ASUS ExpertWiFi EBG15 Gigabit VPN Wired Router, up to 3 WAN ethernet Ports + 1 USB WAN, IPS Intrusion Prevention, Layer 7 Firewall, Commercial-Grade Network Security, Remote Management with App

I am not an IT pro or networking expert. I just needed an easy-to-install wired router for my small home office, which has one or two PCs running at a time. This router fits the bill perfectly. This is a big deal because there seem to be very few routers that meet these simple criteria (wired and easy to install). In fact, as of this writing in September 2024, this is the only one I could find. It seems the tech industry has decided everyone using the internet at home wants wifi. And anyone who doesn't want wifi must be a networking expert. What they are missing is that there are some important reasons why a home user who is not a networking expert might prefer a wired router:- Faster internet speeds.- Superior security.- No additional radio waves bouncing around the house, a potential technical or health issue.Pros of this unit:- Wired only. No wifi capabilty without adding other components.- Plug-and-play simplicity, if that's what you want. Seriously, I simply plugged everything in and it worked flawlessly.- Fast internet speeds. Provided the highest internet speeds I've ever seen through a router.- Tons of advanced networking features if you need them. There are web and mobile interfaces you can use to access the well-designed online dashboard. Honestly, most of the settings there were over my head. It appears you don't need to use the interface at all if you don't want to.- Physical design is clean, simple, and compact. The case is metal, believe it or not, which I think is great.- Provides immediate connection when started up, unlike some other wired routers that reportedly take a few minutes to start delivering data.Cons:- It isn't designed for desktop use. Rather, it seems like it's meant to be screwed to a wall in a server room or something like that. I say this because it doesn't really have a "front", unless it's the top where the name is printed. There are screw slots on the bottom. Power input and internet connections are on opposite sides of the unit. For SOHO use (small office / home office), it would be nice to have all the wires going into one side and indicator lights on the other.- Confusingly, it has "Wifi" in its name. Apparently ExpertWifi is the name of the product line, which does include some wifi components. By itself, to be clear, this unit has no wifi capability.- It comes with a comically simple quick start guide that basically just says to plug everything in and then check out the user interface. A little more plain-English explanation for the non tech-savvy would be cool.All in all, after many hours of searching online and reading articles, I've concluded this router is in a class by itself: a simple, efficient, plug-and-play wired router. Thank you, ASUS!

I bought three of this to try out in my Lab. I configured it for WAN and tethering, NOT the touted AiMesh. However, on the browser web interface, it still shows "AiMesh" on the toolbar! Configuration/setup is confusing.Note: All of these are in my IT Lab.On the dashboard, only the primary WAN is showing. I connected my Android phone to the USB port and the router is connected to the Internet. The mobile phone connection does not show on the dashboard. I only know it is connected because the DNS BENCHMARK on the dashboard shows there is DNS connectivity to Google, Cloudflare, etc.. With only the USB tethering internet connection, in the VPN Fusion page, it shows "No Internet Connection"!!!!I set up one of these EBG15, while connected to the Internet using my Android phone tethering, with VPN Fusion to one of my gateway 1,800 miles away. This gateway uses a different brand but it is running OpenVPN service. I use OpenVPN protocol to connect to that gateway. The EBG15 connected to the remote gateway however, there is no place in the web interface to see what IP Address the connection it was using. Even though the VPN Fusion shows that it is connected to the remote gateway, my laptop cannot ping any remote device. This is a deal breaker.I tried L2TP. However, since the remote gateway's L2TP implementation requires a PassPhrase and the EBG15 implementation has no choice of PassPhrase option, only username/password for authentication. So another deal breaker.I setup the other two for site-to-site using Wireguard while their WAN ports are connected to a switch. The Wireguard VPN between the two EBG15's were connected. I connected my laptop to one of the LAN port on one EBG15. I tried to ping the LAN IP of the other EBG15 but no response. Even though the VPN fusion on both units were showing as connected. I moved my laptops connection to the other unit and tried to ping the LAN IP of the other unit - the same thing, cannot ping any LAN device in the other unit. Another deal breaker.There seems to be non-existent support for this router. Not even a community in social media that I know of. There is no community for Asus routers in general in Reddit.I am very disappointed with my purchase. I don't recommend this product to anyone.

Coming up on a year of being in service. There was a bit of a learning curve for me, but it's performed flawlessly for me. I won't go back to using consumer grade gear in my home again.

I got very worried by the talk of TP-link possibly being infected by Chinese back doors. This works great at a good price, and as a bonus, can be the center of a mesh network using other compatible Asus routers and access points.