Fritzbox 4050: AVM modernizes its cheapest modem-free router
The Fritzbox 4050 with Wi-Fi 6 is significantly faster than the 4040 and will go on sale soon.
The Fritzbox 4050 comes in a white instead of red-grey console housing.
(Image: AVM)
The eight-year-old Fritzbox 4040 is getting a successor: the 4050 model. It supports Wi-Fi 6 instead of Wi-Fi 5 and is much faster, especially in the 5 GHz band. AVM states a gross transmission rate of 2.4 Gbit/s, plus 600 Mbit/s at 2.4 GHz. For comparison: The Fritzbox 4040 only manages 867 and 400 Mbit/s.
The 4050 successor transmits with two MIMO streams per frequency band. Together with a channel width of 160 MHz, this results in 2.4 Gbit/s gross at 5 GHz. This means that the router is also faster than the more expensive Fritzbox 4060 (two MIMO streams, 80 MHz channel width, 1.2 Gbit/s), which, however, has an additional WLAN module for two 5 GHz networks.
As with all AVM routers in the 4000 series, the Fritzbox 4050 does not include a modem. It is intended for users who use a provider modem and want to connect a WLAN router behind it. The manufacturer advertises the Fritzbox 4050 primarily for fiber optic connections, but it works just as well behind a DSL or TV cable modem.
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No 2.5 Gbit/s LAN and only USB 2.0
Compared to the Fritzbox 4060, AVM has slimmed down the 4050 model in two other areas: The WAN and the three LAN ports transmit a maximum of one gigabit per second – 2.5 Gbit/s on the WAN connection has been eliminated. In addition, there is only USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s) instead of USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbit/s, formerly known as USB 3.0). This slows down the Fritzbox 4050 if you want to use it with a USB hard disk as inexpensive network storage (NAS).
(Image:Â AVM)
Smart home devices can only be integrated via the Fritzbox 4050 using DECT ULE. Zigbee and Matter support is reserved for more expensive AVM routers. The newcomer also runs FritzOS with its typical functions, including Wireguard VPN.
AVM quotes a recommended retail price of 139 euros for the Fritzbox 4050; dealers want to start shipping soon. This makes it a good 50 euros more expensive than the 4040 (starting from 95,90 €) to start with. The modem-free top model Fritzbox 4060 (starting from 180 €) costs considerably more.
(mma)
