INTRODUCTION

   Wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) may not be the most secure way to access the internet and share data but there's no denying that it has come a long way since the very first 802.11 legacy (data rate of 1/2Mbps) compatible devices were released into the market just over two decades ago. Just imagine that since then we've witnessed the development and release of not one but roughly a dozen new and updated Wi-Fi protocols the most popular of which are without doubt the 802.11g released back in 2003 (data rate of up to 54Mbps), 802.11n released back in 2009 (data rate of up to 600Mbps) and the 802.11ac released back in 2013 (data rate of up to 2167Mbps). Still even though the different in maximum theoretical data rates between protocols is vast to say the least wireless range hasn't evolved nearly as much and even though most modern modem/routers are outfitted with several high-gain antennas that's not enough to cover large indoor areas. This is where Wi-Fi repeaters come in and so today we'll be testing the latest model by our friends over at AVM, the FRITZ!Repeater 3000.

   AVM offers an extensive selection of products for high-speed broadband connectivity and smart home networking. With the FRITZ! product range, AVM is a leading manufacturer of broadband devices for DSL, cable, LTE (4G) and fiber optics in Germany and Europe. Our Smart Home products, based on wireless LAN, DECT and powerline standards, ensure an intelligent and secure home network. Thanks to the FRITZ!OS operating system, FRITZ! products are intuitive and easy to use. Regular free updates provide new functions for greater convenience and increased security. FRITZ! is the leading brand for home networking in Germany. Since it started out in Berlin in 1986, AVM's focus has been on developing secure, innovative products for broadband connections in-house. In 2018 the communications specialist had over 750 employees and generated a turnover of 520 million euros.

   The FRITZ!Repeater 3000 is not only the latest Wi-Fi repeater model to reach our lab, it's also the largest one due to all the hardware components AVM decided to squeeze inside. Specifically inside the large white and red plastic enclosure of the FRITZ!Repeater 3000 AVM paired the Qualcomm IPQ4019 quad-core ARM Cortex A7 SoC (717MHz / Wave-2 802.11ac WiFi 5 / 2x2 Stream MU-MIMO) together with the QCA9984 Wave-2 802.11ac radio again by Qualcomm (4x4 stream / MU-MIMO / 160MHz), 6 antennas, 256MB DDR3L SDRAM and 128MB of NAND flash. The 3 available radios allow the FRITZ!Repeater 3000 to simultaneously offer wireless speeds of up to 1733Mbps on the 1st 5GHz band, 866Mbps on the 2nd 5GHz band and 400Mbps on the 2.4GHz band (totalling to 2999Mbps which is also where the product gets its name from). In terms of available technologies the FRITZ!Repeater 3000 fully supports AVM's Mesh WiFi, MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple input, multiple output), beamforming (TxBF) and Qualcomm's Wi-Fi SON (self-organizing network) and also features two Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports where you can connect your desktop and/or laptop computers or even a switch.