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AVM FritzBox 7490 802.11AC Wireless Router Review
£355.00 excl. VAT
Back to AVM FritzBox 7490 802.11AC Wireless Router |
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| Review by Guy Hemmings |
Date Added: Monday 14 August, 2017 |
I am using the 7390, which is the preceding model to this one.
These FritzBox units are amazing, perfect for a small business or even for home use. I have a standard POTS landline and 2 VOIP lines from Voipon, attached to it. It seamlessly connects all three lines and allows calls in and out on any of them on any of my handsets. I use a couple of DECT handsets connected directly to the FritzBox for the VOIP lines. No need for an adapter like the N300A which I used before, they just register directly to the Fritzbox. So you can mix and match your handsets, up to 6. Incoming calls can be directed to certain handsets, and handsets can be set up to receive calls inwards from multiple lines. The DECT handset becomes intelligent and useful. On incoming calls it displays the line that was called in useful plain text, e.g. 'business line 1'—in my case it means that my better half can ignore a handset that doesn't display "Home Line" at the top. Your contacts list on your Mac or PC can synchronise with the FritzBox so all your handsets can have all the contacts on them; or you can have separate contact lists for each of the handsets.
My copper standard landline has very poor quality (and the supplier reckoned that nothing was wrong, even after a visit from an engineer). My customers were always asking me to repeat myself and vice versa. Now I just flip to using the VOIP line which has perfect sound quality. Also I don't need to stress when I reach 60 minutes on the call, for fear of flipping to 20p per minute call rates on certain shall-remain-nameless telephone providers.
You can use different VOIP providers for any of the 6 VOIP lines, and also use the FriztFon app to make and receive calls on your smartphone. Voicemail messages left are automatically emailed to you. Outgoing calls can be automatically directed over certain routes, so I ensure that I don't use my landline when calling international, it'll flip to using VOIP or can prefix your 'cheap calls' number. You can also dial in to the FritzBox from your mobile and have it place those expensive international calls at your VOIP provider rates.
The unit tracks all the incoming and outgoing call history in easy-to-browse lists and you can click-to-call-back. The separate answerphones available for each line can give different greetings, with different timeouts before voicemail is triggered.
The WIFI is nice and fast, with a 5GHz network as well as the standard. You can time the WIFI availability to stop the kids going online late at night (or yourself for that matter). Unlike many routers too, the LAN ports are running on Gigabit. It can be used on ADSL or connected to your fibre modem through LAN port 4.
Curiously there really is nothing else like it on the market over here. I decided to use one after seeing my mate in Germany with it, it came as standard issue with his broadband provider. It is very much a case of having used one, you would never go back. I was fed up of messing around with multiple DECT arrangements, one set of phones for each incoming line, and answerphone messages coming in all over the place. And fed up of not knowing that someone has called while you are out on the road.
One tip if you are using a VOIPON account on the FritzBox: to get the call routing operating correctly, the 'internal number in the FritzBox entry' should be set to your Voipon account number with 2 leading zeros. Eg. if you account number is "1234567", the FritzBox entry should read "001234567".
This ticks more boxes that you thought you had. Fantastic granular control of the whole internet/phone experience.
:-)
Guy Hemmings
 5
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