Guides · 03

GL.iNet — routers that make tunnels nice

GL.iNet (OpenWrt under the hood) is the path of least pain for WireGuard at home or in a bag. Optional. Any WG-capable router works; these just document well.

Pick a role

Home always-on

Flint 2 (AX6000) or Brume 3 (MT5000) — WireGuard server, house Wi‑Fi/switch, optional split to an AI island.

Travel client

Slate / Beryl-class travel router — joins home WG as a client so the whole hotel room rides the mesh.

Home server (GUI outline)

  1. Update firmware from GL.iNet admin UI.
  2. Internet → VPN / WireGuard → create server instance.
  3. Note listen port (e.g. 51820); forward UDP on the upstream modem if the GL is not the edge.
  4. Generate peer configs for each Mac / phone / compute box; export QR or file.
  5. Set AllowedIPs carefully — prefer 10.1.0.0/24 (mesh only) until you know you want full LAN tunnel.
  6. Enable kill-switch / policy only if you understand break-glass (travel routers often want this; home servers often do not).

Mac as peer

  1. Install official WireGuard app (App Store).
  2. Import the peer config from GL.iNet.
  3. Activate; confirm handshake in the app and ping a mesh IP.
  4. Only then open mesh-only Family Office doors.

Nice advanced pattern: house vs AI split

Full Family Office deployments often use two trust zones:

A border WireGuard or physical LAN split keeps model ports off guest Wi‑Fi. You can run for years with a single GL and one Mac — split when compute arrives. 

Example address ideas (adjust freely)House LAN:     192.168.8.0/24
WG mesh:       10.1.0.0/24
Border transit:10.255.255.0/30   # optional dual-router border

Compute binds: 127.0.0.1 + 10.1.0.5
Never:         private organs on 0.0.0.0 for house SSID

Backup before you experiment

Export router .cfg from the GL admin UI before changing WAN/LAN/WG. Rollback beats regret.

Not GL.iNet?

OpenWrt, Asuswrt-Merlin, pfSense/OPNsense, or a Linux box with wg-quick all work. Same keys, same AllowedIPs discipline.

WireGuard concepts → Hardware tiers All guides