GL.iNet Spitz Plus GL-X2000 – An affordable WiFi 6 cellular router with GbE, dual SIM, and load balancing capabilities

Spitz Plus (GL X2000) Wi Fi 6 4G LTE CAT 12 Router

GL.iNet Spitz Plus GL-X2000 is a Wi-Fi 6 cellular router with GbE networking, two nano SIM slots, interchangeable high-gain antennas, and more. It is built around a Qualcomm IPQ5018 dual-core 1 GHz SoC and supports AX3000 Wi-Fi speeds with data rates of up to 574 Mbps on 2.4GHz and 2402 Mbps on 5GHz. Other features include support for multi-WAN connectivity, failover, and load balancing for stable connections, it also comes with preinstalled VPN support for over 30 providers. It also has remote management features that allow users to monitor data usage, update firmware, and troubleshoot through a centralized interface. The device is available in different LTE variants for North American and international markets, supporting region-specific bands. These features make this router useful for applications such as remote work, mobile offices, industrial IoT, and backup connectivity in areas with unreliable broadband. GL-X2000 (Spitz Plus) specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ5018 dual-core Cortex-A53 […]

HaLowLink 1 Wi-Fi HaLow gateway turns legacy devices into Wi-Fi HaLow clients via Ethernet, USB, or 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi

MorseMicro HaLowLink 1 Long Range Sub GHz Wi Fi HaLow

Morse Micro in collaboration with GL.iNet has recently showcased the HaLowLink 1 Wi-Fi HaLow gateway, which the company terms as Wi-Fi HaLow reference design and evaluation platform developed for long-range, low-power wireless connectivity for IoT applications. Built around the AzureWave AW-HM593 module with Morse Micro MM6108 silicon, it supports 1/2/4/8 MHz bandwidths. It features a MediaTek MT7621A dual-core CPU, Wi-Fi 4 module, dual Gigabit Ethernet, USB-C, and an SMA antenna connector, allowing it to work as a Wi-Fi HaLow router, access point, or extender. The device runs OpenWrt and provides an intuitive web-based UI and SSH/CLI configuration. OpenWrt also gives access to a web-based UI and SSH/CLI configuration. These features make this device useful for applications like smart homes, industrial automation, agriculture, and telecommunications. HaLowLink 1 specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT7621 dual-core, quad-thread MIPS1004K processor @ up to 880MHz System Memory – 256MB DDR3 (optional 512 MB) Storage – 32MB […]

OpenWrt 24.10 released with Linux 6.6, TLS 1.3 by default, and 1970 supported devices

OpenWrt 24.10

OpenWrt 24.10 open-source lightweight Linux operating system for routers has just been released. It’s been upgraded to Linux 6.6 from Linux 5.15 in OpenWrt 2023.05, supports TLS 1.3 by default, improves support for WiFi 6 (802.11ax), and adds initial support for WiFi 7 (802.11be). After over one year of work since the release of OpenWrt 23.05, OpenWrt 24.10 adds over 5400 commits, and the total number of supported devices is now close to 2,000 at 1,970. It’s also the first stable release supporting OpenWrt One, the router directly designed by OpenWrt developers in collaboration with Banana Pi. OpenWrt 24.10 highlights: TLS 1.3 support in default images with MbedTLS 3.6 Activate POSIX Access Control Lists and file system security attributes for all file systems on devices with big flash sizes. Needed by docker. Note this is not enabled for all targets with the small_flash feature flag, including ath79/tiny, bcm47xx/legacy, lantiq/ase, lantiq/xrx200_legacy, […]

OpenWISP open-source solution facilitates the management of OpenWrt router fleets

OpenWisp OpenWrt router management platform

Last month, I wrote about the WL-AC1000 AP controller, a hardware-based solution to monitor fleets of routers, and wondered why the company (Wallys) did not provide a software solution instead. It was pointed out to me that software AP controller solutions for OpenWrt routers do exist, but they looked not mature. After a quick search, I found OpenWISP described as an “open-source solution for efficient IT network deployment, monitoring & management” designed for OpenWrt Linux routers. OpenWISP allows organizations with several routers to manage them in a centralized location, get alerts when issues occur, upgrade the firmware of multiple routers with a few clicks, create users with permissions to access specific routers, and so on. OpenWISP Features: Configuration Templates – Manage device settings by defining reusable configuration templates that apply updates system-wide with a single change. Automatic Provisioning – Connect and configure new devices with zero-touch auto registration for rapid […]

Importing a single router in Thailand now requires an NBTC license

NBTC router license Thailand

We’ve been reviewing routers sent to us from China from time to time including Xiaomi Mi AX6000, GL.iNet GL-MT6000, NanoPi R5S, and others. In late 2024, I was offered to review the OpenWrt One and GL.iNet GL-X2000 “Spitz Plus” WiFi 6 and 4G LTE routers, but neither review will happen due to changes in regulations, or rather enforcement, that now makes it more complicated and expensive to import a router in Thailand since an NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) license is now required. The Software Freedom Conservancy sent an OpenWrt One router through UPS at the end of October 2024, and received an email from the courier on November 2 that read in part: Due to your shipment is ROUTER, must use import license from. Therefore, UPS we unable to apply import license for customers. Please find the other agent to clear this shipment form Thai Customs detail below. […]

WL-AC1000 AP controller can manage large fleets of wireless routers and access points

WL-AC1000 AP controller

Wallys Tech WL-AC1000 is an access point (AP) controller designed to manage and optimize the operation of multiple access points (APs) within large-scale wireless networks that you may find in factories, airports, hotels, train stations, etc… The WL-AC1000 is powered by a quad-core Arm processor coupled with 1GB RAM, 8MB NOR flash, and 256MB NAND flash. It is equipped with four GbE ports and one 2.5GbE port to connect the access points through switches. It’s available as a desktop version and a 1U enclosure to mount in a rack. Wallys Tech WL-AC1000 specifications: SoC – Quad-core ARM 64-bit A53 @ 1 .8 GHz processor (likely some Qualcomm QCS part) System Memory – 1GB (2x 512MB) DDR3L Storage 8MB NOR flash 256MB NAND Flash Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with PoE 3x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports 2.5Gbps Ethernet RJ45 port Power Supply – 24V DC Dimensions WL-AC1000-E – 192 x 122 […]

Queclink WR310 – A compact 5G and WiFi 6 industrial cellular router with four GbE ports, GNSS, and RS232 and RS485 interfaces

Queclink WR310 5G industrial cellular gateway

Queclink WR310 5G and WiFi 6 industrial cellular router features four gigabit Ethernet ports, a USB Type-A port, a terminal block with RS232 and RS485, and a wide 8 to 32V DC input suitable for smart manufacturing, industrial IoT (IIoT), and edge computing applications. It looks to be a more compact and cost-optimized version of the Queclink WR300 5G industrial router introduced in 2023 with global 5G coverage. The WR310 has many of the same features, but comes with less memory and storage, one less gigabit Ethernet port, and is available in three models depending on the region of operation: WR310FEU for EMEA, AP, and Brazil regions WR310FAU for LATAM markets WR310FNA for North America Queclink WR310 specifications: SoC – Unspecified Qualcomm dual-core Arm 64-bit Cortex-A53 @ 1.0GHz; likely the Qualcomm IPQ5018 or similar (Note the Qualcomm IPQ8072 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 2.2 GHz was used in the WR300 5G […]

Orange Pi CM5 “Tablet” Base Board drops Ethernet for WiFi 5, adds battery support, M.2 socket, 26-pin GPIO header…

Orange Pi CM5 Tablet Base Board

The Orange Pi CM5 was launched as an alternative to Raspberry Pi CM4/CM5 last July with a Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC, up to 16GB LPDDR4x, 256GB eMMC flash, and three board-to-board connectors maintaining partially compatibility with the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4. At the time, Orange Pi also introduced the Orange Pi CM5 Base Board with HDMI 2.1, one Gigabit Ethernet port, two 2.5GbE ports, USB 3.0/2.0 ports, four camera connectors, and more. The company has now launched the Orange Pi CM5 “Tablet” Base Board without Ethernet ports, making use of WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 for networking instead. It keeps many of the same features but adds a 26-pin GPIO header, an M.2 Key-M socket for SSD storage, DP 1.4 and MIPI DSI display interfaces, and various audio interfaces. However, it does with “only” three camera interfaces. It’s quite thick to be used in a typical tablet, but […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC