Fritzbox: New top DSL model comes with Zigbee and 2G5 Ethernet

At the Anga Com broadband trade fair, communications specialist AVM will be presenting new Fritzboxes for fiber optic, DSL and cable connections. Among these, the Fitzbox 7690 for DSL, announced for the first time, appears to be particularly interesting because the manufacturer intends to incorporate the new Wi-Fi 7 standard and Zigbee smart home technology on the WLAN side. A preview of the next major FritzOS version 8 as well as new Wi-Fi Mesh and Wi-Fi management products will also be on display at the stand.

Wi-Fi 7 Turbo with many antennas

The Fritzbox 7690 is intended to set "new standards in terms of speed, performance and versatility". According to the manufacturer, the router is suitable for "all DSL networks" and delivers up to 300 Mbit/s on the DSL side. AVM's Wi-Fi 7 implementation raises some expectations: The module only operates on 5 and 2.4 GHz and leaves the 6 GHz band unused, but with 4-stream MIMO in both bands, the router should still deliver high throughput. Independent measurements will have to show exactly how much. AVM promises up to 7.2 GBit/s gross, i.e. around twice as much as its predecessor, the 7590. You can find more details below in the summary of features.

The manufacturer has also equipped the box with two 2.5 Gigabit LAN ports, which can be used to connect modern PCs and NAS devices, for example. This also proves that AVM's NBase-T multi-gigabit technology is gaining momentum. One of the two 2G5 ports can be reconfigured as a WAN port, for example for connection to a fiber optic modem. Two further LAN ports connect devices conventionally via Gigabit Ethernet.

AVM promises a "large storage capacity" for future function updates and better VPN throughput. Traffic via WireGuard tunnels is said to be six times faster than its predecessors, while AVM claims a threefold increase for IPsec tunnels. The Fritzbox 7690 is due to go on sale this summer. The Fritzbox 7682 is not only suitable for supervectoring, but also for G.fast connections. It is designed to transmit a maximum of 1 GBit/s. AVM appears to have scaled back its NAS ambitions somewhat. There is only one USB 2.0 port on board, which is too slow for today's USB disks. Nevertheless, the Fritzbox 7690 can also connect a mobile phone stick via USB and use it to establish an Internet connection if the DSL line fails.

AVM will also be showcasing various other products at the trade fair, such as the long-announced Fritzbox 5690 Pro for fiber optic and DSL connections, which is also planned for the summer. Wi-Fi 7, DECT including ULE and Zigbee are also on board. The 5690 Pro is said to deliver up to 18.5 Gbit/s gross on three radio bands via a total of 12 antennas. VPN connections via IPsec are around twice as fast as its predecessors, and an increase of up to 20 percent is expected with WireGuard. The Fritzbox 5690 XGS is a variant for 10 Gigabit/s on fiber optic connections according to XGS-PON, also expected in the summer.

All new Fritzboxes contain both DECT ULE and Zigbee for smart home control and are prepared for the industry standard Matter, which AVM plans to deliver later this year via a FritzOS update.

Central mesh control and FritzOS 8

AVM has developed its backend and cloud-based Wi-Fi management specifically for network providers. The technology is based on the TR-069 remote maintenance protocol. Another new feature is a mesh master function for Fritz repeaters. This allows scalable mesh systems to be set up without a Fritzbox router. At the trade fair stand, a Fritz-Repeater 3000 AX will act as a master and integrate two further units into the Mesh as clients.

Visitors to the AVM stand will also be given a preview of the upcoming FritzOS 8, which is intended to provide greater ease of use, among other things. As in previous years, AVM will continue to present beta versions of the upcoming FritzOS with new functions and improvements from time to time in 2024. The firmwares available at avm.de/labor are expressly not intended for productive operation.

AVM will be exhibiting at ANGA Com from May 14 to 16 in Hall 8, Stand B20.

Fritzbox 7690

DSL router for supervectoring 35b up to 300 MBit/s
Wi-Fi 7, 4x4 MIMO on 5 and 2.4 GHz, WLAN Mesh
Wi-Fi speed: 5 GHz: up to 5,760 Mbit/s; 2.4 GHz: up to 1,440 Mbit/s
Ethernet connections: 2x 2.5 Gigabit LAN (of which 1 x optionally as WAN port), 2x Gigabit LAN
Telephony: DECT, IP/SIP and 2 analog telephone connections (FXS)
Smart Home: DECT ULE and Zigbee, Matter in preparation
1x USB 2.0 for mobile sticks (5G/4G) as well as storage media and printers
Market launch summer 2024

Fritzbox 5690 Pro

Fiber optic and DSL router
GPON connections up to 2.5 Gbit/s, AON connections up to 1 Gbit/s
DSL Supervectoring 35b up to 300 Mbit/s
Wi-Fi 7 Wi-Fi 6E, 4x4 MIMO on 6, 5 and 2.4 GHz, triband mesh
Wi-Fi speed: 6 GHz: up to 11.53 Gbit/s; 5 GHz: up to 5,760 Mbit/s; 2.4 GHz: up to 1,200 Mbit/s
Ethernet connections: 1x 2.5 Gigabit LAN/WAN, 4x Gigabit
Telephony: DECT, IP/SIP and 1 analog telephone connection (FXS)
Smart Home: DECT ULE and Zigbee, Matter in preparation
USB: 1x USB 3.1 for mobile sticks (5G/4G) as well as storage media and printers
Market launch summer 2024

Fritzbox 5690 XGS

Fiber optic router
XGS-PON connections up to 10 Gbit/s
Wi-Fi 7, 4x4 MIMO, 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz, Mesh
Wi-Fi speed: 5 GHz: up to 5,760 Mbit/s; 2.4 GHz: up to 1,440 Mbit/s
Ethernet connections: 1x 10 Gigabit LAN, 3x Gigabit LAN
Telephony: DECT, IP/SIP and 1 analog telephone connection (FXS)
Smart Home: DECT ULE, Matter in preparation
USB: 1x USB 3.0 for mobile sticks (5G/4G) as well as storage media and printers
Information on market launch and RRP to follow

Fritzbox 7682

DSL router
DSL: G.fast (212 MHz) up to 1 Gbit/s, Supervectoring 35b up to 300 MBit/s
Wi-Fi 7: 4x4 MIMO, 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz, Mesh
Wi-Fi speed: 5 GHz: up to 5,760 Mbit/s; 2.4 GHz: up to 1,200 Mbit/s
Ethernet connections: 2x 2.5 Gigabit LAN/WAN, 2x Gigabit LAN
Telephony: DECT, IP/SIP and 1 analog telephone connection (FXS)
Smart Home: DECT ULE
USB: 1x USB 2.0 for mobile sticks (5G/4G)

(dz)