Last year my internet provider, Virgin Media, announced they were merging with O2 and had plans to roll out new joint offers and a new WiFi 6 Superhub 5. I took advantage of the Vault offer, and while it did give my internet speed a boost, it didn’t boost it enough for me to qualify for a new WiFi 6 Superhub 5.
Fortunatly AVM stepped in and asked me to try out the new Fritz!Box 4060 and Fritz!Repeater 6000, and boy were they a big improvement over my existing setup!
In speed tests against the Virgin Media Superhub 3 for WiFi and the Devolo Magic 2 for wired connections the combination of 4060 and 6000 gave me a huge download speed boost and much better WiFi coverage.
Not to mention all the bells and whistles you get with the Fritz!OS software, this is the ideal setup if you’ve a home business and VoIP number, which is how I use it with my VoIP lines from Clixoni.
Fritz!Box 4060
Let’s start with a minor negative…AVM doesn’t, at the time of review, readily supply a UK version of the 4060. I was sent the International edition, which means I need to use a power adapter. I don’t notice it, it’s just a minor inconvenience worth noting before we dive in to the advantages.
The Fritz!Box 4060 is a tri-band WiFi 6 router with an onboard telephone system, that can connect to DECT telephone handsets. If that sounds super complicated don’t worry, it’s been made very easy to use.
If you’ve seen or had an AVM router before you’ll be surprised by the new design. Historically, AVM has favoured a horizontal design, but the 4060 takes a tower approach and looks great.
It maintains the iconic white and red colour scheme, has a single ‘Connect’ button on the front, and the following ports around the back:
- 1 x 2.5 Gigabit WAN
- 3 x 1 Gigabit LAN
- 1 x USB 3
- Power
As mentioned, it comes with an international power cable, an Ethernet cable and the getting started documentation.
Fritz!Box 4060 Video Review
Fritz!Box 4060 Setup
For a complicated product setup was very easy, power it up, plug it in to my existing Superhub 3 router (which has to be used as a modem) and follow web based setup guide.
If you plan to completely replace a Virgin Superhub you should log in to the Virgin router and change it to modem mode. The interesting thing about logging in to the Superhub was noticing just how slow it is, it’s slow to load, slow to respond, it’s just a very slow performing bit of kit.
Not so with the 4060, the web interface is lightning fast and has lots of wizards to help you get set up. There are a LOT of features packed into this box, you don’t need to use any of them to get started.
It’s well worth exploring the Fritz!OS, there are so many features available and all are provided with wizards and help guides to get you started.
One key feature home users with children will love is the ability to create a time-restricted access profile, meaning you can set up a time a specific device can access the internet, and outside those times it will be blocked, very handy for preventing secret late night iPad gaming!
One of the features I’ve yet to explore is the network attached storage option. I already have the excellent Asustor Nimbustor 4 (AS5304T) so don’t have a pressing need for this, but if you would like to have access to the same storage area across multiple devices you can connect a drive to the 4060 via the USB plug.
Fritz!Box 4060 Telephone System
A staple feature of AVM products is the excellent built in telephone system. You can add multiple Voice over IP telephone numbers and use them the same way you would use a landline.
The 4060 can act as a DECT base station for up to 6 handsets, either AVMs own Fritz!Fon or any other manufacturer handset. Making use of an AVM phone gives a better overall experience, but if you have an old set of handsets they work fine for making/receiving calls.
The beauty of the system is you don’t need anything else, it’s got an inbuilt answering machine, contact book, integrated fax function, number blocking, and internal extention numbers.
I’ve a VoIP line I use for business and typically I’d have to log in to a web portal to use it. Now I can make use of it even when the PC is turned off. You can even download an app to your mobile and access the number that way.
For the home office worker with a VoIP number this really is a fantastic inclusion.
Wi-Fi 6 Speed Test
As Virgin Media wouldn’t give me a Superhub 5 I can only compare the performance to the aging Superhub 3, but that’s been a good comparison as it’s shown me just how good Wi-Fi 6 is.
I used the free SamKnows app on a OnePlus 9 Pro to do upload and download tests around my house and in my garden. The upload tests showed little difference around the house, my upload is capped at around 35 Mbps, which even the Superhub 3 could manage!
The download tests told a different story:
| Location | Virgin Superhub 3 | AVM Fritz!Box 4060 |
| Back Room | 110 Mbps | 336 Mbps |
| Front bedroom | 53.6 Mbps | 203 Mbps |
| Office | 176 Mbps | 350 Mbps |
As you can see, the 4060 easily outperformed the SuperHub 3, helped by the OnePlus 9 Pro being a Wi-Fi 6 enabled mobile.
The gap widened further when I ran the same test outside. In the garden we have a small workshop cabin and the existing signal has been so weak I’ve installed powerline adaptors.
While the Superhub 3 failed to register a result there was no such problem with the 4060, demonstrrating the range advantage gained using Wi-Fi 6.
But what if you have several decvices, for example a computer and NAS drive, that don’t have Wi-Fi? That’s where the Fritz!Repeater 6000 has stepped in to save the day.
Fritz!Repeater 6000 Review
My previous setup was a Virgin Superhub 3 for Wi-Fi and the devolo Magic 2 Powerline Kit to provide a wired connection into my office where my computer and NAS drive are located.
When I originally installed the Magix 2 I was very pleased with the speed upgrade I gained, but it has never made use of the higher download speed Virgin upgraded me to over the years.
This is where the AVM Fritz!Repeater 6000 comes into play. It’s a small white and red base station with 2 ports on the back:
- 1 x 2.5 Gigabit LAN
- 1 x 1 Gigabit LAN
Setup with the 4060 couldn’t have been simpler, press the connect button on both devices and they create a Wi-Fi 6 mesh network capable of up to 2400 Mbit/s.
Although there is a web interface, I only need to use it if I want to adjust how bright the front lights are or if I want to put the LAN ports into a low power mode (no thanks!). Once it created a mesh network with the 4060 it handed off all other Wi-Fi network related settings to the 4060.
The primary use of a repeater is to give your network a boost so you have no dead spots. As I don’t live in a mansion the 4060 already provides excellent coverage, so my use for it was to give my PC and NAS Wi-Fi 6 capabilities by plugging them in to the 6000s Ethernet ports.
They don’t communicate to each other over Wi-Fi as they’re in the same room and remained connected via wire, but they now have a Wi-Fi 6 connection to the 4060 router located in a different room.
Devolo Magic 2 vs AVM Fritz!Repeater 6000
Testing the internet download speed over the Magic 2 powerline adapters and then over the Fritz!Repeater 6000 showed I’d gained a much faster download speed on my PC:
| Devolo Magic 2 | AVM Fritz!Repeater 6000 | |
| Download Speed | 84 Mbps | 379 Mbps |
| Upload Speed | 35 Mbps | 37 Mbps |
Again it’s worth noting Virgin have a capped upload of 35Mbps and so I didn’t expect to see an improvement.
For someone who not only works with a lot of large files, but also enjoys downloading the odd game to play, this speed increase has been very noticeable since switching over.
Fritz!Repeater 6000 Video Review
Conclusion
The Fritz!Box 4060 and Fritz!Repeater 6000 are a killer Wi-Fi 6 enabled combo that are now at the heart of my home network, and that’s why they both earn my editors choice award.
With more and more devices becoming connected it’s important to have the kit to handle them all at the same time, and having Wi-Fi 6 onboard future proofs my home as more devices come with it onboard.
If you currently get reasonable coverage you likely would only need the 4060, but if you’ve any dead zones or if you’ve areas of the house that would benefit from a wired connection, like my home office does, then the repeater is an excellent choice.
It’s a shame AVM isn’t a more widely adopted brand in the UK, especially as they’ve an entire smart home range for use with their routers, giving you a truely unique ecosystem of features.
As the time of review you can learn more about the 4060 here: httpss://en.avm.de/products/fritzbox/fritzbox-4060/
And the 6000 is available on Amazon: httpss://geni.us/AmazonRepeater6000
