FritzOS updates: When 8.03 follows 8.01

AVM has been distributing FritzOS 8 to various Fritzbox models since last fall. As the deployment is traditionally staggered, but further development does not stand still, some boxes started with 8.00 and others, such as the top model FritzBox 5690 Pro, only with 8.01. The bugfix update 8.03 has now been available for the latter as of this week. That wouldn't be surprising if it weren't for the question "And where has 8.02 gone?"...

Version 8.02 has been available since shortly before Christmas and for a whole range of Fritzboxes. However, it is a rather hectic update that AVM only distributed widely in Austria shortly before the end-of-year hibernation because there was a nasty bug in the predecessors: Not all the emergency numbers there were always reachable. Direct download links have been doing the rounds in the relevant forums since Christmas, with which you can also get 8.02 on boxes in Germany (and elsewhere), where it then does its job just as inconspicuously.

The fact that 8.02 is more of an emergency update than a regular update, even though it was explicitly not labeled as a beta lab version, is evident from the fact that it was never linked or advertised by AVM itself. And there is also no recovery exe for resetting, as is usually the case with official releases. To complete the mess: Lab updates distributed in January, for example for the 5690 Pro, ran as 8.01, but were either also compiled before Christmas or even later.

AVM should resolve this confusion in the coming days and weeks by releasing an 8.03 for all boxes that have received 8.00, 8.01 or 8.02, so that things will be more orderly from now on. For mobile versions (6860 5G, 6850 5G & LTE), 8.02 is an official lab version.

New lab series in sight

For all users who like to experiment, lab versions with new functions are likely to follow at some point. AVM is already circulating 8.10 versions internally for testing. However, there are currently no major new features on board. (mue)