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The well-known VPN provider ExpressVPN has been offering a fairly popular VPN router called ‘Aircove’ for several years. Last month, the company, which is based in the British Virgin Islands to maintain a no-log policy, essentially unveiled a spin-off variant that offers the same benefits, but on the go. We tested the AirCove Go, listed the pros and cons and saw how well it actually does its job.
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Certainly handy
At first impression it was noticeable that the device itself is smaller in length and width than my iPhone 13 Pro, it is about 3.5 times thicker than my phone and at 245 grams it is also about 40 grams heavier. All in all, it is a handy little thing that will undoubtedly always have a place in your luggage (or even pocket). The round and beige (plastic) appearance of the Go variant is completely different from the sharp and black-colored exterior of the regular Aircove and looks a lot more (user) friendly.
Ways of use
As soon as you start using it, unfold the two antennas upwards and connect a device to the generated hotspot, after which you can set up the router itself and the vpn connection (for which you must have an ExpressVPN subscription) on your phone. You can also choose to use it without a VPN tunnel in the user interface, but then you only have a WiFi repeater. It is a pity that the router does not have the option to use a SIM card or e-SIM to actually have stable internet everywhere.
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There are various use cases for the Aircove Go: for example, you can use it at home to pass all the internet through a secure VPN tunnel, the router has enough ports (two Ethernet and a WAN port) and Wi-Fi 6 support, which makes connecting to multiple devices at the same time a lot smoother. But it is especially useful if you want to safely use public Wi-Fi networks while traveling while working with personal data (banking information, sensitive documents or trade secrets), on these types of networks there is a chance (according to a study by 40 percent) that your personal information is compromised.
Once you want to get started, have set up the VPN on the nearest server and have connected the router to a (possibly public) WiFi network, you will notice little difference in download and upload speeds when using the secure network, with for me a small decrease of about six percent. Your speed will therefore always depend on the network to which you connect the Aircove Go. A significant disadvantage is that the mobile router must be connected to a socket at all times, so a slightly larger design to make room for a battery would not have been a bad idea at all.
Price and availability
The Aircove Go does everything it is advertised as, but the lack of a battery or the dependence on an ExpressVPN subscription may be a turnoff for real power users. You can currently only purchase the small router on the American Amazon website, where it costs around 160 euros, but then there are quite expensive import and shipping costs on top of that.