I know the default OS used on the GL-MT3000 is based on OpenWRT. If I was to install over the router with the build from the OpenWRT website, would it be the exact same OS or is there some differencews in the OS? I noticed there is an extra GUI that I don't see in other OpenWRT Routers. I was wondering if the OpenWRT GL-MT3000 build from OpenWRT would also have that GUI. For reference, the GUI provides an easy to use menu to wifi relay to other Wifi networks.
It is different. The vendor customised openwrt.
Does the OpenWRT version have an easy to use tools to configure a wifi relay through GUI or does everything have to be done manually in the OpenWRT version?
Read the doc, decide for yourself.
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/relay_configuration
It might be useful to define wifi relay...
The specific term relay, as used here, typically means that you are using your device as an extender where the upstream and downstream networks are one-and-the same. In this context, all of the devices can communicate with each other upstream <-> downstream and the path is entirely transparent.
If, on the other hand, the desire is to have a wifi uplink for internet access but your 'own' downstream wifi network that is routed and often firewalled (as would be the typical use for a travel router in a hotel/cafe/etc), the process is quite different than the relay method, and actually quite a bit more straight forward.
I am refering to the travel router scenario. The GL-MT3000 connects to a wifi network we don't own for internet so everything is firewalled and Nated. I noticed there was an easy to use GUI for that in the default OS. I was curious what the official OpenWRT build has.
I believe this is the first option psherman was talking about where it is for extending an existing network and not for being a seperate router connecting to some random wifi router. The goal is to have something I can easily swap between. I can go from being able to have clients connect to both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz while WAN grants internet to having clients connect to 5 Ghz while the 2.4 Ghz is used to grand the router internet to having clients connected to 2.4 Ghz while the 5 Ghz grants the router internet. I can setup something once as long as it is easy to swap between these options in the future. It does need to be easy to swap between. That guide you linked work be to complicated and not time efficient for the people using the router if they have to go through something like that every single time they change between one of three setups.
I was trying to install the official OpenWRT build while maintaining an easy to use GUI for this type of swapping. Would this be an addon after I installed the OpenWRT OS?
I use my MT3000 as a travel router just as you are looking to do.
Doing this is actually really simple, and there is a package called travelmate which makes this really easy when you are using different wifi at hotels/cafes/etc..
I would encourage you to try official OpenWrt and see what you think. There may be a bit of a discovery/learning phase, but I think you'll find that it is really powerful and flexible. If you don't like it, you can always flash back to the GL-Inet vendor firmware.