Choosing a VPN Router: Flash Your Own or Buy It Ready, and Which Devices Belong Behind It

• Right: you have a streaming box, game console, Apple TV or smart speaker that cannot run a VPN client; several family members and no wish to teach each one; devices that must stay connected around the clock (NAS, camera uploads).
• Right: an office or household inside China that needs a stable outbound connection. Split routing on the router sends Chinese sites direct and everything else through the tunnel, and devices never notice a VPN.
• Not right: one phone and one laptop, mostly travelling — a client is lighter.
• Not right: a dorm or shared flat where you do not control the network, or a carrier-locked modem/router that will not accept a second router. A portable router (battery-powered, works from an Ethernet cable or an upstream Wi‑Fi) is the compromise.

Both paths end up running the same firmware; the difference is who flashes it and who is responsible when something goes wrong.

Flash it yourself: you already own a router supported by OpenWrt (we support over 1,000 models). Pick the model on this site to build the firmware online, receive the download link by email in about five minutes, and flash it with the steps below. Suits hands-on users who want to save the price of a device. Note that both firmware building and router access are premium-account features.

Buy pre-flashed: we ship a GL.iNet router with the firmware installed. Plug it in, open the admin page, enter your account and it works; each unit includes six months to two years of premium service (a standard account receives the equivalent value at double the duration). Suits anyone who does not want to tinker, or is setting it up for non-technical family.

Either way the firmware updates its own components — no re-flashing — and route addresses changing never requires a configuration change.

• GL-MT300N-V2 (mini, US$100, six months premium included): palm-sized, USB-powered, for hotel Ethernet on trips. 100 Mbps ports — fine for phones and laptops browsing and 1080p.
• GL-MT3000 (portable, US$200, one year included): Wi‑Fi 6, strong enough as the main router for a small household and small enough for a backpack. Most people’s first unit.
• GL-MT6000 (desktop, US$400, two years included): 2.5G ports and multiple antennas; for homes with many devices, 4K and consoles. Works as the only router.
• GL-XE3000 (mobile, US$400, two years included): built-in 5G/4G and battery; a SIM card makes it a standalone network for camper vans, job sites or temporary housing without broadband.

1. Unzip the download. Flashing over stock firmware for the first time uses *-squashfs-factory.img; upgrading a router already on our firmware uses *-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin. Do not swap them.
2. Connect by Ethernet, open the admin address in a browser (our firmware defaults to http://192.168.11.1) and go to System → Backup / Flash Firmware.
3. Choose the firmware file, click Flash image, and wait three to five minutes. Do not cut power or unplug the cable.
4. After the reboot, log in to the admin page again, enter your site account, choose a route region, and connect the household devices to its Wi‑Fi.

• Cannot reach the admin page after flashing: the computer has not picked up a new address. Reconnect the cable or Wi‑Fi, or open 192.168.11.1 directly.
• Weak Wi‑Fi at only 20 dBm: the firmware sets radio power to the regulations of the country it is in, and needs one internet connection to switch to your country’s setting. Connect the WAN cable first after flashing.
• Local sites became slow: split routing is off and everything is going through the tunnel. Enable split routing so local IPs go direct and the rest use the route. Users abroad watching Chinese content want the opposite — leave split routing off.
• The router is connected but one device bypasses it: that device usually has its own static or private DNS (Android’s Private DNS, the browser’s Secure DNS). Turn it off and retry.