1. Introduction2. AVM FRITZ!Box 76903. AVM FRITZ!Box 7690 Administration Interface4. AVM FRITZ!Box 7690 Analysis5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

The AVM FRITZ!Box 7690 continues the tradition of the 7590 and previous AVM routers we've tested. It's absolutely packed with features. Not only are the mainstream router capabilities extensive, but you also get comprehensive telephony and smart home options, plus Internet radio and podcast network media sharing. If you need to extend your WiFi across a large house, there are Mesh options too.

These might not be enough to convince you if the performance was mediocre, but fortunately the 7690 delivers in this department too – mostly. It's not the fastest WiFi 7 router we've tested at close range, but it maintains performance further out than the other devices we've reviewed so far. Its performance with WiFi 6 is stunning – easily the best we've seen. WiFi 5 throughput is up with the best, too, until you get over 10m. While WiFi 4 speed is more pedestrian, range is still good with this standard.

You get a bevy of wired ports, including 2.5Gbit Ethernet WAN and LAN, plus a couple of Gigabit ports. There's even a built-in ADSL modem, so you won't need a separate one if this is your broadband flavour.

With this level of features and performance, you'd expect the AVM FRITZ!Box 7690 to cost quite a bit more than the competition. But in fact at under £330 there is only a small premium over, for example, the NETGEAR Nighthawk RS300. The latter still holds our WiFi 7 crown, but the FRITZ!Box provides much greater feature richness and all-round performance for just a little bit more. Highly recommended.

The AVM FRITZ!Box 7690 is available from Amazon UK for £329.84 inc VAT.

Pros:

• Decent WiFi 7 range.
• Built in DECT and analog telephony.
• Zigbee Smart home device support.
• 2.5Gbit Ethernet WAN.
• 2.5Gbit Ethernet LAN (one port)
• Mesh WiFi capability with additional units.
• USB connection for storage and media server sharing.
• Excellent WiFi 6 and 5 performance.
• Feature-rich management interface.

Cons:

• No 6GHz waveband.
• WiFi 7 performance at close range behind best.
• Mediocre WiFi 4 throughput (but range is good).

KitGuru says: The AVM FRITZ!Box 7690 partners excellent overall WiFi performance with WiFi 7 capabilities and a very special set of features, including telephony and smart home control. This router is the complete package for home and small office users.

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