AVM Fritz!Box 7490

AWESOME VOIP AND A GREAT ROUTER.

AVM’S FRITZ!BOX 7490 feels like it has been around forever, but it’s a testament to how well it was designed and just how advanced it was that it still stands up well today. Its wireless may no longer be on the top edge of performance, but everything else about the router is aces.

At the top of the 7490’s pro list is its VoIP support. Not only is it one of the few VoIP routers still being sold (only DrayTek is really competing in this space), but its feature set is guaranteed to tick o every item on your VoIP wish list and add a few things you never thought you wanted. ere are voice mailboxes, stored on an attached hard drive. ere’s PSTN failover, complete call logs, contact synchronisation with Google contacts, wake-up calls, a DECT basestation for cordless handsets... It’s pretty much the nal form for VoIP routers.

VoIP is far from the only appealing feature of its rmware. While it doesn’t have the consumer-friendly graphical interface of the ASUS rmware, it actually nearly matches it in terms of features. It has VPN support, parental controls, advanced QoS, full le and media server (and both of the ports are USB 3.0 for top speed), can use 3G/4G USB modems as a failover and much more.

AVM also has a few mobile apps to go along with the router. Collectively, the apps provide a full suite of tools for the router, including setup from the mobile and full diagnostics and voice and tra c reporting. ey also provide remote access to data stored on a device connected to the Fritz!Box, much like AiCloud does. ere’s even an app that will route calls from your mobile through the Fritz!Box landline. Although AVM might do well to combine some of these apps, their total capabilities are excellent.