Connect to a Captive Portal at a Hotel, Airport, or Coffee Shop using a GLiNet Travel Router

[@lonecrusader5312]

A lot of video's about these routers but not much for how to make it work when abroad. Got mine today and this video is everything I needed to know. Thank you

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thank you! If you have any questions, please let me know!

[@Kamzi]

Ya I've been working abroad over several years on and off actually. Love these routers, setup a VPN server at home and then use the travel router while traveling. Decided to share my setup finally if you want to check it

[@peterhuang1431]

@@Kamzi employers never know about it?

[@MartinasTravels]

It should be worth then having your phone disabled mac randomization and always have the same mac addr like router does. Maybe not that secure, but would save time each time traveling.

[@Kamzi]

@@peterhuang1431 there are ways for them to find out, for example if your issued laptop has a GPS tracker or if you don’t turn on a kill switch. Or even forgetting your company email goes to your mobile phone

[@rcac15]

They just put out an firmware update. It allows you to login thru the router and not have to clone your MAC.

[@doujinflip]

I've been able to log in my GLinet router to captive portals for years, just by connecting my end device to the router first and then connecting its WiFi repeater to the target network. There's only a few hotspots (usually airlines) that I've had to do a MAC clone workaround when I can't get the router to pull up the captive portal page.

[@WavyVaporizers]

​@@doujinflipso i can bring this travel router to the airport and on a airplane with me?

[@jorge2766]

Thank you so much! Exactly what I needed. Just arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I'm in a hotel at 2h30am setting up the router for today's morning meeting.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Glad it helped! Crush that meeting!

[@weholmes5315]

By far, this is the best and most complete explanation I've found! This will save me much time and frustration fiddling with my Beryl travel router, which I've only occasionally been able to get working in repeater mode in hotels. I usually end up hunting for an Ethernet port behind the TV, which is a good backup but rare to find these days. Thank you! 👍

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thank you! You just gave us all another idea too! Finding an Ethernet port would probably provide the best speeds too!

[@bahu88]

Very good Video

[@BrittanyJones-m6p]

This was so helpful. I’ve been struggling not able to use my router ,but this step by step was perfect! Thank you!!

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Glad it helped! Thank you for letting everyone know! 🙏

[@CreachterZ]

Can you make the wan access be your phone WiFi? That’s often better than what a hotel offers.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Yes, you can connect the Travel Router to your phone HotSpot.

[@j.d.mcintosh3234]

Thank you for this informative video. I’m currently on a cruise ship with my GLiNet Travel Router and I was able to use this information nicely. Now instead of having our regular number of devices online, we are able to securely use more. New Subscriber here. Please keep up the great content.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thank you for sharing! Cruise ships can be tricky with all of the metal walls, I am glad your router is working well!

[@j.d.mcintosh3234]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 Absolutely! I was looking at other similar videos via the travel router and thats why I saw your response very quickly. In our VIP suite, we have a Cisco access point right over our second floor bed. So we don’t have to worry about metal walls etc. VIP Suites has their perks! LOL Thanks for your response.

[@tophic]

Thanks for the video! Does this method allow me to connect other devices to the travel router such as a security camera?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Yes, you can connect many devices to the router and the hotel would still count them all as one device.

[@johnbrumfield6212]

Awesome video!! Question.....why didn't you have to clone the MAC address when you used your laptop? Was it because it was connected to your router?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thanks you! Yes, exactly, the hotel was receiving the MAC Address from the router, not my laptop, so no need to clone in Option 1. You can perform Option 2 with a laptop, but typically we are trying to keep the laptop off the insecure network.

[@atlmisaa750]

thank you for this video i ordered one on amazon and will be using this at hotels for my gaming pc setup . One question , when the router is successfully connected to the hotels wifi , can i use the ethernet port to then connect to my pc to get a wired connection ?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Yes, you can use the LAN ports, but you cannot use the WAN port unless you change the default settings. I wouldn't recommend using the WAN port for your devices since you should use the WAN port for Internet when it is available for increased performance. The Slate AX has 2 LAN ports and 1 WAN port.

[@daniell1869]

do you have to do the MAC address spoofing with your smart phone? why doesn't the captive portal work the same way as the laptop?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

You could use any device to do the spoofing, such as a laptop, but most phones can use fake MAC Addresses easily to prevent collisions on your network. If your laptop and travel have the same MAC Address you could run into problems.

[@daniell1869]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246interesting thanks

[@21area21]

I appreciate you adding all this rich information to us man! You're a legend. Awesome tutorial! This is my first time getting a travel router. It's very cool to see the type of things you can do with it. :) Note: I got the cheap GL.iNET router last time without all the added functionality. I will see about buying through your affiliate if I decide to upgrade!

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thank you! You can do a lot, even with the cheap ones, but the newer ones with Version 4 Firmware make it easy to use. On version 3 you can go into the command line to enable additional features.

[@21area21]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 I'll definitely have to check that out! I've got a LOT to learn. I was trying to do a little bit of robotics with ROS and needed local connection between machines. And then I fell into the IT rabbit hole. 😄

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Be sure to go down the Meshtastic rabbit hole as well! kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZmqqGVjnbeLpM0

[@jagboy69]

Why do you have the ethernet cable connected yet you joined the hotel wifi? I can't get mine to see the internet using just the cable. Thanks!

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

The Ethernet cable is not plugged in, but you can use the LAN ports to connect your devices after connecting the Travel Router to WiFi. Sometimes the Ethernet ports in hotel rooms are broken or connect to a different network such as the one for their TVs.

[@jagboy69]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 ahh, thought you were in the wan port. thanks.

[@thomaswilliams1773]

could i use this and use ethernet on my xbox while also letting other people use it wirelessly?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Yes, you can connect via Ethernet or WiFi

[@thomaswilliams1773]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 oh okay so it’s just like a router

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Yes, it is a router with advanced software that allows it to do all kinds of things. You can even run your own software on it!

[@thomaswilliams1773]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246i have it now but the hotel wi-fi download speeds are terrible and i’m wired in and i followed all the steps and my downloads speeds are still bad should i just use it as a router

[@thomaswilliams1773]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246i have it now but the hotel wi-fi download speeds are terrible and i’m wired in and i followed all the steps and my downloads speeds are still bad should i just use it as a router

[@dtitan1993]

THanks.. question. So if you are doing this from a laptop, the captive portal will pop up automatically and dont have to clone the mac address of the laptop ? You only cloned the mac address of your phone but not the laptop

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

That's because in the first method the Router MAC Address is being passed to the Captive Portal, not your laptops. You could copy your laptop MAC Address similar to Method 2 if you prefer. Some are reporting that the latest firmware makes this whole process even easier.

[@axum202]

Can my IP leak when my VPN isn't connected moments after I connect past the captive portal before I turn it back on? @4:09

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Yes, you should complete the captive portal setup using a personal device. Using the second method with your phone is likely safer overall because you can keep "Block Non-VPN Traffic" turned on.

[@bobby3394]

Is the process the same for other models such as the GL-MT3000?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Yes, devices with Version 4 firmware should be the same. The process is slightly different on older devices with Version 3 firmware.

[@shannonbilger5301]

Worked perfectly. Thank you very much!

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Glad it worked! Did you go with Option 1 or 2?

[@shannonbilger5301]

@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 2

[@williambarnes9931]

Thank you for the excellent video. It's very thorough. I have one question. I'm traveling on a cruise this weekend. It's a Royal Caribbean ship. You connect your device through an app. I'm also an Android user. Would I simply just copy my Mac address and input it into my travel router? Thank you so much for your help.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

I have not tried this on a cruise, but if they use a regular captive portal that should work! Please let me know if it does!

[@williambarnes9931]

They use an app that logs your device into their network. So, could I take the MAC address from the one assigned to my phone by their network, copy and paste it from my phone, and clone it to my travel router like you did in this video? Thank you for your help.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

I do not know, but it is highly likely you will be able to clone your MAC Address. What is the name of the app? Maybe we can find more information online.

[@williambarnes9931]

Royal Caribbean App and the ship uses Voom as their ISP.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

It seems like from this forum post that the MAC Clone method will work, just be sure to turn off Ad Guard: forum.gl-inet.com/t/cannot-access-captive-portal-royal-caribbean-beryl-ax/30938

[@AllthingsFoodieTX]

have a question i recently went to starbucks and was able to connect to there internet, but not to the glinet vpn router client i was thinking since i had setup my vpn client that i would be able to connect to the vpn with the router but was not able to get the internet to work with glinet only the starbucks internet. any ideas why thanks

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Did you try both methods? Does the GLiNet router provide Internet while the VPN and Block Non-VPN Traffic are disabled?

[@DavidDavisL]

Helpful walkthrough, thanks!

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thank you! 🙏

[@slam5]

I run my own vpn endpoint. a lot of home (non-isp supplied) routers can do it or a raspberry pi can do it too, if you like to learn a little about network, this is a good way to do it. this way you don't have to pay for a vpn service and it is a little more secure than using a paid vpn provider.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Inflation has hit the Pi pretty hard, I prefer to either get the Mini PC with the Ryzen 7 or just get a GLiNet Router: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gonFdZpnq5toh9U

[@slam5]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 i no longer use a pi for vpn. i use a ubiquiti unified dream router pro to do the job. probably was more $$ but since your router is so critical and I change my router only once every 10 years, I splurged on one.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

That is a great option as well, if you can afford it. The UDM Pro requires Access Points which also require POE, so it starts to add up fast. 💸💸💸 It is worth it though, I upgraded a small business to use it.

[@slam5]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 for me, investing in an udm-pro was a nobrainer. Think of it., how often you change your router vs your laptop? You change your laptop maybe every 4 years maybe more? Unless your isp force you or some really fancy new wifi standard that gives improve reception/performance, you won’t change your router. On the other hand, most people will change their laptop every 3-4 years max. With my udm-pro, my wifi functionality is separated from the routing. New wifi std came out, replace the AP. No need to re-setup my firewall, port forward, vpn etc. Ubiquiti’s wifi access point is fairly cheap in the scheme of things and they have resell value. You can scale up or down if you need more or less coverage. I can go on and on but I’m sure you get my drift.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

I agree, but some people need the cheaper option 😕 hopefully the economy improves

[@valeriop82]

hello, I found your videos helpful and enlightening; would you be willing to give me professional and personal consulting to be able to set up a vpn to be able to work abroad and not get caught by the company that always wants me to work in one location?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thank you! I do not offer private services but I try to answer every comment and email. If you get stuck following the video, please email your question or problem to [e-mail]

[@danh2716]

Great vid. It is really nice to see the actual usage of these devices. I've got some questions, and your video is the closest I have been able to find on the net, so hope you don't mind. How easy and robust is it to navigate the router admin panel with just a cell phone? Can a guy rely on just a cell phone to do all the admin tasks while travelling? If you use your phone to clear the captive portal, then copy your MAC address over to the router, what would happen if you continued to use your phone directly connected to the hotel wifi? Would the hotel wifi know there are two different devices using the same MAC address and boot them off? Specifically, we're going on a cruise and I would like to have this little travel router for all devices in the cabin, but then be able to use just my phone while in other parts of the ship. I have PIA VPN setup on my phone (and would set it up on this router) so that I would always be protected even if using just the phone while away from the cabin. Assuming two devices with the same MAC address would cause something to be flagged with the ship network minders, I assume I could "swap" back and forth by just powering the router down when I want to use my phone directly, then switch my phone to the router SSID when using the router in the cabin?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thank you. Yes, the second method is possible with just a cell phone, the first method would work as well but it is harder on a phone. If your phone supports randomized MAC Addresses, you could forget the network on your phone (after pasting it to the travel router) then connect and complete the portal again. Some captive networks will limit you to one device in which case you would need to connect through the travel router.

[@rootcanal7188]

Thanks for the video. Do you have any thoughts on chaining VPNs? Say, one VPN on the router, and a different one on the laptop? I heard that if you chain VPNs with Nord VPN, Nord VPN must be the first one in the chain, so you would have to use Nord VPN on the router. Which is unfortunate, as Nord VPN files are OVPN only, not Wireguard. Thanks again.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thousands of people have chained VPNs using their home IP Address and WireGuard ®️ using this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gonFdZpnq5toh9U or you could use a commercial VPN provider such as WindScribe which offers WireGuard ®️. Here is a referral link for WindScribe: windscribe.com/yo/0bzxgfqu and here is the WireGuard ®️ page: windscribe.com/getconfig/wireguard let me know if you have any other questions! Thanks!

[@rootcanal7188]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 Thanks very much!

[@wecarespares]

I have been told if you buy it from Taobao, it's a different version?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

You can order from Amazon or directly from GLiNet

[@TheApplianceGuy015]

Thank you!! I was having troubles connecting. This video helped figure out my issue.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Glad it helped! Thanks for sharing!

[@thomaswilliams1773]

here’s my issue my xbox download speeds are still the same but wired into the travel and it didn’t change not one bit

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

You may be hitting the limitations of the Hotel itself. Some hotels have horrible Internet speeds. What are your speeds like when directly connected to the hotel WiFi?

[@thomaswilliams1773]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 1.70 mbps on download and 1.52 upload

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Those are really slow speeds, you may need to purchase a HotSpot plan for your phone....

[@WavyVaporizers]

So without a computer i cant use this to connect to public wifi?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

You can use a computer or a phone for either method. The first method is easier with a computer and the second method is easier with a phone.

[@Justicewarrior795]

i just upgraded from 4.6.2 to 4.6.4. not working for me. it works after firmware reset once and then after that when i get logged out after a while from the network and try to log back in it will show success, as if some sort of caching is in place. i tried wiping the cache of the captive portal website no help. i have tried a 1000 things doesn't work. i think this video needs an update since the new firmware does most things described in the video automatically. but i am still not able to get it to work :(

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Have you tried the second method? Cloning the MAC Address should always work.

[@Justicewarrior795]

@@justinreviewsandrepairs5246 my beryl does not let me do it. I wish i could show you what i mean. but when i connect to a network it gives me 3 options. Factory mac or random mac. Something like that. I can paste my phone mac address to the beryl general settings but when connecting to a network it won't let me use that.

[@sparky5860]

How do you get on the admin website if you haven’t connected to the Wi-Fi ?

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

The Admin Website as in The GLiNet Dashboard? It is always available at 192.168.8.1 (unless you change it) even if you don't have Internet.

[@radhames174]

Is there an option to change this repeater name from Gl to something else

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Yes, but change them one at a time (2.4 and 5) so you don't get WiFi stuck in the off position: docs.gl-inet.com/router/en/4/interface_guide/wireless/

[@RoloSolis81]

Excellent video! Following!

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Thank you!

[@penepatitenor]

Man, tried all of this. The hotel I am in just won’t give access to the portal

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

If you can't access the portal from your phone then the hotel may have given you an invalid access code. In some hotels you can find an Ethernet cable going to the TV and/or an Ethernet port on the TV which you could plug into the WAN port of the router.

[@brunski1966]

I was having issues as well, I did everything you suggested in the video and nothing was working, then I realized that I had my vpn enabled in my device, once I paused the vpn, the portal login popped up

[@n1kkri]

Sounds complicated to get router to connect to a hotel that uses a portal. This is exactly what I was looking for except I thought it was going to be much easier to get the router to connect to the hotel portal

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

At first I thought the first way was easier, but really I think the second way is easier now. Unfortunately the hotels make it difficult.

[@alperkaplan2020]

Thanks a lot.

[@justinreviewsandrepairs5246]

Glad it helped!