I just bought one of these. I almost went with the gl inet but I figured I really didn’t need it just to connect my fire stick and phone to the hotel WiFi. So for what I’m using it for the tp link was an easy win.
While on vacation we used a travel router for our first time. It was easy for my family and the router help keep us safer then being on hotel wireless.
Thanks for the review. When you are in Hotspot mode connected to Hotel Wifi with using Captive Portal, can you still use both the wifi and Ethernet ports on the router to connect to the Internet?
Great review. How about this scenario. Connect your phone to a wireless network, NOT cell network, and then tether to the router and broadcast to other devices. Will that still work? For example, on a plane where you would have to purchase wifi. Purchase wifi on one device, tether to the router, then use the router to allow other devices to "piggy back" on the purchased wifi connection. Would that be possible? We will be travelling with a group of 6 in January and I want to know if that can be done with this travel router. Thanks.
What if the coffee shop does not allow port forwarding as used in PAT and the coffee shop only allows the IP address to be forwarded therefore limiting your devices connected to the TP-Link one IP address. Therefore, the coffee shop will only send traffic on the 172.16.101.0 network without ports attached (i.e. 172.16.101.17 and not 172.16.101.17:10012) and the TP-Link will be the only host. The TP-Link needs a port number so it knows what local IP address to translate the packet to. I suppose that the coffee shop couldn't do this because it would also affect the application that the traffic is directed toward.
Could you explain a bit more on the VPN? I have a NordVPN account. Could I connect this device to my home network via an Ethernet cable, throw it into router mode and create a private, vpn’d network separate to my home network? Most devices I have tried seem to disable the VPN capability in router mode. I basically want to leave my existing home network alone and create another vpn protected Wi-Fi network but that seems difficult!
Yes you can , inside the gui for the router NordVPN is considered a wire guard vpn and tp link supports it Don’t expect sleeps higher than 50mbps down 👍🏽👍🏽
When this device is in AP mode, can i connect it to a WIFI network (i.e. not a WAN ethernet cable) to get access to the network? And if so, can the WIFI be run in VPN mode?
AP mode specifically for connecting to an ethernet cable. When we talk about connecting to another Wifi network, we're talking about Hotspot mode. This connects to an existing Wifi network and creates its own Wifi network for your devices to use. Yes, you can connect to a VPN in this mode.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the TP-Link can be a "mesh" node like the ASUS RT-57 Go. I currently have my home setup with an ASUS RT-58U as my main router and an ASUS RT-57 Go as a mesh node. When I travel, I will be using the RT-57 Go as a tether to my phone for my devices in my RV. The problem with that is that my carrier limits my monthly data to 40G. At home I use PDANET through a laptop to my ASUS RT-58U for my main router. PDANET bypasses the tether of the phone using a virtual interface to connect to the PC over the tether so it looks like an ethernet connection.
Do you know if there is a travel case that will fit the router and the necessary cables? I havent seen any on amazon that specifically say it will fit.
Try the Tomtoc small electronic organizer tech pouch. I use this to carry a spare Apple TV with the wall charger and cable. The demensions are about the same. and you will have room left over for a couple of cables and some other small items. It is a very well made pouch and not too big.
I just bought one of these. I almost went with the gl inet but I figured I really didn’t need it just to connect my fire stick and phone to the hotel WiFi. So for what I’m using it for the tp link was an easy win.
While on vacation we used a travel router for our first time. It was easy for my family and the router help keep us safer then being on hotel wireless.
Thanks for the review. When you are in Hotspot mode connected to Hotel Wifi with using Captive Portal, can you still use both the wifi and Ethernet ports on the router to connect to the Internet?
GL-MT3000 Beryl AX already done this years ago an is rock solid.
And it gets constantly updated I love my GLINET routers
Great video. You deserve more subs! Keep up the good work.
Great review. How about this scenario. Connect your phone to a wireless network, NOT cell network, and then tether to the router and broadcast to other devices. Will that still work? For example, on a plane where you would have to purchase wifi. Purchase wifi on one device, tether to the router, then use the router to allow other devices to "piggy back" on the purchased wifi connection. Would that be possible? We will be travelling with a group of 6 in January and I want to know if that can be done with this travel router. Thanks.
I believe you first connect the router to wifi you purchased then connect your phone plus other devices to the router.
The hotspot mode of the tplink is the same as the repeater mode in the gl inet? And if i$ not the same to use a normal(home) router for the hotel?
Very interesting product. Great review! Your videos are thorough and clear. Thank you!
Did it provide sufficient bandwidth on tethering mode on full speed of usb2.0 ie 80% of 480Mbps ?
What if the coffee shop does not allow port forwarding as used in PAT and the coffee shop only allows the IP address to be forwarded therefore limiting your devices connected to the TP-Link one IP address. Therefore, the coffee shop will only send traffic on the 172.16.101.0 network without ports attached (i.e. 172.16.101.17 and not 172.16.101.17:10012) and the TP-Link will be the only host. The TP-Link needs a port number so it knows what local IP address to translate the packet to. I suppose that the coffee shop couldn't do this because it would also affect the application that the traffic is directed toward.
Could you explain a bit more on the VPN? I have a NordVPN account. Could I connect this device to my home network via an Ethernet cable, throw it into router mode and create a private, vpn’d network separate to my home network? Most devices I have tried seem to disable the VPN capability in router mode. I basically want to leave my existing home network alone and create another vpn protected Wi-Fi network but that seems difficult!
Yes you can , inside the gui for the router
NordVPN is considered a wire guard vpn and tp link supports it
Don’t expect sleeps higher than 50mbps down
👍🏽👍🏽
Will this work on my PS5?
Bought this router. Spent the better part of four hours trying to set it up. Support was no help. Returned it to amazon
When this device is in AP mode, can i connect it to a WIFI network (i.e. not a WAN ethernet cable) to get access to the network? And if so, can the WIFI be run in VPN mode?
AP mode specifically for connecting to an ethernet cable. When we talk about connecting to another Wifi network, we're talking about Hotspot mode. This connects to an existing Wifi network and creates its own Wifi network for your devices to use. Yes, you can connect to a VPN in this mode.
Is hotspot and repeater mode the same?
The device can be connected to a hotspot that would allow you to share the internet. The repeater is used to extend the wifi.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the TP-Link can be a "mesh" node like the ASUS RT-57 Go. I currently have my home setup with an ASUS RT-58U as my main router and an ASUS RT-57 Go as a mesh node. When I travel, I will be using the RT-57 Go as a tether to my phone for my devices in my RV. The problem with that is that my carrier limits my monthly data to 40G. At home I use PDANET through a laptop to my ASUS RT-58U for my main router. PDANET bypasses the tether of the phone using a virtual interface to connect to the PC over the tether so it looks like an ethernet connection.
Do you know if there is a travel case that will fit the router and the necessary cables? I havent seen any on amazon that specifically say it will fit.
Try the Tomtoc small electronic organizer tech pouch. I use this to carry a spare Apple TV with the wall charger and cable. The demensions are about the same. and you will have room left over for a couple of cables and some other small items. It is a very well made pouch and not too big.
I saw some for the gl inet. I’d have to look at the measurements but it would probably fit in one of those
The main drawback of this router is it dont have a vpn killswitch. could be a major issue for digital nomad