FRITZ!Box 4690 WiFi 7 Router Review

1. Introduction2. FRITZ!Box 46903. FRITZ!Box 4690 Administration Interface4. FRITZ!Box 4690 Analysis5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

The FRITZ!Box 4690 continues the company's tradition of solid, feature-rich routers with the added bonus of telephony. The smart home features on this model are less extensive than some of the recent FRITZ! models we've reviewed, but there are at least some options here as well. The mediocre WiFi 7 performance is the only chink in the armour, although that's not a disaster – just a little less than we'd hope for from this supposedly super-fast standard.

On the other hand, the wired networking capabilities are top notch, starting with the 10Gbit WAN connection that will avoid broadband bottlenecks for generations to come. You've then got another 10Gbit connection that could be useful as a trunk for a switch, plus three 2.5Gbit Ethernet ports. So your local wired network devices can all connect at high speed.

At the time of writing, the 4690 seemed relatively pricey in the UK compared to the €284.99 it's available for in the EU direct from FRITZ! We suspect that full stock hasn't arrived in Britain yet and the price will drop a little when it does. NETGEAR's Nighthawk RS300 still tops the list for WiFi 7 performance, but the FRITZ!Box 4690 is similarly priced and provides lots of features, great performance with other WiFi standards, and superb wired networking. It's well worth buying as a do-it-all home router, and then you could add the mesh abilities on top for wider coverage.

The AVM FRITZ!Box 4690 is available from Amazon UK for £330.31 inc VAT.

Pros:

• Excellent WiFi 6 and 5 performance.
• Decent 802.11n performance.
• Built-in DECT and analog telephony.
• Smart home device support.
• 10Gbit Ethernet WAN.
• Four-port LAN switch with 10Gbit and 3x 2.5Gbit ports.
• Mesh WiFi capability with additional units.
• USB 3 connection for storage and media server sharing.
• Feature-rich management interface.

Cons:

• Mediocre WiFi 7 performance.
• Fewer smart home features than some other FRITZ! routers.
• Setting up DynDNS takes a little more technical knowledge than is typical.

KitGuru says: The FRITZ!Box 4690 is another solid router from the company, with the focus on fast wired networking. The WiFi 7 performance is mediocre and smart home features behind some other FRITZ! routers, but throughput with other WiFi standards is excellent. If a router with rapid LAN abilities is your priority, it's a great choice.

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