Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can rest assured you’re buying the best. Learn more about how we test. The GL.iNet Beryl 7 is a travel router designed for those on the go who still need control over their network. Especially today, it seems that people are more aware of their networks than ever. There is a fear of what people might see. There is a fear of other people seeing your own data, and there are people trying to take control of their own connections. This is a very realistic use case for Beryl 7. Alternatively, another use case that is perhaps more common, or at least more common, is that many people these days travel with an abundance of gadgets. People used to have phones and that was the only thing they could connect to Wi-Fi, then maybe a laptop, and then maybe an iPad. Nowadays, the average family, as I understand it, travels with multiple tablets, laptops, phones, and a bunch of other internet-connected devices, or perhaps when we travel, it’s just my family. No matter which camp you’re in, having a parallel router can be incredibly helpful. Personally, I’ve seen some people use it as a way to easily connect to a VPN and from any device they have with them. I’ve seen some people use it as a way to connect to guest Wi-Fi just once and then extend that network to all their devices. Personally, I used it in the sense that when traveling I didn’t have to unplug and re-plug our devices at every stop. Instead, I can only connect once and then keep all of the kids’ iPads and devices, as well as my own, on a known and already saved network, just for ease of setup. I’ve also seen people use it as a way to turn Wi-Fi networks into wired networks and vice versa. All in all, a small device like the Beryl 7 becomes a Swiss Army Knife of networking capabilities. Sign up for the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, views, features and advice your business needs to succeed! GL.iNet Beryl 7: Price and availability (Image credit: Colleen Probst // Future) Beryl 7 can be purchased directly from the GL.iNet store in the US here and in the UK here. The travel router costs $130/£117. It’s also widely available from online retailers, including Amazon, where I’ve seen it for almost $100. The Beryl 7 in particular isn’t as good as some of its bigger brothers, but for the price, if you’re not changing a bunch of settings and more set-it-and-forget-it, this one could be the perfect little addition to your tech bag. It’s lightweight, doesn’t take up much space, and is very easy to set up and run, especially with the ability to run it from a single low-power USB-C. (Image credit: Colleen Probst // Future) GL.iNet Beryl 7: unboxing and first impressions As a technology lover, I was happy to get my hands on this device. It feels like a solid upgrade and even an upgrade from previous models, and I wanted to see how lightweight it really was. I went with mint green which is very poppy and for something like this it’s a little more interesting than just a black model. I’m usually an all-black or, these days, maybe even some kind of silver tech person, but I didn’t mind a pop of color for something like a small networking device. The weight is as light as I expected, or should I say, as light as I hoped. The ports are simple, the mode switch is nifty, and the ability to use USB-C is actually very convenient. Even as a serious tech reviewer, I’ve almost gotten to the point where all I carry with me is USB-C, which has become incredibly useful when traveling, working remotely or across multiple offices, and just doing everyday things. Having to carry multiple cables and different types of cables is a thing of the past… almost. Having USB-C even on my travel router that I’m testing is very convenient. It’s also nice to see two 2.5GHz network ports, a USB 3.0 port (though its speed is limited rather slowly) and two foldable antennas, which are satisfactory enough to live up to the toy’s status. GL.iNet Beryl 7: design and build quality Speaking specifically about the build quality. Even though it’s plastic and the folding handles are fun to play with, it seems that after a couple of years or even just heavy daily use the handles can become quite loose and not open as well. I’m also wary of dropping this because it feels like one drop could crack the entire shell. Cases are available for the device, and if you use it for business travel, I recommend purchasing one. However, with that said, it’s really nice to see the little rubber feet on the bottom of the portable router that make it more than just the sound or feel of plastic sliding against whatever I decide to put it on. As far as ports go, they seem pretty well built. The cables connect quite easily and feel like a tight connection, and I appreciate the placement and spacing of all the ports. It makes more sense to distribute even just these four ports than to cluster them all together to create a minimalist design. Spreading them out a little on the back of this device just makes more sense from a usability standpoint. GL.iNet Beryl 7: used (Image credit: Colleen Probst // Future) I’ve taken it with me on a few planned trips and it will come in handy on other occasions. The first trip I took was a small family trip. Knowing that we were going to be staying at a hotel along the way and how crazy it was to set everything up at the hotel in just a few hours and then continue the trip the next day, zero part of me wanted to spend time connecting my devices to the hotel Wi-Fi. I also needed to spend time setting up builds and games and getting everything in order. I made sure to take this travel router with me to try out what it would look like in real time. I already had all the devices programmed and ready to connect to the network, which I installed on Beryl 7. When we got to the hotel, I had to connect one device to the hotel Wi-Fi and then I was able to stream that signal to all the devices. It was stable enough for five iPads, a laptop and a couple of phones, so it had a place in my bag for my next trip. The next trip I took was a quick work trip where we stayed in an Airbnb. I knew I would be working a lot and didn’t want to deal with potentially unstable Wi-Fi, connecting to an unknown source, and then having to reconnect all the devices I travel with. On this trip I had two laptops, two iPads and a phone, just for my own devices, not to mention my team that I helped support technologically. I brought the Barrel 7 so I could connect one device and then stream my own network, or at least that was the plan. I actually connected directly to the Ethernet port and didn’t even have to connect and then stream over Wi-Fi. One thing I wish I had done on this trip was to set up a VPN earlier on my Beryl 7. I was able to do this during the trip, realizing how convenient it would have been to do it ahead of time, but I ended up having to connect remotely to my network rack at the office. While I can do this through VPN connections on my laptop, for some reason having it on this portable router seems a lot easier because then I can quickly connect on my iPad too without having to switch between different things. I can just know that every time I connect to this router or if anyone else needs to connect to it, they can all be on the same VPN. For me personally it was just changing some settings and getting ready for the week ahead. But I can see this being very useful for those who have Home Lab servers that need troubleshooting or other such things. Also, if you have a work VPN that you need to connect to, check with your employer. This could potentially be a great option so that you don’t have to connect multiple devices and can only connect one. For some jobs this can be a great option. But one thing to keep in mind is speed limits if you decide to use a VPN. Moving things around the network you’re connected to should be fine, but dragging files over a VPN to your device or vice versa will be very slow. GL.iNet Beryl 7: Final Verdict (Image credit: Colleen Probst // Future) Whether you work in a coffee shop and don’t want to connect multiple devices, or you have a secure VPN that you need quick access to on any device you take with you. If you just want to be able to connect to a Wi-Fi network and turn it into a wired network, or take a wired network and turn it into a wireless signal, a small travel router like this can make things a lot easier. Or perhaps you’re like me and are starting to learn more and more about how dangerous network traffic can be and want to make sure you never connect directly to unstable Wi-Fi. This is a great first step and using something like this and a VPN to distribute your traffic could be a great solution for you. If you’re looking for more networking, more features, and more power, be sure to check out GL.iNet for some other impressive features, or stay tuned for more reviews. Post navigation Ryan Giggs reveals Elliot Anderson told him to ‘leave me alone’ on a golf course as he tried to convince the England star to snub Manchester City, with Manchester United star Pep Guardiola top-rated 2026 Fantasy Football Draft Guide: Rankings, Mocks & Analysis