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[jamesbob]

I'd like to know if the different WIFI hardware inside the Fritzbox 7590 will give better range and more stable connections than the 7530.

The following detailed breakdown is from https://www.mbreviews.com/fritzbox-7590-review/

"Furthermore, the modem router uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon QCA9985 4×4:4, bgn wireless chip for the 2.4GHz band and the Qualcomm Snapdragon QCA9984 4×4:4, an+ac wireless chip for the 5GHz band. I also noticed some embedded antennas: AIRGAIN N242ODGC2L, N2415DAMR and N2415DAML."

The following is from https://www.nikktech.com/main/articles/peripherals/network/modem-routers/9548-avm-fritz-box-7530-ac1300-vdsl-adsl-modem-router-review

"Under the hood of the FRITZ!Box 7530 AVM has placed the IPQ4019 single-chip Wi-Fi SoC (quad-core ARM Cortex A7 CPU with support for Wave-2 802.11ac)"

Additional sources of internal are: https://deviwiki.com/wiki/AVM_FRITZ!Box_7530 and https://deviwiki.com/wiki/AVM_FRITZ!Box_7590


Use case: 3 bed house, upstairs and downstairs use as well as garden use, multiple concurrently active devices - smartphones, tablets, laptops, TV including streaming and video conferencing - and no space for a separate model and wifi ap, it needs to be all-in-one sadly.

[PhilipD]

Hi

Wi-Fi range is restricted by laws that limit the maximum power output, so new hardware is still limited in the same way, and it is the power output that decides range over and above anything else.  Also what people forget is the device at the other end is just a Wi-Fi access point as well acting as a single client, and changing one end doesn't magically make the devices on the other end better transmitters or receivers.

True people will change hardware and sometimes find range seems improved, but this is mostly down to either replacing very old hardware or devices that have degraded due to age, or the new device radiates it's signal differently that happens to favour a persons environment and set up, but that will vary for everyone. 

Now a question, where is your TV antenna?  Your nearest cell tower, they will have the electronics on the ground, but where is the antenna?  In public buildings with Wi-Fi, where will you find them installed?

With a 3 bed house you will easily get full coverage and more by doing what all the professionals do, mount the transmitter/receiver in the best location and typically that means central to the coverage area and adding height.  Where is your router now?  I'm guessing probably downstairs towards the side of the house where the phone socket is, with a good chunk of signal being absorbed by the external wall.

If you can, get a ceiling mounted access point put up on the landing ceiling of your house and you will miraculously find all coverage issues resolved and speeds improved everywhere, probably costing you less money than the new box.  Access points can be powered over Ethernet now so you don't even need power in the loft, and once done you can easily upgrade the access point in the future.  The irony is we will pay a professional installer (or go the extra effort ourselves) to put up a satellite dish or TV aerial on the roof to get the best reception, but now more and more we shun broadcast TV and are watching things on our devices over broadband, yet we just don't make any effort to get kit installed properly.

Regards

Phil

[jamesbob]

Hi PhilipD

Thanks for your suggestions and knowledge.

The router is upstairs, on a desk by a wall (beyond which is the outside world). The TV antennae is outside at a different corner of the house and feeds outlets in several rooms (new build).

In this location, the router doesn't have thick external walls between itself and the clients - only "thin" internal walls.

The previous TP-Link vr900v1 had good coverage in the garden (high bars on the devices) but the Fritz 7530 doesn't. We have also noticed stuttering in video calls and streaming as we're all busy working / educating during the day.

This is why I was asking about the 7590. The TPLink wasn't a budget device like the 7530 and was reviewed many many as having good wifi. So I'm thinking there must be a difference, albeit within legal power limits.

[PhilipD]

Hi PhilipD

Thanks for your suggestions and knowledge.

The router is upstairs, on a desk by a wall (beyond which is the outside world). The TV antennae is outside at a different corner of the house and feeds outlets in several rooms (new build).

In this location, the router doesn't have thick external walls between itself and the clients - only "thin" internal walls.

The previous TP-Link vr900v1 had good coverage in the garden (high bars on the devices) but the Fritz 7530 doesn't. We have also noticed stuttering in video calls and streaming as we're all busy working / educating during the day.

This is why I was asking about the 7590. The TPLink wasn't a budget device like the 7530 and was reviewed many many as having good wifi. So I'm thinking there must be a difference, albeit within legal power limits.

I would try repositioning the existing router, maybe rotate it and raise it up as much as you can.  It's all very much pot luck really if that improves the signal or not, and the same if a new one will.

Usually most routers with Wi-Fi built-in are designed to radiate a sphere of signal, so you get even signal all around the router.  Imagine squashing that sphere, like it's a balloon, if you squash it top to bottom it will bulge out at the sides and cover more horizontal distance but less vertical coverage, i.e. what you gain in one direction you will lose in another. Some routers will have a more squashed pattern and seem better for some people but worse for others if they need to cover vertical distance (more floors), some will will send more signal in one direction than another router and again be great for one person but worse for someone else.  So you never know until you try,

So you might have 20 metres of good coverage edge to edge of that sphere, but that's 10 metres radius from the router, so with it being towards an outside wall, you are losing half the signal basically, hence moving it to a more central position sees you gaining use of the entire sphere.

Unfortunately on domestic kit you rarely get told in the specifications what the radiation pattern is to help you decide best placement without needing so much guess work.

Your other issue may be interference from another Wi-Fi access point near by, and changing the channels it uses may help with the stuttering.  Often though your neighbours interfering access point will adjust channels automatically so you may see an improvement changing channels however that may only last minutes or hours if your neighbours Wi-Fi decides to move channels again.

The newer Fritz box may well be better if it's radiation pattern suits your property layout and it may get a bit further if it's built better, you can only know by trying it.

Regards

Phil

[Alex Atkin UK]

All I can say is going from the 7530 to my NanoHD was a huge improvement in signal quality at range.  I think a lot of that is down to the fact you can avoid most obstructions by ceiling mounting, not least your own body blocking the signal.

I'm not exactly in a large house though, I think I'd need the higher end AP that supposedly has better range if I was, though for guarantees range sticking a NanoHD at both ends of a house or maybe one on the lower floor and one on the upper.  You can't really beat having shorter range but more transmitters/receivers if you really want reliability.

[hushcoden]

I'm using the mesh kit https://en.avm.de/products/fritzbox/fritz-mesh-set/ and it's been rock solid since three months, but I live in a flat...