GL.iNet Slate 7 (GL-BE3600) Portable Wi-Fi 7 Router Revealed

GL.iNet Slate 7 Travel Router @ CES 2025

As someone who travels a lot professionally and personally, having a decent mobile router is absolutely essential for me. At any given time, I carry a mobile phone, a laptop, a tablet, and a network-enabled camera. The minute you start traveling with my partner or colleagues professionally, the devices can comfortably hit 10 to 12 network-ready client tools easily. That’s why I’ve always been a tremendous fan of both mobile routers and mobile internet management systems, as these allow you to create an easy pop-up network for a family of devices quickly and securely when done right. For the last two years, a lot of my travel has included the use of GL.iNet Beryl mobile travel routers and the Puli AX router. These two systems have not let me down, and when I heard that the brand was working on a Wi-Fi 7-enabled travel router, you better believe I was interested! Which brings me to the new GL.iNet Slate 7 router, which I had the opportunity to get my hands on at CES 2025.

Feature	Details
Model	Slate 7 / GL-BE3600
Processor	Qualcomm Quad-core @ 1.1 GHz
RAM	DDR4 1GB
Storage	512MB NAND
Wi-Fi Standard	802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be
Wi-Fi Bands	Dual-band: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz
Wi-Fi Speeds	– 2.4 GHz: 688 Mbps – 5 GHz: 2882 Mbps
Ethernet Ports	2 (1 WAN, 1 LAN)
Ethernet Speed	2 x 2.5 Gbps
USB Port	USB 3.0
Power Supply	USB-C (5V/3A)
Power Consumption	<8W (Still TBC – As Testing is still in progress by the brand, subject to change)
Encryption Support	OpenVPN, WireGuard, AdGuard, Tor (natively supported)
Control Interface	Touchscreen control panel
Additional Controls	Physical “Mode” button
Special Features	– LCD panel for QR code generation – foldable antennas
Weight	295 grams
Dimensions	130 x 91 x 34 mm
Operating Temperature	040°C (32104°F)
Use Cases	Travel router, secure connectivity for remote workers, portable internet solution

Let’s discuss what this system can do, what it can’t do, what hardware it runs on, and whether this needs to be your next travel hardware upgrade!

 

What Can This Travel Router Do? Who Needs the GL.iNet Slate 7 Router?

It’s an important question. Travel routers are not built equally and tend to arrive with a variety of hardware support under the bonnet. A travel router is more than just about having access to the internet. If all you want is a basic connection to the internet, most devices that you take with you on the go will have the simple wireless capability to connect to public Wi-Fi and hotspots. However, how secure are these public hotspots? Is data necessarily encrypted securely enough? And are there any limitations to per-device connections? This is often where a travel router absolutely excels in its functionality.

The benefit of travel routers like the GL.iNet Slate 7 and the Beryl that came before it is that you can connect all of your wireless and wired network devices to it as needed, and then set the wireless router to connect with the public Wi-Fi connection. For example, let’s say you are connecting your phone and your laptop to the internet while you are in a coffee shop. If you already have the travel router SSID saved to your phone and laptop, all you need to do is connect the travel router to the public Wi-Fi, and then both of your handheld network devices will be able to take advantage of that public internet connection. But with the added benefit that you can control the network traffic that is exchanged between those devices and the travel router, their priority of bandwidth, and even apply VPN and encrypted tunnel software to the travel router to ensure that data exchanged between the router and the public Wi-Fi service is completely encrypted and anonymized as needed.

GL.iNet travel routers all arrive with the ability to apply your own user credentials from popular internet security services such as OpenVPN, WireGuard, AdGuard, and Tor. Once signed into on the Slate 7, you can enable or disable these via the on-screen LCD of the device or even a physical mode switch in some cases. The ability to choose when to apply security services, depending on the trustworthiness of the Wi-Fi you are using on the go, is phenomenally useful. But the benefits of a travel router do not stop there.

Another example of a travel router’s benefits being perhaps overlooked is the ability to attach storage to a travel router via native internal storage or a USB drive. This storage then becomes accessible over the network via popular services such as Samba or FTP, allowing connected individual devices to the travel router to share that media, target that storage media for backups, or be used for communal data sharing when on the go. Imagine you are a small company traveling together, or a group of students working on a project on the go. The utilization of a travel router will allow all of those users and their devices to only have to use a single SSID that they sign into once, with secure authentication. Then the public Wi-Fi or trusted Wi-Fi service just needs to be connected to the travel router physically via a WAN connection or wirelessly via the mobile app synced with the travel router.

Ultimately, this all adds up to saving significant amounts of time when connecting lots of devices to new public Wi-Fi services. It increases the security of all those connected devices via a single pathway, prevents device restrictions when users try to sign into public Wi-Fi with limited client connections allowed, and allows for shared storage to be provided conveniently yet securely to users in the chosen network.

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GL.iNet Slate 7 Router Hardware Specifications

The GL.iNet Slate 7 mobile router is very similar in general specifications to the Beryl AX predecessor travel router. However, it has scaled up practically every hardware specification in this new revision—from more modern network connectivity to simple but essential base-level hardware specifications in storage, RAM, and processor ability. Here is a brief overview of the hardware specifications that are confirmed so far:

The physical design is only fractionally larger than the predecessor Beryl device. The Slate 7 opts for a slightly more industrial design, favoring a black, sharp-edged aesthetic. It is still pocket-sized, measuring 130 mm by 91 mm by 34 mm and weighing just 295 grams.

The router includes two solid, foldable antennas that can be adjusted 180° from flat to vertical against a wall if needed. Each antenna is Wi-Fi 7 ready, which improves the overall bandwidth and frequency afforded to each band. The Slate 7 supports dual bands at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, offering speeds of 688 Mbps and 2882 Mbps, respectively. Needless to say, this bandwidth is shared across multiple devices and their individual Wi-Fi 5/6/7 network adapters.

Currently, there is no confirmation on support for the 6 GHz frequency or 320 MHz band frequency packets. It appears the Slate 7 does not support 6 GHz, but until the official release, full confirmation on this detail is pending.

The physical network interfaces are impressive for a travel router. The previous generation had one 1 Gbps Ethernet port and one 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port. The new device upgrades both ports to 2.5 Gbps, with one as a dedicated LAN port and the other configurable as a WAN or LAN port. There is no confirmation if this device supports multi-channel or port trunking, but at this scale and hardware spec, it would not be surprising if it doesn’t.

The system does not feature an internal battery, as found in the Puli AX mobile router. Instead, it features a USB-C power input for a 5V connection and is reported to consume less than 8W at full utilization (note – the brand informal me that this is s till subject to change, as testing and evaluation is still in progress). This is based on the official specifications, pending confirmation through testing.

The Slate 7 also includes a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-A port, which can be used for tethering or connecting a storage drive. FTP and other services available in other GL.iNet travel routers are supported here as well. This USB port can also be utilized by installed applications via the GL.iNet router software.

Information is still limited on the precise CPU model that is featured inside the Slate 7 router, but documentation available during CES indicates that it is a quad-core Qualcomm 1.1 GHz ARM CPU. This would be twice the cores available than that of the MediaTek CPU inside the Beryl AX travel router, though the clock speed is a pinch lower.

The system also arrives with an impressive 1 GB of DDR4 memory internally for handling network operations alongside that quad-core ARM CPU. Once again, they have doubled the available memory that you would find on the Beryl AX travel router, scaling up from the original 512 MB. This memory is fixed to the internal PCB and cannot be upgraded. This is not a huge surprise, as that’s fairly standard for both router devices and for ARM-powered devices too.

Alongside the ability to add additional storage via the USB port, the system already arrives with its own internal storage, doubling the 256 MB featured in the Beryl AX. The Slate 7 features 512 MB of base storage. This isn’t huge in terms of storing your domestic data, but for storing and deploying applications installed via the GL.iNet router software, it is a decent amount of base storage to get the job done, alongside storage for logs and for creating multiple profiles with the system.

Interestingly, this is one of the first GL.iNet travel routers to feature a touchscreen LCD panel. What that means in reality is that although this router can still be managed and configured via the partner client app available via iOS and Android (as well as over the local area network and IP via GUI in the browser), it also features the ability to be managed directly on the physical device itself. This panel, although it looks a little dated in its black-and-white display, means that next to no power is being utilized when displaying it.

In my brief time with the LCD panel controls, it was very reactive, provided all the network information that I seemingly needed to see which devices were connected, allowed me to activate or deactivate active encryption/VPN services, and also allowed me to monitor system resource utilization in real time. I was pretty impressed with them squeezing that onto this travel router to allow me to very quickly identify what the system is doing as well as action things I want it to do on the fly without the mobile app authentication needed.

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Final Thoughts – Should You Wait for the GL.iNet Slate 7 Router?

All in all, I’m really happy with what we’re seeing in the scale-up on this device from the Beryl AX. As mentioned earlier, it is effectively doubling the specifications and feature set of its predecessor, and the Slate 7 is gearing up to be a superior travel router in terms of usability and capabilities. That said, I still can’t really call this the ultimate travel router as, frankly, that is still the GL.iNet Puli AX. I understand that this device serves as a successor to the Beryl AX router, and therefore it makes sense that it would be similarly scaled in hardware and design. However, the Puli AX is simply still superior thanks to more antennas, a higher hardware level, SIM/LTE support, and a removable battery pack for portability.

Nevertheless, the GL.iNet Slate 7 looks exceedingly promising and definitely is a device worth keeping an eye on for your travel needs. With full confirmation still yet to be provided until their full review, it seems rather promising. And now that we’re seeing more client mobile devices from the likes of Google and Apple rock out with Wi-Fi 7 included, travel routers that support this protocol are going to be growing in appeal quite rapidly for those on the go. I will hold off my full review on this device until I’ve got one in the studio for testing, but until then, I like what I see!

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Why Not Just Use a Mobile Hotspot instead of a Travel Router?

A lot of people will ask why you would bother using a travel router when you could just use a mobile hotspot on a phone and then connect all of your devices—and those of your friends and family—to it. A mobile hotspot works and, in practice, is great for when you want to use your SIM. Additionally, mobile hotspots require additional power to work, which can seem inconvenient when compared to utilizing your mobile phone, which already has a battery! However, SIM/LTE/cellular data mobile hotspots are not designed for large-scale client network sharing and typically handle packets of data across multiple connected devices poorly compared to a dedicated router.

Equally, you cannot physically attach multiple devices to a phone conveniently, other than a single device utilizing USB tethering. A decent travel router, however, will provide physical connectivity for multiple devices, as well as USB tethering. Finally, if you connect a mobile phone to a public Wi-Fi hotspot and then enable a hotspot on your phone to allow other devices to connect, it leads to significant drag and reduced packet management—all resulting in terrible speeds. Travel routers differ in their hardware specifications, and some are better than others, but in most cases, a travel router will always provide a better experience.

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