Aircove | Wi-Fi 6 VPN Router for Home | Protect Unlimited Devices | Free 30-Day ExpressVPN Trial | (U.S. & Canada Version)

My initial two months of using the Aircove router from ExpressVPN have been very positive, and I recommend it as a general-purpose secure router that is extremely simple to set up.Jumping on the introductory discount of the ExpressVPN Aircove was a snap decision as a continuing expressVPN subscriber. It fit all the requirements I has for an internal home router. I already had a two-year-old WiFi5/WPA2 mesh router which provides adequate coverage in my 1300 sq-ft split-level home without requiring any satellite routers, but I wanted to move to WPA3 security for my devices that support it and VPN coverage for devices that that couldn't run expressVPN.1. SecurityNow that all of our phones and laptops support WPA3, it was time to move to make the painless upgrade to our WIFI security. I routinely noted unknown devices probing my WiFi5/WPA2 router and figured that a concerted attack was just a matter of time. I continue to use that router as my edge router for untrusted devices that I own such as smart TVs and smart home switches used for trivial functions like outdoor holiday lighting. Since most of these devices are confined to the GUEST network, penetration of any one of them is of little concern.2. ConvenienceI found the Aircove's setup to be the easiest I've ever encountered after several decades of using routers from industry leaders. It was literally a 5-minute process.An even bigger convenience factor is that the expressVPN software running on the router eliminates the frequent task of downloading and installing expressVPN updates to stay-at-home devices. I have yet to verify that the expressVPN in the router auto-updates, but even if that claim is not met, updating it manually is still a great time saver over updating my many devices with several different Operating Systems.PerformanceAs a non-gamer, I do not choose to pay for 1Gb internet service. Still, I like getting the bandwidth that I'm paying for even while protecting my devices with a VPN. Having the router spend cycles doing the the encryption and decryption degrades latency vrs having no VPN but has little effect on throughput, and allows those CPU cycles to freed up on all my devices that no longer have to run the VPN to get that protection while in my home. Given all this, a serious gamer should have a high-performance gaming router as the edge router but may want to seriously consider the Aircove as an internal router for a non-gaming network of devices.SupportAlthough this is expressVPN's first foray into selling routers, there is reason to expect better support for this product since most of it's users are paying $100/yr for the expressvpn subscription.Hardware QualityAlthough not a huge name in the home router market, the Chinese company that manufactures the hardware has a solid reputation for quality and support.PriceAt roughly half the price of comparatively powerful WiFi6/WPA3 routers that run ExpressVPN or anything of comparable quality, this purchase was a no-brainer.FeaturesAs I indicated before, the lack of GUEST network support is justified by the main goals of this router, but is alleviated when used as an internal router where an edge router supplies a GUEST network. The Aircove is also poor in the bells and whistles such as Parent Controls. Having no minor children in my home makes that a non-issue, besides, if I didn't trust my children, they would be confined to the edge router or even to it's GUEST network.There is no suite of security tools such as some companies provide on the premier routers, but I never found such to be very useful compared to just having a modicum of vigilance in reviewing your connection logs.The Aircove sports four ethernet ports in addition to the WAN port, which should be plenty in the WiFi-intensive world we live in. If not, unmanaged switches are very inexpensive.There is no USB port, which I also consider reasonable for an internal security router. If I want a low-security file-sharing device, it would make more sence to put it on the edge router. If you don't use an edge router or yours lacks a USB port,for $50 you can use something like PLEX on a RaspberryPI to flexibly share media on either your high security Aircove network or on the low security edge router network at the cost of tying up one ethernet port or buying a switch or via WiFi if you must waste wireless bandwidth in that fashion. A Roku Ultra can supply a subset of those features, as well.A minor plus feature is the four foldable antennae. This makes the Aircove a passable travel router. This works particularly well for me as it leaves the edge router behind with all the functionality that the dog/house sitter is permitted.CriticismsThere is not much to say here. WiFi 6E or 7 will be nice when our devices start supporting it. Support for other emerging wireless smart home standards would be nice, as well. The Aircove is not a mesh hub, but I could attach additional Aircoves to satellites of my mesh edge router if needed.My biggest beef is that expressVPN running on my devices runs afoul of the expressVPN running on the Aircove. The ability to list devices by hardware MAC address that should be exempted from the VPN in the Aircove is a good feature but does not help with computers that are dual-bootable where one of the OSs is auto-launching expressvpn and another is not, perhaps because it is not available for that OS. Also, I'd like to see arbitration so that the device with the later version of expressVPN wins, or if they are the same that the device yields to the Aircove. Better yet, the arbitration policy could be configurable on a device-by-device basis with the default being as previously suggested.Finally, this is a criticism only in the positive sense: the Aircove seems to boot and come on line with the VPN active remarkably quickly: an indication of it's powerful processor and efficient software.

WARNING about ExpressVPN - if you sign up for their Dedicated IP service THEY DO NOT TELL YOU that this service WILL NOT work with Aircove routers. If you are considering buying this to stream content from the USA at a location outside the USA the most reliable way to do this is to have a dedicated IP address. If will work with non-dedicated IP addresses but it's more dicey than having a dedicated IP. THEY WILL NOT TELL YOU THIS. I gave the router 5 stars as this IS NOT a problem with the routers' functionality. It does work, and it does work with ExpressVPN. But you need to know this because the best way to stream with a VPN is to have a dedicated IP address (extra cost) and let's face it, I got conned. There is no expected date for adding this to Aircove routers by ExpressVPN. You have been warned - I got conned out of a couple hundred bucks by these people. I am not happy.

Update: Been troubleshooting since Dec 5th, it is Dec 14th. Not ExpressVPN decided they wont replace the equipment that is well within the year warranty. Adding 6 months of support. The unit has been intermittent out of the box, no problem there, it happens. Never had a company say they won't replace it as stated in the warranty. The tech response is now, and I quote, "You have enough time to test it out and be able to see if you are not satisfied. I know where you are coming from, and I am sorry for the issues that you are encountering. I sincerely apologize, but we won't complete the replacement request. referred me to their warranty page, stating we would replace under factory defect or workmanship. Provided ample examples of troubleshooting with them and on my own. They don't back their warranty and are not in the USA so there is no recourse. Don't risk your money. Get a VPN router from a company that has a solid history of support and back up their gear.I have been working on networks professionally in my career and wanted a modern Wifi router with my favorite VPN installed centrally. This unit has been very intermittent. Loss of internet connection, wifi dropping out, and feeble download performance. Support is chat-based, that doesn't work when you change the router configs and reboot. Have to restart chat, wait for a specialist, and go from there. Takes a lot of the customer's time, restarting, waiting, chatting again etc etc. No phone support even after the same m issues. Tech support wanted me to manually configure the router. Note: Even with 3 active wifi routers in the same location, they all adjusted and worked great. Just some were outdated. they only offer 30-day returns. This is what I get for getting their brand-new product. FYI, there is no WPS support so if you are installing with a lot of clients/smart devices you will have to manually add everything. Support stated it was a security consideration. If I can't control my physical security in my home I have other issues.Overall: I would wait for product stabilization and Ver 2.X. This version is rough around the edges.