Second update: I found a way to use unlimited plus (no throttle) Verizon discount carriers on it: Visible ($45/mo) or Total($50/mo). It IS possible, with a very specific configuration to use Verizon (LTE+NSA only) and we're getting killer download speeds where no other internet is available, a few miles out of town, and no extra antennas, through an external wall. Yes, it will require some real research and work to get it set. Once set, we are solid. High speeds and very reliable.
Update: A year later, still using the modem and pretty happy, actually. I figured out my speed issues are due to having a carrier that deprioritizes data when the network is congested. This can slow speeds hugely. On a flagship plan, things should be pretty good. I'm a bit out in the country next to a small town with one main 5g tower, so it gets great speeds when it's not too busy, and pretty slow speeds if it gets really congested. In town, I expect this would be much less of an impact, since speeds in town are huge. We took this unit on a car vacation for a week to Florida, and kept the kids online the whole way, hooked up in two different hotel rooms and friends' condo with speeds around 200 mbps down without much searching. Learning the local towers and the band-masking function on the unit help a lot. I learned the issues are generally less with the unit and available local towers. 4 and not 5 stars still because I really need to use a different modem for my smart home devices.
One thing this modem has going for it: AT commands to change IMEI is pretty easy. Once that was set and getting my TTL set to 65 for Metro by T-Mobile, it connected. Tower lock is pretty cool to keep your speed pretty steady, unless your tower's signal is low or acting up today, and then you need to step back in and make changes because then you're not connecting at all. Also be warned, carrier aggregation is limited to 2 bands, that is, one 5G and one LTE band. This means it won't be as fast as other modems with 3 band carrier aggregation, though I understand those are a bit more expensive. It's pretty terrible for administrating a smart home. It can handle just a few devices at a time, but in the end I've gone back to my AT&T sim card with my rock-steady CAT18 4G LTE Cudy router, which is frankly much of the time almost as fast and can do combined 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, keeping those slower smart devices synced up with the faster ones. This modem can only do separate 2.4 and 5 GHz Wifi, and didn't administrate the slower band very well. It does a good job if you just have some PCs wanting to hook up to a 5G 5GHz connection, and not far away from the unit. I also tried LAN out to WAN on the cudy. This took a good bit of setting changes to be able to get them to work together. To be fair there are plenty of options for doing this, though I found that using the Cudy router as an access point seemed to cut both routers' speeds in half, whether or not you leave the gl-x3000's wireless active or not. This setup also made video streaming almost impossible. Your wireless carriers will also still throttle you endlessly, though that's not GL.iNet's fault. VPN is still a must for PC video streaming, while streaming to TV seems to work pretty well. The very worst issue is that depending on your wireless band, you get 100% packet loss to many wireless devices connected to it, including phones and chromebooks. I think this may have something to do with the wifi frequency, because setting that seemed to help with some devices, but there are still moments of delay or no data passing through at all, leaving apps thinking they are offline, even if the device is connected. In the end, it's a solid 5G modem with just ok router capacities. It's supposed to be able to handle functioning as a WiFi repeater, or even as a tethering WiFi distribution device, but at $400+ there are much more affordable and honestly actually effective devices for that purpose for a fraction of the price.
tl;dr:
The good: Turns a basic wireless phone SIM card into pretty fast 5G home internet (if you can figure out settings)
The bad: It's a pretty shoddy router for administering multiple devices, doesn't play well with LAN/WAN.
The ugly: Limitedly customizable via a router interface, and doesn't outshine other 5G routers on the same service, especially for the price. In the end, I will probably end up returning this modem due to oddball snags, though I could learn to live with it.
Maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong with this one regarding settings to make it work better.
GL.iNet GL-X3000 (Spitz AX) 5G NR AX3000 Cellular Gateway Router, Wi-Fi 6, Detachable Antennas, Dual-SIM, RV, T-Mobile & AT&T
4.3 | 425 ratings
Price: 459
Last update: 11-16-2024
About this item
【Fast Wi-Fi 6 Cellular Router】GL-X3000 provides reliable cellular networks for remote access and high speed internet in urban areas with up to 574Mbps (2.4GHz) + 2402Mbps (5GHz) Wi-Fi speeds. Supports MU-MIMO technology for simultaneous wireless network connections in different scenario. *Speed Tests conducted on a local network. Real world speeds may differ depending on your network configuration.
【5G Network & Dual-SIM with Single Standby】Experience lightning-fast 5G speeds under both NSA and SA standards. Dual-SIM flexibility for selecting the stronger and faster ISP connection and automatic failover. Compatible with 4G LTE and 3G networks. AT&T & T-Mobile certificated.
【VPN Tunnelling & Remote Access】Provides pre-installed OpenVPN and WireGuard to support 30+ VPN services and encrypts all network traffic within the connected network so that the network is secured when connecting to a public Wi-Fi. Max. VPN speed of 150 Mbps (OpenVPN); 300 Mbps (WireGuard) *Speed Tests conducted on a local network. Real world speeds may differ depending on your network configuration.
【Customizable OpenWrt v21.02】Spitz AX is supported by our proprietary firmware based on OpenWrt (v21.02), providing more than 5,000 ready-made plug-ins for advanced customization. With minimal inputs, you could easily access our no-code interface within the Admin Panel.
【Powerful RV Deployment】Secure your network gateway in RVs and access multiple WAN connections with ease using GL-X3000's 6 detachable antennas and dual SIM card slots. For extra stability of your internet services in remote areas, you could also connect to your desired wired dome antenna.
【Reliable & Uninterrupted Internet】Spitz AX's Multi-WAN technology lets users utilize multiple connection methods, including Ethernet, Repeater, Cellular, and Tethering; Load-balancing capabilities let users distribute bandwidth by custom proportion among multiple connection methods; Supports Network Failover and the option to configure Failover priorities among multiple connection methods.
【Diversified Network Needs】Supports various network needs in your daily life, including remote work access to your company’s network resources through VPN Cascading, stable network connections with the use of multi-WAN in Office and RV, easy switching between digital devices during road trips, as well as secure co-working environment while using public Wi-Fi services.
【Flexibly Configured Network Settings】Supports both DNS over TLS and DNS over HTTPS to improve network privacy and security, providing you with the flexibility to choose between encryption depending on the network type.
The product package comes with a 30-day 10GB Free SIM card, which comes with an initial allocation of 10GB DATA ONLY, NO TEXT, NO TALK. Primarily intended for basic equipment testing, this SIM card allows you to verify the compatibility and functionality of the device within your geographical area. Once the initial 10GB data allowance is depleted, you have the option to utilize an alternative SIM card for continued usage or top up the SIM card.
The cellular feature in Spitz AX (GL-X3000) does not work in Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimean Peninsula.
【5G Network & Dual-SIM with Single Standby】Experience lightning-fast 5G speeds under both NSA and SA standards. Dual-SIM flexibility for selecting the stronger and faster ISP connection and automatic failover. Compatible with 4G LTE and 3G networks. AT&T & T-Mobile certificated.
【VPN Tunnelling & Remote Access】Provides pre-installed OpenVPN and WireGuard to support 30+ VPN services and encrypts all network traffic within the connected network so that the network is secured when connecting to a public Wi-Fi. Max. VPN speed of 150 Mbps (OpenVPN); 300 Mbps (WireGuard) *Speed Tests conducted on a local network. Real world speeds may differ depending on your network configuration.
【Customizable OpenWrt v21.02】Spitz AX is supported by our proprietary firmware based on OpenWrt (v21.02), providing more than 5,000 ready-made plug-ins for advanced customization. With minimal inputs, you could easily access our no-code interface within the Admin Panel.
【Powerful RV Deployment】Secure your network gateway in RVs and access multiple WAN connections with ease using GL-X3000's 6 detachable antennas and dual SIM card slots. For extra stability of your internet services in remote areas, you could also connect to your desired wired dome antenna.
【Reliable & Uninterrupted Internet】Spitz AX's Multi-WAN technology lets users utilize multiple connection methods, including Ethernet, Repeater, Cellular, and Tethering; Load-balancing capabilities let users distribute bandwidth by custom proportion among multiple connection methods; Supports Network Failover and the option to configure Failover priorities among multiple connection methods.
【Diversified Network Needs】Supports various network needs in your daily life, including remote work access to your company’s network resources through VPN Cascading, stable network connections with the use of multi-WAN in Office and RV, easy switching between digital devices during road trips, as well as secure co-working environment while using public Wi-Fi services.
【Flexibly Configured Network Settings】Supports both DNS over TLS and DNS over HTTPS to improve network privacy and security, providing you with the flexibility to choose between encryption depending on the network type.
The product package comes with a 30-day 10GB Free SIM card, which comes with an initial allocation of 10GB DATA ONLY, NO TEXT, NO TALK. Primarily intended for basic equipment testing, this SIM card allows you to verify the compatibility and functionality of the device within your geographical area. Once the initial 10GB data allowance is depleted, you have the option to utilize an alternative SIM card for continued usage or top up the SIM card.
The cellular feature in Spitz AX (GL-X3000) does not work in Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimean Peninsula.
Product information
| Product Dimensions | 8.43 x 7.28 x 2.8 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 2.59 pounds |
| ASIN | B0C5RCQ8N5 |
| Item model number | GL-X3000 |
| Customer Reviews |
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars
425 ratings
4.3 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #8,679 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics) #63 in Computer Routers |
| Date First Available | May 23, 2023 |
| Manufacturer | GL.iNet |
| Country of Origin | China |
Top reviews from the United States
jubylei
Update x2: Great modem once you figure it out.
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2024Michael
The best 5G router, hands down.
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2023
Michael
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2023
I bought a USB-C to barrel connector cable to use instead of the OEM provided power cable, as I intended to power the router from USB-C (mainly because my car has 20W USB-C, but also convenience) and it works great. I do wish the router had a small battery so I could move it without power loss, or if my car port powers off, but this can be fixed by using a USB-C power bank as a middle power device which I plan to do.
The proprietary OpenWRT fork they run on these works great, no bugs that I've found. Feature rich.. allows you to really "own" your device, such as issuing changes to the internal 4G/5G modem settings. Has all DNS, VPN, Tor features, WiFi repeater (awesome feature, but I haven't used it).
Build quality and accessories included are also top notch. This is my first GL-iNet device and despite it being costly (but on par or cheaper than other 5G cell routers) I don't regret the purchase and GL-iNet has a customer for life from me.
Images in this review
David
Great modem/router with lots functionality and external MIMO antennas for improved reception
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2024