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In this guide
GL.iNet's own setup guide uses hotel and cafe Wi-Fi as the example for Repeater mode: the router joins that network, builds its own subnet behind it and acts as a firewall between your devices and the public network. The Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) is the pocket version of that job, a 196-gram Wi-Fi 6 router measuring 120 x 83 x 34 mm with folding antennas. Amazon and GL.iNet's US store both listed it at $98.99 on 2026-09-27.
The same store lists the Beryl 7 (GL-MT3600BE) at $129.99 in the same 120 x 83 x 34 mm footprint, and GL.iNet describes it as a fully upgraded version of the Beryl AX. So the useful question is what the $31 difference changes on a trip. The figures below are GL.iNet's, quoted as printed, and its VPN speeds come from its own local-network tests in client mode.
Our verdict
Buy the $98.99 Beryl AX to put your own network behind hotel Wi-Fi when a VPN rated near 300 Mbps is enough; pay $129.99 for the Beryl 7 if you want Wi-Fi 7, two 2.5G ports and WireGuard rated at 1,100 Mbps.
- A good fit for
- Travelers who bring a laptop, a console and a TV to hotels, on connections where GL.iNet's 300 Mbps WireGuard figure is not the limit.
- We would skip it if
- Skip it when one phone is your whole travel internet, or when you tunnel a line faster than 300 Mbps and the $129.99 Beryl 7 fits the budget.
Reasons to consider it
- Repeater mode runs as WISP by default, with a public-hotspot login mode since firmware 4.6 and MAC camouflage or cloning saved per network, plus a 2.5G WAN for wired desk jacks
- USB-C power at 5V/3A, 196 g and folding antennas, with a power adapter and an Ethernet cable packed alongside
- OpenWrt 21.02 with 5,000-plus packages and router-wide OpenVPN and WireGuard, at $98.99 with a two-year warranty on store and Amazon purchases
The compromises
- The 150/300 Mbps VPN figures are GL.iNet's local-network, client-mode results; the $129.99 Beryl 7 is rated 1,000/1,100 Mbps by the same method
- AX3000 is a combined link rate, and the LAN port stops at gigabit where the Beryl 7 has two 2.5G ports
- The hotspot login mode switches DNS to automatic, which GL.iNet warns may expose activity to the hotel, and its docs promise a better success rate, not a guaranteed login
What we have not verified: No independent throughput test was consulted; the AX3000, VPN and Beryl 7 figures are GL.iNet's own. Captive-portal behavior was not tested against any hotel chain, and a one-off $86.99 store reading seen during research was not reproducible on 2026-09-27. The two-year warranty excludes refurbished hardware and products bought in China.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
Beryl AX (GL-MT3000)
$98.99 on Amazon and the GL.iNet US store buys Repeater mode with a public-hotspot login mode and MAC cloning, a 2.5G WAN for wired hotel desks, USB-C power with its adapter included, and router-wide OpenVPN and WireGuard.
Before you buy: The VPN speeds are GL.iNet's client-mode lab figures and top out at 300 Mbps, the $129.99 Beryl 7 is rated far higher, and a hotel login page can still refuse the router.
Price checked September 27, 2026. Retailer prices can change.Hotel Wi-Fi, with your own network behind it
Repeater mode joins an existing Wi-Fi network, hidden ones included according to the datasheet, and by default runs as WISP: the Beryl AX builds its own subnet, so the console, the TV and the second laptop sit behind the router rather than on the hotel network. For sign-in pages, firmware 4.6 added a login mode for public hotspots that switches on when the router reaches a hotspot but not the internet. GL.iNet warns that in this mode some services pause and DNS goes to automatic, which may expose your activity to the hotel.
Two MAC settings sit next to it. Camouflage makes the router present the MAC address of the device you use to open the admin panel, and MAC mode can clone another client's address or generate a random one, saved per network name. The wired path is simpler: a desk with an Ethernet jack feeds the 2.5G WAN port. Power comes in over USB-C at 5V/3A, and the package list adds the power adapter and an Ethernet cable.
Wi-Fi 6 numbers, taken as printed
AX3000 here means 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz plus 2402 Mbps on 5 GHz. Those are link rates, not throughput through a hotel room. GL.iNet's case for Wi-Fi 6 rests on OFDMA and BSS Coloring, two features aimed at many devices sharing the same airtime.
GL.iNet rates the box for 70+ simultaneous devices. The 5 GHz radio holds DFS certification for the US, UK, Europe and Japan, which lets it use extra channels normally reserved for military, satellite and weather radar; according to GL.iNet, those channels can lower congestion in dense networks.
A VPN for the whole room, at lab speeds
OpenVPN and WireGuard run at the router, so the console and the TV get the tunnel without installing anything. The maker quotes 150 Mbps for OpenVPN and 300 for WireGuard, and the caveats matter: local-network tests, client mode, and real-world speeds that may differ.
Thirty-plus VPN providers are supported, and VPN Cascading can forward traffic from a server on the box straight into its client. Underneath the admin panel sits OpenWrt 21.02 with more than 5,000 installable packages.
The Beryl 7 for $31 more
Both routers use the 120 x 83 x 34 mm body; the Beryl 7 weighs 205 g to the Beryl AX's 196. For $129.99 on Amazon and GL.iNet's store, it moves to Wi-Fi 7 at 688 plus 2,882 Mbps, a quad-core 2.0 GHz processor GL.iNet credits with triple the Beryl AX's processing power, two 2.5G Ethernet ports where the Beryl AX pairs one 2.5G WAN with a gigabit LAN, and 120+ clients against 70+.
The VPN ratings differ most. From the same kind of local-network, client-mode test, GL.iNet quotes 1,100 Mbps on WireGuard and 1,000 Mbps on OpenVPN-DCO for the Beryl 7, against 300 and 150 Mbps for the Beryl AX. The Beryl 7 also accepts 9V/3A and 12V/2.5A over USB-C on top of 5V/3A, and draws under 12 W against the Beryl AX's under 8 W. On a hotel line slower than 300 Mbps, the Beryl AX's WireGuard rating is not what limits you; on a fast home or office line you tunnel everything through, it is.
What $98.99 buys, and when to leave it home
At $98.99 on Amazon and GL.iNet's store alike, the Beryl AX packs a 2.5G WAN, a gigabit LAN and a USB 3.0 port that shares a plugged-in drive over Samba and WebDAV. GL.iNet backs routers bought from its own store, Amazon or AliExpress since June 1, 2024 with a two-year warranty.
Leave it home if your travel internet is one phone, or your hotels already let every device sign in on its own. The part no spec sheet settles is the portal: GL.iNet's docs say the login mode and MAC settings "can help improve the connection success rate," which is not a promise that a given hotel page will accept the router.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- GL.iNet: Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) product page (opens in a new tab)
- GL.iNet: Beryl AX datasheet (2025-03-20 PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- GL.iNet blog: two-year warranty on all GL.iNet routers (opens in a new tab)
- Amazon: GL.iNet Beryl AX listing (ASIN B0BPSGJN7T) (opens in a new tab)
- GL.iNet US store: Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) (opens in a new tab)
- GL.iNet docs: Connect to the internet via an existing Wi-Fi (Repeater) (opens in a new tab)
- GL.iNet: Beryl 7 (GL-MT3600BE) product page (opens in a new tab)
- Amazon: GL.iNet Beryl 7 listing (ASIN B0GF1J99S4) (opens in a new tab)
