Feature-rich router that doubles as a fully-featured mini-PBX
With a huge range of features, the Fon WLAN 7390 isn’t your average router. As well as ADSL2+, there’s support for ISDN, VDSL2, cable modem internet connections and even 3G.
What will probably appeal most to small businesses, however, is the AVM Fritz!Box Fon WLAN 7390’s ability to act as a fully featured mini-PBX.
Physically, the router is strikingly similar to the 7270 model released in 2008. There are some differences, though, such as the wireless antennas that now sit neatly under the fins on the top of the router. The all-plastic construction makes it very light, but it’s all put together pretty well.
We compared the Passmark network throughput to that of a WLAN 7270 model and it was almost identical, giving around 60Mbit/s (average over 60 seconds) at one metre and 10Mbit/s at 25 metres in a noisy domestic environment. It didn’t seem quite so reliable at long distances, though.
Ports are rear-mounted, and consist of four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports plus a combined DSL/phone line port (the supplied Y-cable is required for this). There are also two analogue phone ports, an ISDN S0 port and a USB port sitting in the middle of the panel.
A second USB port is at the side, and the power brick plugs into the rear too, making it all a bit of a tight squeeze. For cable modem use, the WAN connection has to be made via the LAN1 port.
On first use, launching a browser starts a wizard that guides you neatly through setting up the internet connection.
There are also wizards for the telephony functions, and the box supports two wired analogue devices (phone, fax or answering machine), eight ISDN phones, 10 SIP accounts and six Dect phones (there’s an integrated base station).
It’s an impressive collection that will no doubt appeal to small businesses, but it’s the same as its predecessor. The telephony functions are pretty much the same as well, with full call diversion, click-to-dial and five internal answering machines.
