kennycrudup

... that's what she said ...!

MStieb

So, I've been using the TP-Link for all my home crypto mining clients. Easy to setup and use. If you have wireless signal, you can grab it and plug a hub into this thing and mine away. I've setup up to 23 miners off one.

FWIW

Cheers!

kennycrudup

I was just looking at the specs for those- IIRC, the TP-Link models only have a web-based configuration interface, right? (You may not know, as this doesn't matter for your use-case, but maybe someone does).

If the USB port can be both a "USB WAN" and "USB Ethernet (Device)", I may get one. RN I need the ability to change the TTL on outgoing packets on the WAN interface (so I can get "unlimited" LTE data for $20) so I'll still need my GL-iNet devices for a while, but I have a couple of use-cases that don't require that and may use one of these.

kennycrudup

There was nothing wrong with the Opal, but since it was on sale (so marginally higher) and is more-capable, I bought a too and will send back the Opal. For a comparison, scroll down on https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt1300/ (where they compare the Beryl, Opal, Brume-W and Slate).

The big question about both routers is if I'd get the same USB WAN disconnects that the Slate suffers from if you don't use an external hub, and it looks like only the Slate (of the many GL-iNet devices I have) has that issue.

MStieb

Yes to WAN interface, don't remember TTL config page settings. But, for $40, this thing is truly a workhorse and trickster!

Cheers!

bukzin

For those of us newbies, would someone explain the want (or need?) of using a travel router with crypto mining?

Thx

MStieb

The TP Link device serves three purposes. 1. Range Extender 2. Access Point to add a wireless network to a wired network 3. Wireless Client - the ability to drop a wired network anywhere there is a wireless signal that you have access to.

So, in the third case. If you have a TPLink device, you can connect to the wireless network and hook the device to a router or Hub to create a wired network.

This is a very capable inexpensive device. I was only demonstrating the varied capabilities of the device.

I you want a wired network for your home office and your house is not wired with ethernet. And, your wireless router is in the other part of the house, you can use this device to get a wired network anywhere there is wireless signal.

Cheers!

LIH Prem

Good question.

They have devices that require internet connectivity. It doesn't matter what those devices do. It's just a use case.

-David

Xyzzy

Can anyone comment on the TP-Link TL-WR902AC -- the wiki in this thread links a similar model number that I find zer information on (TL-WR702AC). I've had good luck with TP-Link devices in the past and this one seems pretty darned small. I'm pretty sure that nothing is ever going to be as small as what I have now but I need something to replace my WL-330NUL as it only supports 2.4ghz WiFi and many places have moved on to only supporting 5ghz WiFi.

tmiw

It might not strictly be a "travel router" per se (and is far more expensive than the typical travel router) but I did have good experience recently using the "data offloading" feature of the Netgear Nighthawk M5 hotspot to improve hotel Wi-Fi reception. You'll need to use Ethernet or USB-C from it to your laptop, of course, but depending on the length of your cable you can place it in the best spot in the room (in my case, the window that was just above the bed which faced in the direction of the front desk). Doing this improved my packet loss (but didn't fully eliminate it) and increased data speeds (I was getting ~1mbps per speed tests before setting up the M5 and ~10mbps after, which was enough for a stable-ish Zoom call--especially once I turned off all video).

Anyway, if you have a recent-ish Netgear hotspot it might be worth checking if yours has this feature.

kennycrudup

Or not even that recent! I have a similar setup- I have an old(er; latest SW was ca. 2018, IIRC) that allows you to use the USB port as an RNDIS connection. I bought this that comes with hooks and suction cups and mount the antenna on the window and the Unite underneath, then I have a long USB3 cable that goes to my GL-iNet router, which feeds my laptop directly via Ethernet. Even marginal connections (RSRQs > ~18) can still manage to get acceptable speed this way and since my Unite is unlocked, I can switch between my (100GB) AT&T and ("Unlimited") T-Mo SIMs depending on which provider has better speed in the area.

Of course, nothing beats hardwired room Ethernet- but those are sadly becoming a dying breed; sometimes the TV STB has either a direct input, or a LAN output if I'm lucky.

tmiw

Even if the port's there, there's unfortunately no guarantee that it works. For example, I stayed at an Aloft hotel near PDX last night and while there was an Ethernet port next to the bed (which was active according to the lights on my USB-C hub), DHCP never worked. Fortunately their Wi-Fi actually worked reasonably well without doing anything special (unlike the hotel before that one where I had to use the Netgear hotspot as a Wi-Fi antenna).

kennycrudup

Same with a Four Points near SFO a few days back- there was a Ruckus device on the wall with four active ports- each one had a link, but no DHCP. I wonder if they were doing some sort of VLAN thing? The good news was at the TV STB there were two GbE(!) ports that had ~125Mbit thruput (in my long(er)-term-stay electronics kit I have both a 15ft USB for the Unite and a 15-ft Ethernet as well). It's a shame most of the SPG properties (4P, Westin, Sheraton, Aloft,...) at one point all had wired connections in the rooms, with some still doing it, but no active connection.

You have a USB-C powered GbE hub? Link? I have a couple 5V barrel-connector GbE hubs and I have a USB-to-barrel cable, but I'd prefer a one-stop solution, especially one with a users track record to go on (vs. just my usual method of buying everything in sight on Amazon then returning all but one).

tmiw

I do remember that it was blinking a fair bit, so my bet is that it does work for Marriott's hardware (e.g. STBs, VoIP phones) but not necessarily for guest equipment. It wouldn't surprise me if everything on that network was static IP only or otherwise MAC address restricted at the DHCP server level.

I use with my devices when I travel. One downside I've noticed is that while my 2019 MacBook Pro can power it 100% on its own, I need to plug in a USB-C PD power supply to avoid issues with other devices (for example, Windows 11 on my Surface Go 2 will give me warnings about lack of available power if I plug it into its sole USB-C port without having power plugged into the hub first).

kennycrudup

Ah, I have a few of those USB-C multiports too. I'd thought you'd had an Ethernet hub powered by USB-C, something like (which I'm about to buy, even if it's not exactly what I'm looking for, but may be useful in certain configs).