FRITZ! Box 4060 WiFi 6 Router Review

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The new FRITZ!Box 4060 takes a similar approach to most modern routers today. Without a modem, your Internet requires access to a WAN port.

For many in the UK, this design makes sense as we are often tied to hardware provided by ISPs. All my recent FRITZ!Box reviews have had to use my Virgin Media Hub in modem mode connected to the WAN port.

While this may lack DSL/VDSL capabilities, it is one of the highest spec routers FRITZ!Box currently has. This is the first AVM device I’ve ever used, it has a 2.5GbE port, and it’s the first tri-band router I’ve ever used.

Specifications/Features

• Compatible with any modem (using WAN port)
• 2.5GbE WAN port
• 3 Gigabit LAN
• Tri-band WiFi 6
  • Wi-Fi 6 up to 2400 + 2400 Mbit/s (total) at 5 GHz and 1200 Mbit/s (total) at 2.4 GHz
  • Wi-Fi 5 up to 1733 Mbit/s + 1733 Mbit/s (total) at 5 GHz and Wi-Fi 4 up to 800 Mbit/s (total) at 2.4 GHz
• DECT base station for up to six handsets – works with SIP VOIP
• FRITZ!NAS with media server makes music, pictures and videos available to devices in the home network (SMB, FTP, UPnP AV)
• Grid Compatibility

set up

With this system, you will need to keep any ISP-provided routers you own. Ideally you would switch it to modem-only mode to avoid double NAT.

With the internet coming into your WAN port you can connect to WiFi or via ethernet and then browse to IP or http://fritz.box and follow the setup procedure.

It has a 2.5GbE WAN port, but I’m not sure how useful it is. If your internet speed exceeds gigabit, the LAN port will still be limited to gigabit, and WiFi will not exceed gigabit due to the 80Mhz channel width.

Scaling with Mesh Repeaters

The FRITZ!Box 4060 is a tri-band router with two 5Ghz bands, then it is compatible with the FRITZ!Repeater 6000 as a tri-band mesh repeater/satellite.

This allows the FRITZ!Box 4060 to be converted into a high specification tri-band mesh system that will utilize one of the 5Ghz channels for dedicated backhaul.

I’ll look at the FRITZ!Repeater 6000 separately, but adding it to the system is simple, with the device powered on, you hit the connect button on the repeater, then the connect button on the router. The repeater should then adopt the router’s WiFi settings and go into mesh mode.

WiFi 6 performance

The FRITZ!Box 4060 has a 4×4 radio with a maximum theoretical speed of 2400 Mbit/s. It is limited to 80Mhz channel width, so 2×2 clients can connect at a maximum speed of 1200Mbit/s.

Using iPerf and connecting to my server, I was able to achieve a throughput of 872 Mbits/sec.

This is similar to many other 80Mhz WiFi 6 routers. It outperforms the Netgear Orbi Mini, Unifi 6 Lite and Netgear WAX214. But it’s not uncommon for routers to scale slightly above 900 Mbits/sec. Netgear SXK80, Nighthawk MK63, TP-Link Deco X60 all exceed 900 Mbits/sec.

The mesh compatible TP-Link Archer AX90 can use a 160Mhz channel width and reach 1217Mbits/sec or 901Mbits/sec at 80Mhz.

Range is also good, going downstairs down to 651 Mbits/s, then moving to the front room across the hall and going through two brick walls down to 390 Mbits/s.

So the router itself can cover a 4 bed semi-detached brick house (if the router is in the center of the house).

WiFi 5 performance

Using the older WiFi 5, I was able to achieve a throughput of 647 Mbits/sec.

Then it goes down to 434 Mbits/sec downstairs and 289 Mbits/sec in the vestibule.

Router Features and Interfaces

I’m still running a FRITZ!Box 7590 as my main home router, even though the internet is from Virgin Hub and all my WiFi is handled by the Zyxel access point.

This is partly because I’m too lazy to swap it out for something different, I’ve been wanting to switch to pfSense/OPNsense for a while now. Also, FRITZ!OS gives me more control and functionality than many other big brand consumer routers.

Two standout features you won’t find on other brands are phone functionality and smart home functionality.

For telephones, the router acts as a DECT base station with telephone and fax capabilities. Although this lacks the ISDN and analog line inputs on the FRITZ!Box 7590, you can still set up a SIP VOIP number.

I haven’t tested any smart home features as this seems to be more suitable for the German/EU market, but you can integrate things like smart radiator valves.

It can also be used as an access point or mesh repeater, and you can set it up to connect via WiFi or LAN.

Price and Alternatives

At the time of writing, the AVM FRITZ!Box 4060 is not available in the UK. It’s available on Amazon Germany for €230, and if you want to import it into the UK, you’ll need to pay €5 for shipping. This will cost around £200.

You can then bundle it with a FRITZ!Repeater 6000 for €440 (about £375).

If you want a two-pack grid system, there are:

• ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 £390
• Netgear Orbi RBK752 £330

Both systems are tri-band WiFi 6 mesh systems, and the Asus has a 2.5GbE port. None of these systems have any of the telephony capabilities that FRITZ!Box routers are known for.

You can also choose a TP-Link Archer AX90 or other OneMesh routers such as the Archer AX73. These can be turned into grid systems with the RE605X grid extender. However, these are based on dual-band designs, so throughput will be significantly lower, albeit cheaper to implement.

comprehensive

The FRITZ!Box 4060 may not offer the exact same WiFi performance or value for money as the Netgear, Asus or TP-Link options. But, as usual, they make up for it with additional features and extensive control over your network.

As much as I like the cutting edge high performance of Netgear hardware, they have been slowly reducing router capabilities and implementing paid services. That’s fine for most home users, but anyone who wants more control over the network is likely to be frustrated by the limitations.

DECT base stations with SIP VOIP compatibility are not available from competing brands. While most home users have given up on landlines, this is ideal for small business and SOHO use.

Overall, this is a great router that takes the unique feature set I loved on previous FRITZ!Boxes, but modernizes WiFi and network performance with a tri-band mesh-compatible design and multi-gigabit Ethernet.