Here’s a concise, solid setup that works reliably across routers, Linux, and certain third-party OpenVPN clients.

Do not edit certificates or keys unless you know what you’re changing.

client dev tun proto udp remote usa-newyork-ca-version.expressnetw.com 1194 resolv-retry infinite nobind persist-key persist-tun remote-cert-tls server auth SHA512 cipher AES-256-CBC ignore-unknown-option block-outside-dns verb 3 <ca> -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- [CA certificate content] -----END CERTIFICATE----- </ca> <cert> -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- [Client certificate content] -----END CERTIFICATE----- </cert> <key> -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- [Client private key content] -----END PRIVATE KEY----- </key> key-direction 1 <tls-auth> [TA key content] </tls-auth>

Move the downloaded .ovpn files to the OpenVPN config folder. By default, this is: C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config . 4. Connect Launch the application.

Select the specific geographic server location you wish to connect to (e.g., USA - New York, UK - London, or Japan).

files for the server locations you want (e.g., USA - New York, UK - London). Import to Client

: Log in to your account and enter the verification code sent to your email.

A key part of the configuration "story" is the extra step for privacy:

If you tell me (e.g., Windows PC, ASUS router, Linux server) you're trying to set up, I can provide the specific step-by-step commands or file paths you'll need. Setting up ExpressVPN using OpenVPN - Netgate Forum

While the official ExpressVPN app is incredibly convenient, utilizing the ExpressVPN OpenVPN config brings several specific benefits for power users:

Log into your ASUS router admin panel (usually 192.168.1.1 or ://asus.com ).

OpenVPN is a highly trusted, open-source VPN protocol that balances military-grade security with excellent speeds. By utilizing ExpressVPN’s manual configuration files, you gain direct access to their high-speed global server network without being tethered to their proprietary interface.

Since a manual OpenVPN setup doesn't include this feature out of the box, you have to create it manually: