Reddit reviews GL.iNET GL-AR150 Mini Travel Router with 2dbi External Antenna, Wi-Fi Converter, OpenWrt Pre-Installed, Repeater Bridge, 150Mbps High Performance, OpenVPN, Programmable IoT Gateway
We found 7 Reddit comments about GL.iNET GL-AR150 Mini Travel Router with 2dbi External Antenna, Wi-Fi Converter, OpenWrt Pre-Installed, Repeater Bridge, 150Mbps High Performance, OpenVPN, Programmable IoT Gateway. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
WiFi Converter: Converts a wired network at hotels or offices to your own WiFi and shares to more devices, or converts a WiFi at cafes or restaurants to a private WiFi for securer surfing. Tethering, and 3G/4G USB Modem CompatibleMini Travel Mate: 1.41 Oz only and pocket friendly. Instantly connects all your devices when switching to a new WiFi and avoids inputting the password on the devices one by one. Powered by any laptop USB, power banks or 5V DC adaptersOpen Source and Programmable: OpenWrt pre-installed, DDWrt supported. USB disk extendableOpenVPN Client: OpenVPN client pre-installed, compatible with 20+ VPN service providers.Larger Storage and extensibility: 64MB RAM, 16MB Flash ROM, dual Ethernet ports, UART and 2.54mm standard GPIOs available for hardware DIY
I use a TP Link TL-WR703N and it works great. You can buy the clone with an external antenna from GLi or Amazon
The AR150 is the only one they have that supports DDWRT, the others are OpenWRT based.
It might be compression, but I think most of the speed test sites use non-compressible data. I get pretty consistent results between test sites. I'm happy about it either way!
Losing them sucks, but I've had an excuse to try several of the GLi variants. So far, my favorite is the single-antenna $26 model, but it can be hard to find on Amazon now and then.
there's also cheaper travel routers that don't require an adapter, and different antenna types that you could look into.
I also had problems getting my Roku to work with the hotspot because it requires login. I got this travel router. The router connects to the hotspot and then creates it's own normal WPA2 protected wi-fi network, and then you can connect any device to it like you normally would.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FJ4S9JK/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I'd be willing to be the beta tester, but I don't know much about these.
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Can I buy this travel router?
https://www.amazon.com/GL-iNet-Pre-installed-Performance-Compatible-Programmable/dp/B01FJ4S9JK?keywords=gl.inet&qid=1539031374&s=Electronics&sr=1-8&ref=sr_1_8
And this external antenna?
https://www.amazon.com/BearExtender-Antenna-RP-SMA-Extension-Magnet/dp/B011A4UZFY?keywords=wifi+antenna+cable+rp-sma&qid=1539031515&sr=8-5&ref=sr_1_5
And use them together?
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The one linked above looks good, but I think I would need to relocate 2 antennas outside of the van vs just one.
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I could also just get a rp-sma extension cable and use the existing antenna I guess (mounted inside the fan housing or something).
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Thoughts?
OP, do you have an Ethernet connection available? You mentioned using it to your switch dock + PS4?
In that case I recommend getting yourself the following
https://www.amazon.com/GL-iNet-Pre-installed-Performance-Compatible-Programmable/dp/B01FJ4S9JK?ref_=ast_bbp_dp
It's main purpose was adding your own VPN to hotel wifi from a wired connection but it would work in your use case. It will basically just redistribute the wired connection wirelessly. You can set it up as your own little hotspot.
If you decide to go this route,I don't mind assisting with the config, although it's really straight forward
Configure the RT-AC66U as a range extender/repeater.
I assume that you can mostly follow the instructions from ASUS for doing this on a RT-AC68U.
You can't really control which bands use each antenna in the router. Both bands will always use all three antennas. If you replace one of the stock dual-band antennas with that 2.4 GHz HawkingTech antenna, you might boost reception for one of the three spatial streams but it wouldn't help the other two. One spatial stream of 802.11n is limited to a theoretical max of 150 Mbps and is more likely to only connect at 72 Mbps due to neighbor friendly rules. If you can't connect to the harbor Wi-Fi unless you use the HawkingTech antenna then it makes sense to use that antenna since some connection is better than nothing.
If you repeat this signal on your boat at 2.4GHz then the single 2.4GHz radio will spend half the time sending and half receiving which cuts its bandwidth in half. It would be better to use the 5GHz radio for your clients on the boat.
A GL.iNet GL-AR150 Mini Travel Router might be easier to get working for your purposes than the ASUS router.