Grade F · High Risk
Is GL.iNet Safe?
GL.iNet is a Hong Kong company with manufacturing in Guangzhou, China. F grade. Chinese National Intelligence Law applies. Full security analysis.
GL.iNet is a Hong Kong company with manufacturing in Guangzhou, China. F grade. Chinese National Intelligence Law applies. Full security analysis.
GL.iNet (GL Technologies, Hong Kong Ltd.) operates from Hong Kong and manufactures in Guangzhou, China. Despite its strong reputation among VPN and privacy enthusiasts for its OpenWrt-based firmware and travel router features, GL.iNet carries meaningful national security risk. China's National Intelligence Law extends to Hong Kong and to manufacturing operations in mainland China. GL.iNet is not on the FCC Covered List and has no formal ban order, but the ownership and manufacturing structure creates the same structural risk as other Chinese-owned brands. The open-source OpenWrt firmware helps with transparency but does not eliminate the supply chain and ownership concerns.
Bottom line: Popular with privacy advocates but subject to Chinese National Intelligence Law via Hong Kong operations. Higher risk than Taiwan-based brands.
GL Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited is incorporated in Hong Kong, with its primary manufacturing subsidiary Guangzhou GL Technology Co., Ltd. operating in mainland China. China's national security law was extended to cover Hong Kong in June 2020. Manufacturing in Guangzhou is fully subject to China's National Intelligence Law. GL.iNet is more transparent than most Chinese router brands - its firmware is based on open-source OpenWrt - but the legal jurisdiction of ownership and the supply chain remain subject to Chinese state law.
All GL.iNet models in our database. Click a model for its full security report.
| Model | Grade | FCC Status | Security Support | Made In |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) | F | FCC authorized | Active | China |
The following vulnerabilities from the NIST National Vulnerability Database affect GL.iNet router models. This is a representative sample; the full CVE list may be longer.
GL.iNet is popular with VPN users and security researchers for its OpenWrt-based firmware, but it is a Hong Kong company that manufactures in Guangzhou, China. China's National Intelligence Law applies to Hong Kong and these operations. It is safer than Huawei, but carries more risk than Taiwan-based alternatives like Asus or Synology.
GL.iNet does not have a formal FCC ban order as of March 2026. However, its Chinese ownership and manufacturing structure creates structural risk under China's National Intelligence Law.
Flashing upstream OpenWrt directly removes GL.iNet's custom code and reduces software-level risk. However, it does not address hardware supply chain concerns or the company's legal obligations under Chinese law.
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