Comparison

Best VPN Travel Routers to Buy Before Black Friday 2026

A travel router runs your VPN once for every device in the room. Here is how GL.iNet's current line compares on its own published specs.

October 30, 2026 · 9 min read · Last checked: October 30, 2026

The best VPN travel router for most people in 2026 is a GL.iNet Beryl: the Beryl AX if you want the lowest price, or the Beryl 7 if you want headroom for fast hotel connections. Both run on USB-C, fit in a jacket pocket, and support WireGuard and OpenVPN. Black Friday falls on November 27, 2026, and Cyber Monday on November 30.

We have not tested these routers. Specs and prices below come from GL.iNet's own product pages and documentation, opened October 30, 2026. Speeds are GL.iNet's figures, measured on a local network in VPN client mode, and the company notes real-world results will differ.

Why a travel router beats a VPN app on the road

A travel router connects to the hotel, vacation rental, or conference Wi-Fi once. Your laptop, phone, tablet, and streaming stick then join the router's own private network. The VPN runs on the router, so every device behind it is covered.

That solves three common travel problems:

• Devices that cannot run a VPN app, such as many smart TVs, game consoles, and older streaming sticks.
• Per-room device limits. Some hotel networks cap how many devices you can log in. Behind a router, the network sees one device.
• Repeated logins. You sign in to the captive portal once, on the router, instead of on every gadget.

The trade-off is one more device to carry and configure. Our comparison of router-level vs device-level VPNs walks through when each setup makes sense.

The 2026 GL.iNet travel lineup at a glance

GL.iNet's travel router page listed seven models on October 30, 2026. The table pulls the figures that matter for VPN use from each product page.

"DCO" is OpenVPN Data Channel Offload, which moves encryption work into the kernel for higher throughput. Where GL.iNet lists a DCO figure, that is the number shown.

Older models such as the Slate AX (GL-AXT1800) and Beryl (GL-MT1300) were not in the travel router section on the day we checked. If you see them discounted, confirm they still receive firmware updates before buying.

Our picks, based on the published specs

Best for most travelers: Beryl AX (GL-MT3000)

The Beryl AX is the price-to-speed sweet spot. GL.iNet rates it at up to 300 Mbps over WireGuard. If your connection is slower than that, the router is not the bottleneck. It draws under 8 W from a standard 5V/3A USB-C source, so a phone charger or power bank can run it.

It has a 2.5G WAN port and a gigabit LAN port, plus USB 3.0. AdGuard Home DNS filtering is built in. Check the Beryl AX on Amazon.

Best for fast connections: Beryl 7 (GL-MT3600BE)

The Beryl 7 is GL.iNet's newer Wi-Fi 7 Beryl, with a quad-core 2.0 GHz chip. Its 1,100 Mbps WireGuard rating matters if you work from hotels or apartments with fiber-class internet. The product page says it can get past captive portals after a one-time setup.

It weighs 205 g and draws under 12 W. You need a USB-C Power Delivery charger to feed it at higher voltages. Check the Beryl 7 on Amazon.

Best with a screen: Slate 7 (GL-BE3600)

The Slate 7 adds a touchscreen, so you can switch VPN on and off without opening the admin panel. GL.iNet lists 490 Mbps WireGuard and 385 Mbps OpenVPN with DCO. It is the heaviest of the pocket models at 295 g and draws up to 18 W.

The Slate 7 product page explicitly lists captive portal handling. Check the Slate 7 on Amazon.

Best for a tight budget: Opal (GL-SFT1200)

At $39.99, the Opal is an inexpensive way to try a travel router for email and browsing. Its 65 Mbps WireGuard ceiling is the limit to accept. Avoid OpenVPN on it; GL.iNet rates that at 12 Mbps. Check the Opal on Amazon.

Best when there is no Wi-Fi: Mudi 7 (GL-E5800)

The Mudi 7 is a 5G hotspot with a battery and a 2.8-inch touchscreen. GL.iNet quotes up to 13.5 hours of runtime from its 5,150 mAh battery. It is the most expensive model here at $419.99, and you also need a data plan and a compatible SIM. North American and European versions support different 5G bands, so buy the one for where you travel. Check the Mudi 7 on Amazon.

The older 4G Mudi V2 is cheaper, but GL.iNet rates its WireGuard speed at 40 Mbps.

WireGuard, OpenVPN and VPN provider support

Every model in the table runs GL.iNet's OpenWrt-based firmware with both WireGuard and OpenVPN clients. Use WireGuard when your provider offers it. GL.iNet's own figures show WireGuard running faster on every model except the Mudi 7.

GL.iNet's WireGuard client documentation lists built-in setup for these providers: AzireVPN, Hide.me, IPVanish, Mullvad, NordVPN, PIA, PureVPN, Surfshark, Windscribe, and X-VPN. Any other provider works if it gives you a WireGuard or OpenVPN config file.

• NordVPN setup uses an access token generated in your Nord account, not your password. The token is shown once, so copy it immediately.
• Surfshark setup uses your Surfshark username and password. If a server will not connect, GL.iNet's guide says to refresh the public key.

If you still need a subscription, compare NordVPN's plans and Surfshark's plans. A router uses one connection for every device behind it.

Kill switch and split tunneling

GL.iNet's VPN Dashboard includes a per-tunnel Kill Switch and a global Enhanced Kill Switch that blocks traffic not matching any tunnel. It also supports policies by device and by domain or IP list. That lets you send a work laptop through the VPN while a streaming stick uses the local connection.

If you want to go beyond stock firmware, our guide to VPN router firmware covers the options.

Captive portals: the hotel login problem

Hotel and airport Wi-Fi often requires a login page before it will pass traffic. A router cannot click "Accept" for you, so GL.iNet documents several workarounds. Here is the order its help page suggests.

1. Join the hotspot through Repeater mode. In the admin panel at 192.168.8.1, go to Internet, then Repeater, and pick the hotel network.
2. Use the built-in login mode (firmware 4.6 or later). Turn on "Auto-Enable Login Mode for Public Hotspots" and, if needed, Camouflage, which lets the router mimic your device's MAC address.
3. If the portal still does not appear, temporarily disable DNS rebinding protection, stop AdGuard Home, and turn off VPN connections. Then refresh the portal page.
4. Clone your phone's MAC address if the hotel ties access to a device you already logged in with.
5. Turn the VPN back on as soon as you are through. GL.iNet's guide does not do this for you.

For more on why portals and VPNs collide, see our captive portal guide.

Power, size and what to pack

Power is where travel routers quietly differ. The Opal and Beryl AX run from a basic 5V/3A USB-C supply. The Beryl 7, Slate 7, and Slate 7 Pro accept USB-C Power Delivery at up to 12V and draw more.

Pack a short Ethernet cable too. If your room or rental has a wired port, the router can use it as its uplink instead of repeating Wi-Fi.

US availability and the 2026 FCC router rule

On March 23, 2026, the FCC added new foreign-produced consumer routers to its Covered List. According to a Fenwick legal analysis, new models made abroad cannot get the FCC authorization needed for US sale without a separate conditional approval.

Models authorized before the rule can still be sold, and owners can keep using them. Fenwick reports the FCC also allowed software and firmware updates for those routers until March 1, 2027.

GL.iNet staff, posting on the company forum in March 2026, said products already sold in the US were not affected. The Slate 7 Pro product page now states it is "currently unavailable in the U.S." due to FCC-related developments. If you are in the US, stick to models already on US shelves.

How to shop the Black Friday sales

As of October 30, GL.iNet had not announced Black Friday 2026 prices. Use the list prices in this article as your baseline and check these points before buying.

• Confirm the exact model number, such as GL-MT3000, in the listing title. Similar names cover different hardware.
• Compare the sale price against GL.iNet's list price, not the marketplace's own "was" price.
• For the Mudi 7 or Mudi V2, check the regional version and LTE or 5G bands before buying.
• Buy from GL.iNet or a seller with a clear return window, in case the router does not suit your hotel networks.
• Update the firmware before you leave home, not on hotel Wi-Fi.