INTRODUCTION

   For good or bad wireless internet connectivity has expanded to almost every electronics device in the market today so as expected consumers and professionals alike are looking for ways to "expand" their local WiFi networks. Unfortunately, technology hasn't advanced enough for a single modem/router to provide full WiFi coverage over large areas and so using single or multiple repeaters (or even a 2nd router as one) or even one or more access points is how one can overcome that limitation. AVM has a very rich line of WiFi repeaters which they recently updated with their latest model, the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 which landed on my desk roughly two months ago and I’ve been using/testing ever since.

   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 2019 the communications specialist had over 810 employees and generated a turnover of 530 million euros.

     The FRITZ!Repeater 2400 may not be as large as its brother the FRITZ!Repeater 3000 but still AVM did manage to squeeze a Qualcomm Jet MIPS32 74Kc SoC (clocked at 775MHz) along with the QCA9984 Wave-2 802.11ac radio again by Qualcomm (4x4 stream / MU-MIMO / 1.7 Gbps / 160MHz), Atheros AR8033-AL1A 10/100/1000Mbps ethernet transceiver, 4 antennas, 128MB DDR3L SDRAM and 64MB of NAND flash. Since the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 is a dual-radio design it can simultaneously offer wireless speeds of up to 1733Mbps on the 5GHz band and 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band (totalling 2333Mbps which is also where the product gets its name/classification from). Just like with the previously reviewed 3000 model (review here) the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 fully supports AVM's Mesh WiFi, MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple input, multiple output), intelligent band selection (crossbanding), beamforming (TxBF) and Qualcomm's Wi-Fi SON (self-organizing network) and comes ready with a single Gigabit Ethernet LAN port (LAN bridge model is also supported). Finally AVM covers the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 with a rather generous 5-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

At the front of the box we see a large product picture, the FRITZ! logo and the main product features.

A drawing located on the left side of the box showcases the proper topology for this product.

The setup steps are printed on the right side of the box.

The complete features list is typically available at the rear of the box in 6 languages.

Thanks to an extra piece of cardboard the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 is well protected.

Along with the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 AVM also bundles a RJ45 slim ethernet cable, product catalogue and the user manual.

THE FRITZ!REPEATER 2400 EXTERIOR

The plastic glossy exterior of the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 weighs 160g and measures 155mm in height, 76.5mm in width and 62.6mm in length.

At the front we find the WPS connection button, the on/off power LED and the 5 signal strength LEDs.

Turning the repeater around we see that it's perforated and has a small sticker with the serial number, MAC address and network key printed on it.

AVM has placed a single Gigabit Ethernet port at the base of the FRITZ!Repeater 2400.

THE FRITZ!REPEATER 2400 INTERIOR

The glossy plastic exterior is held in place with 5 screws so removing it to access the interior is easy.

Inside we find the QCA9984 Wave-2 802.11ac radio, InnoSwitch3-EP flyback power converter, Atheros ethernet transceiver and the Qualcomm Jet MIPS32 74Kc SoC underneath an aluminum cover.

FRITZ!OS 7.20

If you have one of AVM's modem/routers like the FRITZ!Box 7590 then thanks to the Mesh WiFi feature most settings will be transferred automatically from that to the FRITZ!Repeater 2400.

As with previous models the main tab of the FRITZ!OS showcases the status of the FRITZ!Repeater 2400.

You have two options from the access to home network tab, either adopt the settings from your modem/router onto the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 (recommended setting) or you can choose different settings starting from a different SSID.

Of course as you can see by adopting the settings of the FRITZ!Box most settings are set automatically and thus are greyed out (check this page for the manual settings).

You can still however check logs, power consumption and statistics, turn off the LEDs, set the region, backup/restore settings, perform firmware updates (we recommend using this instead of the Mesh function from your FRITZ!Box router since in our case only here did the new firmware version appear) and use one of the available wizards.

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   For repeaters/range extenders we will be using part of the same testing methodology as we do for modem/routers and powerline adapters so once again we will be using the networking benchmark software by Passmark (v.8), QCheck software by Ixia and ATTO v2.47 to test 5GHz wireless signal strength and quality. For our tests we're using not only both our primary desktop systems (outfitted with Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB PCIe SSDs, AC1900 USB 3.0 adapters- AC1300 effective on the 5GHz band - and CAT7 cables) placed 15m away from the router with 3 concrete walls between but also a single Toshiba Qosmio notebook placed on a secondary location (just 5m away from the repeater/range extender with just 1 concrete wall in between). This is to have more complete results for each repeater/range extender. Each test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average scores are recorded into our charts. Also, to effectively simulate load each repeater/range extender is connected with two extra notebooks on the 2.4GHz band. All our systems are currently running fresh Windows 10 Pro installations complete with all updates until the moment of this review.

   Also just like with modem/routers we will also be testing the power consumption of repeaters/range extenders (average power consumption during tests is placed in our charts).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   Throughout my tests the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 traded blows with the 3000 model and even though the latter seems to be just a tad faster overall there’s no clear winner, at least not with the number of devices I use per my benchmarks (for a larger number however the 3000 with its 3 radios should perform better). In all likelihood most homes will not have more than 4 devices connected simultaneously with any repeater and so with that in mind (size as well) the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 seems to be a better overall choice (unless you really need a 2^nd Gigabit Ethernet port that is). Always do keep in mind that for people not using an FRITZ!Box and not very comfortable with a web GUI, AVM offers smartphone apps to control the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 with (still nothing beats just pushing the WPS button on both devices and not doing anything else afterwards). Also just like with past FRITZ! reviews it is my hope that AVM will one day make different colors available for their devices since white doesn’t always feel at home (even just black would be great).

   AVM products have never been available on the other side of the Atlantic so if you happen to be on this side you can find the international version of the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 for 80.79Euros (Amazon.de), meaning roughly 30% less compared to the 3000 model. With both that and its performance in mind the FRITZ!Repeater 2400 indeed offers a very good price/performance ratio (especially for FRITZ!Box owners) and that’s why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Fast WiFi AC Performance
- Dual Band AC2400 Model (5GHz / 2.4GHz)
- Supports MU MIMO & Beamforming
- Gigabit Ethernet Port
- Signal Strength LED
- FRITZ!OS Web Interface
- Mesh Network Feature

CONS

- Price (For Some)