My New ASUS Router Wants To Spy On Me

Cody Casterline

My New ASUS Router Wants To Spy On Me

After a recommendation from coworkers, and reading/watching some reviews online, I decided to get a new router. I purchased the "ASUS Rapture GT-AXE11000 WiFi6E" router in particular for its nice network analytics and QoS features.

On unpacking and setting up said router, I'm disappointed to find that the features I purchased the router for require that I give network analytics data over to a third-party.

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The last line of that popup says:

If you would like to disable sharing your information with Trend Micro through the above functions, please go to: Router web GUI > Advanced settings > Administration > Privacy

For a brief few seconds I was naive enough to think that the issue was just that this behavior was opt-out instead of opt-in. So I headed over to the Privacy settings to opt out.

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However, please note that such features/functions may not work if you stop sharing your information with Trend Micro.

"May not work" my ass! If you withdraw consent it just disables the features entirely, and then tells you:

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Please note that users are required to agree to share their information before using [the features that I bought this router for].

At least now (after a couple router restarts to apply settings) they're telling the truth. This is not an "option", it's a requirement.

If I go back to the "Statistic" or "Bandwidth Monitor" tabs, they're now disabled:

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I'm considering returning this router for one that won't try to spy on me. There is NO reason for this kind of thing in my home router, a device which should be prioritizing my own security and privacy. And certainly not for features like QoS or bandwidth usage monitoring.

Does anyone have recommendations? I want something that:

  • Has good network analytics so that when network issues occur, I can determine if it's due to one of my devices, or my ISP.
  • Good QoS (preferably one that can adjust to varying bandwidth availability throughout the day without me having to constantly toggle bandwidth caps)
  • Doesn't require consenting to third-party data collection.