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I came across a few Bilibili videos about what OpenWrt could do, along with some favorable reviews of the GL-MT1300. The device looked promising, so I bought one. After spending quite a bit of time configuring it, installing plugins, and dealing with various problems, I eventually came to one conclusion: I had paid to become the fool who bought imported electronic junk.

Installing the LuCI SSR Plus plugin

The following models are listed as compatible or theoretically compatible with the plugin:

<table> <thead> <tr> <th>Router model</th> <th>CPU</th> <th>Target</th> <th>Installation support</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>GL-MT1300</td> <td>MT7621A</td> <td>mipsel_24kc</td> <td>Supported</td> </tr> <tr> <td>GL-MT300N</td> <td>MTK7628NN</td> <td>mipsel_24kc</td> <td>Theoretically supported</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Installation steps

  1. Use WinSCP to upload the plugin files to the router’s /tmp/tmp/ directory.
  2. Enter the upload directory with cd /tmp/tmp/.
  3. Run opkg update \&\& opkg install * and wait for the installation to finish.
  4. If the installation reports that openssl20150806 is already installed, remove it as described in the next step.
  5. In the LuCI interface, open System → Software, use the filter to search for libustream, switch to the installed packages, and remove libustream-openssl20150806.
  6. Then run opkg install luci-compat. Without luci-compat, opening the plugin pages in LuCI may result in errors.
  7. Log in to LuCI again. The newly installed plugin should appear under the Services menu.

Download

The files were provided through a Pik object-storage download channel.

What using it was actually like

After using the router for some time, the number of bugs became hard to ignore. If you are determined to keep using this hardware, flashing a suitable firmware yourself is probably the safer approach.

Installing IPK packages on the official stock firmware caused repeated problems. After running for a while, the device could even become unusable. In practice, the MT1300 felt less like a convenient OpenWrt platform and more like an expensive piece of imported e-waste.

For a self-built setup, picking up an x86 machine on Xianyu may be a better deal. My final advice is simple: think twice before buying this router.

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