As a full time nomad (starting my 5th year), one of the biggest problems I face constantly is connectivity. Even when I HAVE connectively, its usually pretty bad. I’ve tried a number of solutions, from McDonalds/Hotel/AirBnb/Public 😱 wifi, dedicated Cellular data devices, tethering my phone, and even trying to work off my iPad because it had unlimited data (just not tethered). All have Pro/Con, but none are usually great.

What am I using?

About a year-or-two ago I started using a travel routers, for a few reasons:

  • At minimum so that my device are always connecting to the same network, and I can store credentials (things like my Wyze security camera require this)
  • To provide some basic security that is consistent
  • This in the form of router VPN as well as always-on Remote VPN
  • In some cases to expand the wifi coverage

I am on my 3rd such router, either due to failure or frustration. So far I’ve been mostly happy with my GLiNet routers.

The first being their Beryl model. Rather than go for the cheap $40 version, I figured I’d go for the higher bandwidth since I really need speed for Zoom and syncing my TERRABYTES of photos. GL.iNet MT3000 Beryl router. I eventually had a power cycling issue, where it would just keep restarting every couple minutes. I tried different adapters and outlets, and even countries. No luck. Support messages were just a robo-response.

I needed to be online reliably, and was on a trip in the UK and the only next-day delivery was their Slate model. I just wanted something cheap, because I figured I’d be switching brands, but I again didn’t want to deal with the router being the limiting factor. I REALLY wanted their just-released GL.iNet GL-X3000 (Spitz AX) 5G model that includes 5G, but I just couldn’t get it in a reasonable time, AND well at $500 that’s a hefty price tag. Plus I wanted to be able to BOND the 5G sims, not just have Failover.

So I went with GL.iNet GL-AXT1800 (Slate AX), for these reasons:

  • Exact same form factor. So I knew it would fit in my electronics bags.
  • Only requires USB-C for power. Vs a power brick. I’ve even been able to run it off the TV’s usb ports in a pinch.
  • Supported OpenWRT. You know, so I can hack it when I want to.
  • Supported Multi-Wan. THIS is the real reason.
  • Wifi 6. So that it would be very unlikely that the router is the slow point.

What is Multi-Wan?

image from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1s1WScLP4s

Very simply, it’s using multiple connections at same time. This could be for Fail-over, to essentially ensure you aren’t offline if a single service goes down. But the main reason I wanted it was for Load Balancing; essentially opening multiple threads for downloads that utilize the multiple connections, which [almost] give you 2x/3x/Xx speed.

Lets take the example that is most common for me: 1 Ethernet (“wired”) connection, and 1 Wifi connection. For simple math(s) we’ll say the Ethernet connection gives me 200KB/s, while the Wifi connection gives me 100KB/s.

Now they could both be coming off the same source, like the home router in an AirBnb, but this would mean you get no Failover potential. You could also do Ethernet from a hotel room, and wifi from a neighboring commercial unit within range (which is often a restaurant in bit city areas). When I park my van outside the hotel room, and use my van’s wifi booster antenna, I often can get commercial wifi from as far as a kilometer (0.5 miles for my Imperial friends).

Current Results

In the case of my current stay in a Chicago airbnb, I am actually wired to the home router and then wifi repeating the wifi off the same router. For some insane reason, I’m getting faster speed off the wifi, but its almost ALWAYS the reverse.

In my real-world Speedtest’s, I’m getting 94.18 Mbp/s on the Ethernet connection, and 168.57 Mbp/s on the Wifi connection. But combined I am seeing 330.52 Mbp/s.

But there are TWO problems in the above tests… 🤔

  1. I still have my always-on remote vpn running. Imagine that, I’m bouncing it through a VPN for security, and it is STILL fast.
  2. I have the prioritization set to Ethernet. Because I assumed it would/should be the fastest (still no clue why it isn’t… yet)

Now that is routed through a Chicago server on the Mullvad network. Mullvad is super cheap at 5€ ($5.38) for unlimited bandwidth a month. I literally have the VPN running 24/7 thanks to the router, and easily go through 50-150GB a day. I thought there was no way this is legit at this low price, but then I did some math to break it down… but thats another post. The great part is I can use it on ALL my devices… and I have a bunch.

They have servers all over, which is also great for geo-location testing for things like Privacy Notices, or even for accessing content while traveling. Word of Warning/Reality… this last bit should NOT be your reason to get it, as I find it RARELY works with the big streaming services anymore.

I’d STRONGLY encourage EVERYONE to get Mullvad for their computers AND for their phones.

Now I could get some additional speeds, and backup service, if I add Tethering through my cell phone. But lets be honest, needing more than 400Mbp/s download is a bit extreme. I download 6GB LLM Models every week, and I think sometimes we should appreciate what we have, and not complain it takes a-minute-or-two to download that much.

With the optimization to removing VPN (something I can actually create rules to skip, for sources that I’m usually downloading huge files from) and prioritization of connections… I now get 468.60 Mbp/s down, and 11.72 Mpb/s up. To be honest, UPLOAD is more important to ME for zoom presenting and for backing up my photo catalog.

I think I’ll eventually switch to the Axle so that I can get 5G added into that mix, but I’ll be fine for a while (he says, but KNOWS now that the thought is in his head, it’ll probably happen much sooner now).

The only other thing I’d like to get with the current setup is the ability to repeat multiple wifi connections. Then I can use a Neighbor/Commercial connection plus the Ethernet and Wifi of home connection.