ASUS - RT-BE58 Go BE3600 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router - White

This little travel router has a lot of customization options and works flawlessly, easy to connect to hotel WiFi, and also it's very compact. It would've been nice, however, if they included a case for it since it technically is a travel router, but I was able to find one on Amazon that fits it perfectly. (The case is a RLSOCO brand; it holds my Roku stick and remote with all the cables.) The only annoyance is whenever you're making changes to the router settings, the router seems to reboot after every setting change, so the initial setup takes a little while because you have to wait for the reboot process to end and for the router to come back online again so you can reconnect and go to the next setting that you want to change. Other than that, it's a great little travel router.

Staying at extended stay set up own protected wifi from hotel easily and works great

Primary Goal: Extending my home network to improve connection for smart cameras at the back of the house without having to run an ethernet cord. Secondary Goal: Creating a secure, private network for multiple devices while traveling in hotels. Verdict: It does a great job at both of these tasks. SPEEDS: I’ve attached pictures. CRITICAL CONTEXT: I tested this on an iPad Pro M4 (WiFi 6E). This device is limited to 160 MHz Channel Width, not the full speed 320 MHz Channel Width available on Wi-Fi 7. I hit the speed limit of my iPad, not necessarily the router. As you must have both a WiFi 7 card and WiFi 7 router to get full speeds. Wired (AP Mode): I pay for 2500 Mbps. I’m getting ~1500 Mbps. This is actually a fantastic speed. Repeater Mode: I’m getting about 500–700 Mbps with a strong connection in my house. Range Test: At the edge of my property, through a wall (20–30 feet away), I get 100–300 Mbps. PROS: - Good performance. - Easy setup (though specific features have a learning curve). - Mobile App works well. - Automatically creates its own IoT network (isolates smart devices from your main data). - Supports VPN (though not tested personally). - Small, compact, USB-C power (can run off a laptop). MEH: - Takes about three minutes to reboot. - WiFi 7 speeds are incredibly fast (hit 1.6 Gbps on my iPad), but be aware that many current devices cannot yet utilize the full max speed of this router due to hardware limitations. - Small/medium coverage size. But to be expected with something so small. CONS: - The settings to switch networks in travel mode are buried. It should be on the launch page. - The user interface Looks dated and uses technical jargon that laymen may not understand. - The LAN port is only 1 Gbps, creating a bottleneck (max of 1,000 Mbps) for wired devices if you have fast internet. But wireless is up to 2.5 Gbps WAN (IN port). - The menus in the software do not explain the modes well; requires prior networking knowledge. Or researching yourself. - No 6 GHz Band: This is a dual-band router (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz). It lacks the 6 GHz band required for "True" ultra-wide Wi-Fi 7 speeds (320 MHz channel width). REVIEW: This device is essentially a wireless router but comes with more features than your normal wireless router. You have 5 specific options. Using one or multiple of these is why you would buy this product: 1. Wireless Router Mode: This is your typical router. The device acts as the boss of the network. It takes the internet from a wire (WAN port), creates a firewall, assigns addresses (DHCP) to your phone/laptop, and broadcasts Wi-Fi. Used when you have access to a wire in a hotel/dorm/home. Should be full speed. 2. Access Point (AP) Mode: Acts as a radio tower. It takes a wired internet connection and converts it to Wi-Fi, but lets the main router upstream handle the IP addresses. Best use case: if you already have a main router, but Wi-Fi doesn’t reach someone in your home. You’d run a long cable to it and plug it in. Then that specific area would have high-speed Wi-Fi. Should be full speed. 3. Repeater Mode: The device connects to an existing Wi-Fi network wirelessly and rebroadcasts the signal further. You do NOT need an ethernet cable connected. Use case: you need Wi-Fi in the corner of your house and don’t want to (or cannot) run a cable. - Note: This will cut speeds in half or more. This is because the radio operates in Half-Duplex (it has to listen to the main network first, stop, and then relay that message to your device). This "double step" slows the throughput. 4. Media Bridge: Reverse of an Access Point. The device connects to a Wi-Fi network wirelessly and sends the internet out through the Ethernet port. This is best for a legacy device (desktop PC, older game console, camera system) that doesn’t have a Wi-Fi card. - Note: The WAN (Input) port is 2.5 Gbps, but the LAN (Output) port is only 1 Gbps. This means your wired device will be capped at 1000 Mbps. 5. Public WiFi Mode / WISP: This is the mode they mainly market. The device connects to a public Wi-Fi hotspot (like at a hotel) wirelessly (without a physical ethernet cable), but then creates its own private, secure Wi-Fi network for your devices. Best Use Case: Hotel Wi-Fi. All your devices use the hotel’s network but are shielded by a firewall between you and other guests. It also handles Captive Portals (login screens) automatically.

I wouldn’t use this as a complete home device, but more of what it is built for is a couple devices while connected to another network. As with anything technology, speeds may vary depending on how something is used. For instance, wired to a WAN connection, and wired to the device often gets more reliable speeds. But, using this router in Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) mode might not give you the full ISP connection as you are sharing the wireless bandwidth. Meanwhile, using the 4G/5G tether mode will limit speeds to that of your phone. With that said though, this thing is perfect for either a distant access point that is meant for a couple devices to extend the range of your home router or as I see it more reliable as your own personal safety router. Using public WiFi is always risky, but with this, you can put it in WISP mode and now be behind your own IPS with AI protection. There are several ways to get the WAN connection. You can use the 1Gbps ethernet port, you can use the WISP mode mentioned where you can connect to a 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz wireless connection and there is 4G/5G tether where you can connect your phone via USB. You have to enable tethering through USB on your device and it will take other methods as priority if they are available. But, if there are no other methods, then you can enable it under the WAN settings on the app and it will fall back to it. This is a full blown router through and through though. With all the features you expect of a router plus some. You have family controls to help restrict content and protect from ads. You have time scheduling, even with a reward system to give extra time to specific devices. You have Trend Micro AI protection to stop so much more. You even have VPN options where you can connect direct to a VPN from the router or use your router as a VPN back to your network. One unique feature is a small switch on the side of the router. It’s not so obvious how to use this switch from the directions or even in the device. By default, it has no function, till you set it via a web browser connection or the Asus router app. In the app the only place to find it is to click the router information at the top of the main page. Here it shows connected devices, router information, the toggle for the LED and the switch options. In a web browser by IP, it is under Administration > Multi-Function Button tab at the top. The switch can be configured to turn the LED on/off, enable/disable the guest network, turn on/off the WiFi network, turn the VPN connection on/off or switch between profiles like WISP or ethernet. To make things even more portable, you can also power the router with any USB-C power source, like straight from your laptop or other device charger, so no need to carry the extra charging cable if you have other means. Overall, if you travel a lot and want an added layer of security and personalization, this is the way to go. You have multiple ways to get a WAN connection and then keep your own personal WiFi or wired connection wherever you go.

Works well for hotels. I would recommend for anyone that travels a significant amount.