There are many providers of networking gear out there, but odds are that you will not have encountered FRITZ! before. An unsurprisingly German brand, this is the first product to appear in Australia, and in a crowded market it stands out. This is largely because of the ‘Fon’ part of the name – this is an ADSL modem/router with a focus on telephony.
On the back of the router are the usual assortment of Wi-Fi antennae and Ethernet ports (supporting up to Gigabit speeds), as well as a USB port that can be used to attach a network printer or external hard drive. But there are also three RJ-15 phone ports as well, which you can connect directly to telephone handsets (or ISDN). Even more impressive is support for the DECT-GAP phone standard, which lets you pair supporting wireless handsets directly with the router. This is best used for internet telephony, but the router can use these phones over a normal telephone connection as well.
Besides this functionality the 7270 supports dual band wireless, and comes with 3 antennae to help with the signal. It supports the varying encryption standards, including push-button WPA2 connectivity. Besides this it has an inbuilt ADSL modem, IPV6 support and VPN functionality.
While the Fritz!Box doesn’t go as hand-holdy as some, the overall ease-of-use is quite nice. There is a paper quick-start guide, which covers the myriad connectivity options, and a disc which has the preset unique Wi-Fi security key on the sleeve.
The Fritz!Box Fon Wlan 7270 is a highly featured offering, but only if you want a single box to run your home phones through as well. Just remember it has comprehensive DECT features, so if you aren’t using them you’ll be paying for features you don’t need. The 7270 isn’t the easiest to setup, but it’s close, and it ticks all the important boxes like preset wireless security.