FRITZ!Box 7270: Review

Renai LeMay
Monday, 07 March 2011 07:58

Your IT - Home IT

review The range of FRITZ!Box integrated ADSL routers probably represents the most 'all in one' type of devices we've ever seen. ADSL broadband, ISDN, Wi-Fi, DECT handset support, USB ports, PABX features '¦ the FRITZ!Boxes have it all, and packaged in modest yet functional exteriors '” appropriate to the German roots of their manufacturer, AVM.

But is the FRITZ!Box 7270 '” one of the first in the range to come to Australia '” truly cut out for the gruelling telecommunications work it's designed for? Is the router the 'kitchen sink' device that Internode chief Simon Hackett has been dreaming of? Or is the router just another also-ran?

Design
With its bold red and silver colour theme, the FRITZ!Box 7270 represents a departure from the more toned down colours which router manufacturers seem to prefer '¦ NetComm, NETGEAR, Billion: We're thinking of you here. Your router designs are typically fairly boring.

And yet, as soon as you pick up the FRITZ!Box you get a feeling that its flashy red exterior doesn't mean its designers compromised on build quality. These things can be ephemeral and may not always indicate long-term system stability, but the FRITZ!Box feels like more than a cheap Chinese knock-off when you pick the device up. You can feel its sturdy German heritage coming through.

(And yes, these days, cheap and Chinese does not always mean crummy '” but too often it still can)

This impression is reinforced by the FRITZ!Box's three Wi-Fi antennas, reassuring in a world of routers which usually only have one, as well as the little bubble legs on which it sits stably on a flat surface.

On top of the router are status lights representing various functions '” indicating whether power, internet, fixed-line telephone and Wi-Fi functions are working correctly. One last light labelled 'INFO' can signal a variety of conditions '” such as when a telephone connection between two related internet telephony users is live and free of charge (a function which must be supported by your ISP).

On top of the router also are two small buttons, which are used to switch on and off the router's Wi-Fi function, as well as to either signal lost DECT-based wireless telephone handsets to ring, or to connect them in the first place.