Do you still have a 7490 at home that you might want to give away and are you wondering whether you should have a bad conscience because you just got rid of the old hardware quickly? Or is the 7490 even a good classic that can still be used?
The 7490 can still keep up well
The technology of the 7490 dates back to 2013 and was AVM’s top model at the time. It sold very well and was also sold by many providers as a router, just like the 7590 is now. That is the reason why still current operating system updates are released. That’s extremely commendable for hardware that’s around nine years old.
Of course you notice in some places that the speed is no longer quite up-to-date: the USB port for the USB stick only manages around 10 MB/s (USB 3.0 support turns off immediately, otherwise the WLAN does not work properly). A VPN is also slow and should only be used to configure the box for your family.
But that’s all the areas where you can tell the age of the FritzBox. It still gets along very well with 100 Mbit/s fast VDSL lines and can even distribute fiber lines with a few hundred Mbit/s (on Ethernet port 1 if it is configured accordingly). So if you have a new connection or maybe the modem is defective: you can continue to use it.
WLAN expandable with current mesh repeaters
The fact that it also connects telephones via DECT and also manages the smart home hardware from AVM is almost taken for granted. The WLAN already manages ac standard with 3×3 MIMO (without multiuser) and is still fast enough. In addition, the good old chip also works with current mesh repeaters, so that you can quickly expand the WLAN with little effort.
So actually it is a clear thing: as long as the box is running and the software is up to date, the FritzBox can be used without actually noticing its age. The 7490 is to AVM what the iPhone 6s is to Apple: very powerful at launch and so popular it’s still supported. And the FritzBox is even two years older.
You only have to pay attention to one thing when you buy the FritzBox: a reasonable price when buying used. The cult status should not be paid for, after all, this router will also bless its time at some point and there are beautiful successor models. But there’s one thing you don’t have to have if you’re still using the device: a guilty conscience about using old technology. On the contrary: hardware that is so good and has been maintained for so long is more of a desirable advantage these days.
Inexpensive current Fritz boxes for new purchases
If you don’t want to buy used, but don’t want to spend too much money, then in contrast to the current 7590, the somewhat slimmed-down versions might come into question. On the one hand the 7530, which only comes with only one analog telephone connection, or the 7510, which also only has one other Ethernet port in addition to the old telephone port. For many installations, where everything runs via WLAN anyway, it is completely sufficient. Even cheaper – if you already have a fiber connection i.e. and are no longer dependent on a modem – is a 4040. In this case the model without DSL modem for less than 80 euros is enough.
