:06:23.244Z

Hello everyone!

I'm new here and hope I can find help in this forum. I am somewhat tech-savvy, but am completely lost when it comes to network-stuff. So, here it comes:

I am considering buying one of GL iNets travel routers, but have no idea which one and, more importantly, if my use case is even feasible/possible.

My use case:
For most of the year I live and use the internet in Bavaria, Germany. I have a cable internet connection with Vodafone Germany (speeds of 250Mbit down / 50 up). I'm using the standard Wifi router that comes with such a contract (this one). For a few weeks of the year I travel to Asia and would need to be able to access the internet there with the same IP address that is used when I am in Germany (despite physically being in Asia).

When I google "what is my IP address?" it needs to show the German one. When I go to my location in Google Maps, it needs to show my German one (I mean when Wifi is used for location tracking on my laptop, of course - my phone's GPS will obviously show Asia). I hope you get the idea.

Is that even something that is possible with one of your travel routers? (I think yes, but I really am not sure if I understood it correctly)

In case the answer to that question is yes, allow me to further elaborate:
In Asia, most of the time I will have my private Wifi router (speeds of 500Mbit up and down). So, I would be able to provide an internet connection to the travel router from that router via LAN cable. Sometimes, however, I may be in a hotel or out and about, which means the options to provide internet to the travel router via the hotel Wifi (repeater mode, right?) as well as via the internet from my phone (tethering, right?) would also be nice. Oh, and I would like to connect both my laptop (via LAN) and my Android phone (via Wifi) to that travel router.

I would also need the option that the connection is immediately cut in case a connection to my router in Germany cannot be made (reason being that Vodafone Germany unfortunately has frequent outages).

If that is all something that is possible, kindly advise me which travel router I should purchase based on the following:

I don't need to connect a USB device with media on it to the travel router for file sharing (I just don't use that).
It doesn't need to be crazy fast. As long as it supports the bandwidths I mentioned above, that's enough.
As mentioned above, it needs a LAN port. But really only one as I only connect my laptop via LAN. The rest (just my phone) will be via Wifi.
The Wifi signal should be reliable, of course. But it doesnt' need to have some crazy range. Most of the time, my phone will be rather close to the travel router anyway.
Ideally, it's as small as possible without sacrificing functionality / reliability.

So far, I have looked at the "Opal (GL-SFT1200)", the "GL-MT3000 (Beryl AX)", the "GL-MT1300 (Beryl)" as well as the "GL-MT300N-V2 (Mango)". I cannot for the life of me tell the difference in the feature set of these routers (except for the number of ports, maybe). In case any of them works for my use cas, I'd probably prefer the GL-MT300N-V2 (Mango) as it's the smallest and cheapest. Any particular downsides to that one that I should be aware of?

Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to read through all of that and possibly assist me! It is much appreciated

admon · 2024-10-08T19:08:29.844Z

Umpire90:

For most of the year I live and use the internet in Bavaria, Germany. I have a cable internet connection with Vodafone Germany (speeds of 250Mbit down / 50 u

Moin

the main issue is Vodafone and Cable. Mostly it is behind CGNAT, which will make it impossible to run a VPN server on your home address. There is nothing you can really do about it. Tailscale might be a way around it ... but it depends.

Mostly you can follow this Build your own WireGuard Home Server with two GL.iNet Routers - GL.iNet Router Docs 4 but as I said before CGNAT is the show stopper here.

For selecting devices: I would prefer a more advanced device at your home (like the Flint or Flint 2) and a better travel router in your hotel location. Mango isn't powerful enough, imho. I would go with Beryl AX mostly.

Umpire90 · 2024-10-08T19:36:10.287Z

Hey there!

Thanks so much for your response. Some of it I don't quite understand, unfortunately. So, I hope you may be able to answer my follow-up questions:

You're saying Vodafone and Cable is the issue, correct? Is that because I'm in a CGNAT? In other words, I share a public IP address with other people? Would internet from Telekom solve this issue? (my sister has that in her home)
In case I stick to Vodafone, you're saying that Tailscale might be an option? Can you tell me what it depends on whether or not that is an option?
In that guide you sent, they mention Astrorelay for people who are "in a CGNAT". Is that something similar / the same as Tailscale?
In case I get a dedicated IP (let's say from Surfshark which I already use) would that significantly simplify this entire process? Can I just always connect to that IP address then with my travel router?

As you can probably tell, I'm quite the noob. So I really appreciate it!

admon · 2024-10-08T19:46:10.715Z

What is your goal at the end? I mean … you are hiding from who? Your company?

Umpire90 · 2024-10-08T19:53:09.319Z

To be honest I'm just quite paranoid. So, from anyone really. One particular use case is for example to be able to connect to streaming services without the content/language changing and without having to deal with these "You seem to be using a VPN" messages from wherever I am and from whichever device that I connect to that travel router.

Umpire90 · 2024-11-17T14:11:03.700Z

Hey there again.

Vodafone Support has just confirmed me that that they can give me a "public IPv4 address". Do I understand it correctly that this fixes the issue and I can set this up as per the guide you sent?

admon · 2024-11-17T14:18:24.688Z

It would fix the CGNAT issue, so yes, it will allow you to host a VPN server.

genki · 2024-11-17T15:31:43.693Z

Well if you are trying to hide from your company, forget it. If they want to know they will know.

Umpire90 · 2024-11-17T15:43:58.664Z

Not what I said tho

genki · 2024-11-18T00:36:21.703Z

Yeah it's what you didn't say

alzhao · 2024-11-18T07:20:01.317Z

We will have a solution that you can hide from your company 100 percent.

Stay tunned.

eric · 2024-11-18T15:10:25.250Z

alzhao:

We will have a solution that you can hide from your company 100 percent.

That is a bold statement from a CTO

So is GL iNet is willing put in writing a 100% guarantee that they can hide from your company?

admon · 2024-11-18T16:56:00.299Z

Maybe by working for GL in China.

I doubt you can really hide from your company if they provide you with hardware.

alzhao · 2024-11-19T05:54:20.164Z

Not using the current solution though. You will leak info in the Internet anyway if you use the Internet.