GL.iNet Mini Smart Router Mango (Model GL-MT300N-V2) Thoughts

Lately most of my posts have been web3 related ( NFT / crypto ), but I decided to shift gears a bit.  I am not going to do a full deep dive review of this product, there are plenty online.  I did want to share my thoughts on the setup and use.

I purchased a Mini Smart Router ( Mango, model GL-MT300N-V2 ) from GL.iNet.  From time to time I would research OpenWRT compatible routers, and GL.iNet products would come up because they are OpenWRT based and many (but not all) seem to be supported by full OpenWRT releases.  I saw a good deal on Amazon and just decided to snag the Mango as a low cost entry point.

GL.iNet Mango ( GL-MT300N-V2 )

So first things first, I didn't have a pressing need for a travel router.  I have played around with OpenWRT on other devices ( RAVPower RP-WD03 and a Raspberry Pi 4 ) so I was familiar with the setup and use.  Ultimately I purchased the Mango as a cool gadget just for the fun of it.

Initial unpacking notes:

• The device is small and light.  I expected it to be small, but it was lighter than I expected.
• It comes with an Ethernet and USB-A to microUSB cable, which is a nice touch especially if you don't have many spare Ethernet cables.

Setup 1 - Initial setup

I didn't get creative here, I just followed the directions in the box.  My goal was to set the device up as a Wi-Fi repeater for my home network.  One thing to keep in mind, this device only supports 2.4 Ghz not 5 Ghz.  I was up and running pretty quickly with this option, the software is easy to setup.  Using Speedtest, my download speeds were a bit slower than connecting directly to my 2.4 Ghz network but still usable.  I looked around the interface, it seems much more user friendly than the LuCI interface on OpenWRT.

Setup 2 - Tethering

I wanted to try using the tether option via my smartphone.  Of course my phone can just run its own hotspot, but sometimes you just have to try things out.  I put my phone ( Pixel 6 Pro ) in USB tethering mode, and I was able to get it to work.  My first test had decent speeds, but that is because the Mango re-connected to my Wi-Fi (by default it will try to reconnect).  Once I disabled the reconnect option and tried again, I got the painfully slow speeds that I expected since my plan doesn't include high speed tether.  However the important thing is, the option worked.

Setup 3 - Access Point

For my next test, I just connected one of my extra LAN cables to the WAN port of my Mango.  I didn't have to change any settings for things to work.  I really like the fact that minimal configuration is required.

Android App

I checked the Play Store and an app ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=xyz.goodcloud.glinet ) that is actually pretty nice and seems to come from Gl.iNet.  From what I can tell you can access most of the same configuration options that you can via the web interface.  It has a "cloud" option that you can use to remotely connect/control, but I didn't test that.

NOTE: I tried to setup the Wi-Fi to support for WPA3 and after that I couldn't connect, luckily I just had to hold the reset down for like 10 seconds and set things up again which was easy.  Not sure why that didn't work, I will research it later.

VPN

This took a little more work to figure out how to figure, but I was able to configure the device as a VPN client.  The coolest part is that there is a switch on the side that you can use to manually turn the VPN on and off.

Additional thoughts

After using the device for a while and playing around in the interface, I noticed a few things that I thought were pretty neat:

• The default setup seems to include mwan3 (Multi WAN load balancing).  So if you have Ethernet to one provider and Wi-Fi to another it can automatically switch between the two and I think it does some level of load balancing.  You can read up on that a bit more here ( https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/multiwan/mwan3 ).
• You can enable LuCI ( the default interface of OpenWRT ) to basically get more configuration options like you would with a traditional OpenWRT device.  This does not replace the GL.iNet interface which I actually like, it is just like adding a "power user" set of options.

Bottom line: So far I like the little router and might consider other GL.iNet devices in the future.

GL.iNet Product Page: https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt300n-v2/
Amazon Product Page: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSK26W/

Floor - NFT Portfolio App

As I started to get more involved in the world of web3/NFTs, one of the areas I started to play around with was related to applications that let you see your portfolio of NFTs and wallet activity.

- Some apps would show the NFTs you own, and the total value of ETH but no activity.  If you had multiple wallets, you had to go into each one to see your view.

- Other apps did a good job of pulling all your collections into a single view or even showing collections, but not showing activity.

- I really like the Ledger Live app because I can see activity across multiple wallets on my Ledger, but it didn't really do a good job of showing my NFTs and it was limited to the Ledger wallets.  Most users that have a Ledger also have a software wallet, which was true for me.  So while I really like Ledger Live, I couldn't use it for my non-Ledger wallets.

So one day, in Discord (if your into web3/NFT chances are you hang out in many different servers) someone was sharing information on an app called Floor.  I like to try new things, and it seemed like it might work my goals so I decided to give it a shot.  For this app you actually have to have a pass, in the form of a NFT, so the person that shared the info actually send me a NFT to unlock the app.  This was already starting off to be pretty interesting!

So, how is the app?  Here is a quick walk-through (NOTE - I used a demo wallet address, these are not my NFTs.  Screenshots based on Android version 0.21.4) with some of my thoughts:

Portfolio - Owned

Once you have the initial setup done, the app will open up to your Portfolio view.  Not only does it show you an estimated portfolio value for your NFTs, it also shows your ETH balance.  You can add multiple wallets.

As you can see above, you can sort you collections by Floor Price, Average Price, Volume and % Change which is a great way to keep an eye the collections which you own NFTs for.  You can also watch any collections that you don't own NFTs for, just to keep an eye on them.

Portfolio - Owned ( Collection )

If you click on a collection, you get 4 tabs at the top (note if you are only watching a collection and do not own NFTs you get the same tabs except "Assets".

Overview: This shows some high level information, details about the collection and various links such as "View on OpenSea" to look at the collection.

Assets: This shows the NFTs you own in the collection.

Activity: This shows recent activity in the collection including listing and sales which is a great way to keep an eye on things.

Listings: If you are looking to add more to your collection, or buy an item from a collection you are watching, this view gives you a quick look at what is available.

Activity

In this view you can see all the NFT activity across your multiple wallets.

Discover

In the Discover view, you get useful information.  Two of the main items you use see are Biggest Movers and Highest Volume.  This is a great way to keep an eye on what new collections might be worth keeping an eye on.

Settings

Nothing too crazy here, you can add wallets and adjust a few display options to your preference.

What else?

One of the things I like about this app/project is that the developers seem very open to feedback.  I have submitted multiple tickets with ideas/suggestions, and they respond often asking for clarification to ensure they understand my request.  I doubt you will get that with many other tools.

So back to where I started, the person who granted me access was actually part of a program they have where people who want to share this app can share it with others.  If you read this far, then maybe you are interested in trying the app?  It doesn't cost anything - you don't even have to pay gas to get the NFT!

If you want my help, all I ask is that you sincerely have an interest in this type of application and that you plan to use it.  As far as I know, I don't get any sort of "kick back" for bringing a new person in - I just really like sharing useful information, which is really what drives me to post on my blog.

If I sent you this link, just let me know if you are interested.  If you ran across it randomly, keep an eye on this page and I will add a way to contact me.  You can also post a comment to let you know you are interested.  Let me know your twitter handle, and I will message you.