GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000): Specs, Features, Pros & Cons
GL.iNet made the Beryl AX pocket-sized, but it did not make it small on the inside. It is powered over USB-C like a travel gadget, yet it carries the processor, memory and multi-gigabit WAN port of a small home router, and it runs GL.iNet's OpenWrt-based firmware rather than a stripped-down travel interface.
On the road, its job is to stand between your devices and a network you do not trust. It can join hotel or cafe Wi-Fi as a repeater, take a phone's connection over USB tethering, or plug into a room's Ethernet socket, and then put everything behind one private network and one VPN tunnel. That last part is the real reason to buy it: WireGuard and OpenVPN are built in, with ready-made profiles for dozens of VPN services, so a smart TV, a games console or a work laptop gets the same protection without any setup of its own.
The features that earn their place day to day are the unglamorous ones: a single network name your devices recognize everywhere, AdGuard Home blocking trackers at the DNS level, encrypted DNS, and a USB 3.0 port that works as a tethering input or a small network drive. The OpenWrt foundation means an enthusiast can add packages, while a beginner never has to see them.
It has clear limits. There is no battery, so it always needs a wall socket or a power bank, and there is no cellular modem, so mobile data has to come from a tethered phone or a USB dongle. There is only one LAN port, the radios are Wi-Fi 6 rather than Wi-Fi 7, and the two fold-out antennas make it a small access point, not a substitute for a mesh system in a large house.
Category strengths
Where the GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) beats the median
- A lighter build ?196 g vs 259.5 g (median)
- A slightly slimmer body ?34 mm vs 35 mm (median)
Where the GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) trails the median
- No cellular modem ?
- Fewer SIM slots ?0 vs 1 (median)
- Fewer processor cores ?2 vs 4 (median)
- A lower max wireless speed ?2,976 Mbps vs 3,570 Mbps (median)
- Less RAM ?512 MB vs 768 MB (median)
- A lower processor speed ?1.3 GHz vs 1.65 GHz (median)
How this VS Score was computed
Score 42: each known spec is measured against the median of all travel routers (4 products), then weighted; 50 means level with that median. In classes of six or more, a value beyond the class’s 10th–90th percentile range counts as that limit, so one extreme product cannot set the scale. 63% of the scoreable weight could be used; unknown values, features not applicable to this class and proxies (battery capacity where a rated life exists) add or remove nothing.
| Specification | This product | Cohort median | Score weight | Points moved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cellular modem | No — held to half its range (class of fewer than six) | 50% of the class have it | 1.5 | −37.5 |
| WPA3 | Yes — held to half its range (class of fewer than six) | 75% of the class have it | 1 | +25.0 |
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 | Wi-Fi 6E | 2 | −24.0 |
| Cellular generation | None | 4G LTE | 1.5 | −18.0 |
| eSIM | No — held to half its range (class of fewer than six) | 25% of the class have it | 0.7 | −17.5 |
| 6 GHz band | No — held to half its range (class of fewer than six) | 25% of the class have it | 0.7 | −17.5 |
| Weight | 196 | 259.5 | 1 | +16.0 |
| SIM slots | 0 — held to half its range (class of fewer than six) | 1 | 0.5 | −12.5 |
| Multi-gig LAN | No — held to half its range (class of fewer than six) | 25% of the class have it | 0.5 | −12.5 |
| USB-C charging | Yes — held to half its range (class of fewer than six) | 75% of the class have it | 0.5 | +12.5 |
| Processor cores | 2 | 4 | 0.5 | −12.5 |
| Max wireless speed | 2,976 | 3,570 | 1.5 | −12.0 |
| RAM | 512 | 768 | 0.7 | −11.9 |
| Display | No — held to half its range (class of fewer than six) | 25% of the class have it | 0.4 | −10.0 |
| Processor speed | 1.3 | 1.65 | 0.3 | −3.3 |
| Thickness | 34 | 35 | 0.3 | +0.3 |
| Frequency bands | 2 | 2 | 1 | +0.0 |
| WAN port speed | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1 | +0.0 |
| LAN ports | 1 | 1 | 0.7 | +0.0 |
| USB ports | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | +0.0 |
| Antennas | 2 | 2 | 0.3 | +0.0 |
Not scored: Max cellular download (unknown: not scored); Beamforming (too few comparable peers (2, need 3)); Max connected devices (too few comparable peers (2, need 3)); Repeater mode (standard for the class (100% have it)); Battery capacity (unknown: not scored); Battery life (unknown: not scored); Works while charging (unknown: not scored); VPN client (standard for the class (100% have it)); VPN server (standard for the class (100% have it)); Guest network (too few comparable peers (2, need 3)); Parental controls (standard for the class (100% have it)); Quality of Service (QoS) (standard for the class (100% have it)); App control (standard for the class (100% have it)).
Editor’s note
The Beryl AX is still the sensible starting point for most travelers, because its best feature is the one people use away from home: a fast, always-on VPN for every device at once. GL.iNet quotes WireGuard at up to 300 Mbps and OpenVPN at up to 150 Mbps, measured in client mode on a local network. That is faster than almost any hotel connection you will meet, so on the road the tunnel is rarely the bottleneck. On a fast fiber line at home it would be, and that is worth knowing if you plan to use it as a permanent VPN gateway.
The multi-gig WAN port looks like overkill in a travel router, and on a trip it mostly is. It earns its place when the Beryl AX doubles as a small router or a VPN box behind a fast connection, a job it handles within the limits of a single LAN port and two antennas.
The part that would make me hesitate is power. GL.iNet specifies a 5V/3A USB-C supply, and a weak phone charger or an underpowered laptop port is exactly what a traveler tends to grab. With no battery, the router is only as portable as the nearest socket. The GL.iNet Mudi 7 (GL-E5800) fixes that with a battery and a 5G modem.
Firmware is a strength. GL.iNet has kept updating this model for years, adding features such as QoS well after launch, and it even offers upstream OpenWrt builds for people who want them.
The buyers who regret it are mostly those who expected built-in mobile data, or who wanted an app-only device and find GL.iNet's long list of options more than they need.
Specifications
Quality bars show where each figure sits between the lowest and highest of the 4 travel routers this VS Score is measured against.
Cellular
Wireless
Ports & wired
Battery
Hardware
Features & security
Design
Networking assessment
What the specification table does not say on its own: what this device needs to connect, what speeds are realistic, what costs extra, and where it falls short. Every statement below is read from the verified sheet or written by an editor — nothing is estimated.
Test environment
Research-based assessment: this brief is derived from the manufacturer’s published specifications for the GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) and the documents listed under Sources and verification. We have not run this unit on our own network, so nothing here is a measurement of ours.
Connection requirements
The WAN (internet) port is rated at 2.5 Gbps. An internet plan faster than that is capped at the router, and nothing on the network can download faster than this port regardless of the wireless figures.
No cellular modem: it shares an existing connection (hotel Ethernet, public Wi-Fi in repeater mode, or a phone over USB) rather than providing one.
There are 1 LAN ports, all Gigabit; a switch is needed for more wired devices.
Throughput expectations
The Wi-Fi 6 headline of 2,976 Mbps adds together the theoretical peak of every band. A single device connects to one band at a time, so no client ever sees the total, and real-world speeds run well below the link rate even in the same room.
There is no 6 GHz band, so the least congested spectrum available to new phones and laptops is not on offer here.
Firmware and subscriptions
GL.iNet's download centre lists stable firmware for the GL-MT3000 from version 4.1.2 in December 2022 through 4.9.0, released in early September 2026, with a new build every few months in between. The 4.x firmware is GL.iNet's own interface on top of OpenWrt, and version 4.9 is the release that brought the QoS traffic-priority feature to this model. The same page offers beta builds and separate OpenWrt 24 and 25 images for anyone who would rather run upstream OpenWrt than GL.iNet's interface.
Set-up and management run through the manufacturer’s app; check whether a local web interface is offered as well.
Parental controls are listed; on several brands the scheduling and filtering tiers sit behind the same subscription as the security suite.
VPN support is built in, which avoids a subscription to a third-party VPN router service for remote access.
Security support
WPA3 is supported, the current Wi-Fi encryption standard; devices that only speak WPA2 still connect in mixed mode.
A guest network is available for visitors and smart-home devices, keeping them off the network your computers use.
Security-update cadence is not something manufacturers publish as a specification; see Support and updates below.
Real-world household suitability
Rated for 70 connected devices — a marketing figure, but a useful indication of whether a home full of smart plugs, cameras and phones is within its design.
Known limitations
Not offered, according to the spec sheet: cellular modem, eSIM, 6 GHz band, multi-gig LAN.
4 specifications are not published by the manufacturer and are shown as Unknown rather than guessed.
Support and updates
Support for this model is documentation-led. GL.iNet publishes a dedicated Beryl AX user guide, an interface guide that covers each firmware feature, troubleshooting FAQs on captive portals, tethering and VPN speed, and a video library, alongside the firmware download centre. Setup and day-to-day management work through the web admin panel or the GL.iNet app.
Sources and verification
Where the specifications come from
- Official product pagegl-inet.com
- Datasheet or manualstatic.gl-inet.com
- Support and firmware documentationdl.gl-inet.com
Verification
- First published
- Specifications last checked
- Sheet completeness
- 30 of 34 specifications verified; the rest show as Unknown and are never estimated or scored
- Page type
- Product specification page — Compiled from the manufacturer’s published specifications and the cited sources; this is not a hands-on test.
- Basis
- Research-based: specifications and editorial text were compiled from the documents listed here and the manufacturer’s published data. We have not tested this unit ourselves; where independent measurements are mentioned they belong to the linked publication.
Travel Routers with similar specs to the GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000)
Ratings & reviews
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The bottom line
The GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) earns a VS Score of 42, below the median of the 4 travel routers it is measured against (a score of 50 is level with that median).
- Who it’s for
- Travelers and remote workers who want every device behind one private network and a VPN on hotel or cafe Wi-Fi, and who have little use for Wi-Fi 7 on the road.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone who needs mobile data built in or a battery for use away from a socket, since it relies on a tethered phone or dongle and constant USB-C power.
- The trade-off that matters
- It packs home-router features into a pocket device, but without a battery or modem it is only as portable as the nearest power source.
- The main alternative
- The ASUS RT-BE58 Go is also USB-C powered with tethering and repeater modes, and moves to Wi-Fi 7 for buyers who want newer radios and ASUS's app.
The VS Score is calculated from the weighted specifications above, each measured against the median of comparable travel routers — a shortlisting guide, not a substitute for your own priorities. See how we score.