This one sits slightly outside our usual patch, but it addresses something every photographer who works away from home should think about more than they probably do: what happens to your files, and your accounts, when you upload over someone else’s Wi-Fi. ExpressVPN has launched the Fortify, a purpose-built router that puts VPN protection at the network level rather than on individual devices. Details are on ExpressVPN’s site.
Why a photographer might care about a router
The security case is genuine rather than manufactured. If you deliver client work from a hotel, upload to a gallery over café Wi-Fi, or run a studio full of connected devices, your traffic is only as private as the network carrying it — and public networks are not private. A VPN encrypts that traffic so it cannot be read in transit, which for anyone handling client images, contracts or account logins on the road is a reasonable precaution.
The reason to do it at the router rather than per-device is coverage. A VPN app protects the laptop you installed it on. A VPN router protects everything that connects through it — and that includes the devices that cannot run an app at all. In a studio, that means the network cameras, the NAS, the smart lighting and the IoT kit that would otherwise be the weak point, all covered without configuring each one.
What Fortify actually is
It is a substantial hardware step up from ExpressVPN’s previous router, the Aircove. VPN speeds reach up to 900 Mbps, against up to 330 Mbps on the Aircove — which matters, because the usual complaint about routing everything through a VPN is that it throttles your connection, and 900 Mbps is fast enough that most people would not notice.
It runs AX6000 Wi-Fi 6 with 4×4 MU-MIMO (against AX1800 and 2×2 on the Aircove), adds Multi-Gig ports, and supports up to 86 devices. For a working studio with a lot of connected hardware, the device count and the Multi-Gig ports are the specifications that make it viable rather than just secure.
If you own the older routers
Worth knowing, because ExpressVPN is retiring both Aircove and Aircove Go alongside this launch. Existing owners keep support through 2027 for the Aircove and 2028 for the Aircove Go, and are eligible for a discount on the Fortify. So it is a genuine replacement of the line rather than an addition to it.
Our take
We would be honest about what this is and is not. A VPN router is not photography kit, and it will not improve a single image. What it does is protect the work once it leaves the camera — and for anyone whose living depends on client confidentiality, or who simply does a lot of uploading from networks they do not control, that is a real, if unglamorous, consideration.
The one thing to factor in is that the hardware is only half the cost. Fortify performs standard router functions on its own, but the VPN protection — the entire reason to buy it — requires an active ExpressVPN subscription, sold separately. Whether it is worth it therefore depends on whether you want an ongoing VPN subscription at all, not just the router. We have a unit on the way and will report back on how it performs in practice, particularly whether that 900 Mbps holds up under a real upload workload.
ExpressVPN Fortify: Specifications
Type: Wi-Fi 6 router with built-in VPN protection at network level.
VPN speed: up to 900 Mbps (previous Aircove: up to 330 Mbps).
Wi-Fi: AX6000, 4×4 MU-MIMO (Aircove: AX1800, 2×2).
Ports: Multi-Gig.
Device support: up to 86 devices, including those that cannot run VPN software — smart TVs, security cameras and IoT devices.
Requirement: an active ExpressVPN subscription for VPN features (sold separately); functions as a standard router without one.
Line changes: replaces Aircove and Aircove Go, which are being retired — support continues to 2027 (Aircove) and 2028 (Aircove Go), with existing owners eligible for a discount on Fortify.
ExpressVPN Fortify: Price and availability
The Fortify launches on 16 September 2026. Pricing was not confirmed in the launch materials we have seen — we will update this story once details are available. An active ExpressVPN subscription is required for VPN functionality.