How to use a Fritz! Box 7490 as a WIFI Extender

Learn how to configure a Fritz!Box as a WIFI Extender.

 

Since fibre has just recently became available in our neighbourhood I just got it installed about a month ago and have been enjoying it.

The location in the house where I had the fibre box set up was in the living room as I wanted to hook it up to the gaming console. I didn’t know what to expect with the Vodafone TV but I it actually allowed me to get rid of the dish tv satellite receiver and just use broadband to view tv shows. Anyway because of the location of the new router some parts of the house are not getting good wifi coverage.

Since I switched internet provider I was left with the old modem/router a Fritz! Box 7490.

Configuring a Fritz! Box 7490 as a Wifi Extender

In this tutorial basically we are going to connect the old router to the new router. The old router will act as access point and that will allow me to extend the wifi coverage in the house.

Steps:

Boot up the Fritz box router and connect it to your computer using a LAN cable.

Open your browser and go to the default setup URL which is http://fritz.box

If you do not remember your password which is provided by the ISP, simply click on forgot password link to reset. The router will reboot after.

Once logged you’ll get an overview of your system. Click on the Internet menu on the top left to start configuring your router.

Click on the Internet and select Account Information. On the section Internet Service Provider. Select Existing connection over wireless LAN.

The Wireless LAN devices will be listed, select your wifi network and under Security add your wifi password and hit Apply.

When you hit Apply the system would reboot the first time and assign the router a new IP. You can access the new IP eg. 192.168.88.1 or simply visit http://fritz.box

Next set the a new Wifi name. Notice the option gives you 2.4 GHZ and 5-GHZ frequency band. (The router as far as I can tell can only connect to 2.4 ghz frequency on my new router so setting up 5Ghz here won’t really matter, you would still be on the 2.4 ghz band). Hit Apply to save the changes.

Click Security under WLAN to setup the Network Key password and hit Apply.

Hit Apply and you are done. Disconnect the LAN cable and search for the new Wifi in your network.

Pros : You can extend the wifi signal in your house

Cons: It can only connect to the 2.4 GHZ channel frequency which is the slower band. I get into the range of 20-40 mbs.

Hopefully this is useful to somebody out there. Happy surfing.

8 thoughts on “How to use a Fritz! Box 7490 as a WIFI Extender

  1. Thank you for such a clear and detailed description.

    For those that appreciate the outstanding qualities of the FritzBox 7490 (like myself), your post is a very valuable contribution. The only question that remains is to whether or not I should do a factory reset and update of the 7490 first because the most recent update has been another significant improvement and the 7490 is still way ahead of many of the new mass-produced modem/routers.

    I am going to make a note of your contact page in the hope that if I need any further clarifications, that you are happy to reply.

    Thanks again for such a great article … your efforts are greatly appreciated.

  2. Any ideas whether the 7490 can be setup as an “IP Client”. ie have setup as you have said above, but this doesn’t allow transparent access between all clients on the network, due to the firewall.NAT on the FB. The option is there for the IP Client setup (Home Network>Network>Network Settings>IP Client), but when I select this, and try and scan for “Select wireless radio network” the FB can’t find ANY networks….
    Thanks.

  3. Hi,
    According to AVV “The FRITZ!Box cannot be used as a wireless repeater with a router from another manufacturer”. (https://en.avm.de/service/fritzbox/fritzbox-7490/knowledge-base/publication/show/1192_Using-the-FRITZ-Box-as-a-wireless-repeater/)
    I’d like to buy it but because of this official restriction I didn’t.
    If you are right I will buy it.
    What to beleive now?
    I hope you will help me.
    Thank you.

    Thomaidis Yiannis
    From North Greece or Macedonia

    1. Hi Thomaidis, I got it to work at that time when I still had it, already sold it. To be 100% confident check if you can get a return policy on the router if in case new firmware or different region configuration prevents you from doing so.

    2. I followed the instructions above, and Fritz!Box 7490 is happy working as repeater for a Huawei based network!.
      Thank you for good set of instructions.

      Magdi Abdullah
      from central Poland

  4. I followed the instructions above, and Fritz!Box 7490 is happy working as repeater for a Huawei based network!.
    Thank you for good set of instructions.

    Magdi Abdullah
    from central Poland

  5. Thanks for this guide.
    I used it use a redundant unit as a Wifi – router for my existing network.
    By connecting a LAN cable to Lan 1 I can use both the 2.4 and 5 gig wireless connections.

  6. It will work as a wireless repeater for almost anything.
    But not as a MESH repeater.
    So you extend the wireless geographically but reduce the signal level in the process. You can only use Fritz products in their MESH.

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