Adjusting the WiFi transmitter power on your FRITZ!Box
By default, the transmission power of your FRITZ!Box is set to 100%. If you are not satisfied with the signal strength and data throughput, you should still check the setting. If the transmission power of your FRITZ!Box is not sufficient, we have recommendations below for WiFi repeaters to boost the signal.
The option to change the transmission power is not placed very intuitively.
- Open any browser and log into the web interface of your FRITZ!Box. You can access the page either with http://fritz.box or via the IP address of the device (default: 192.168.178.1).
- Click on »Wi-Fi« in the left-hand menu and then select the item »Wi-Fi channel«.
- On this page, click on »Additional settings«. Here you can adjust the maximum transmitter power of your FRITZ!Box.
- Finally, click on »Apply« in the bottom right-hand corner.
What is the effect of a lower transmitter power?
The transmission power of your FRITZ!Box of course has a direct effect on the range and with it the data throughput.
We tested this with the lowest transmission power: 6 percent. With this setting, the FRITZ!Box covers a medium-sized room relatively well – both with 2.4 GHz and with 5 GHz.
At a distance of about seven metres between notebook and router (without obstacles), the transmission rate in the 5 GHz network dropped from a good 60 MB/s to about 32 MB/s.
In the 2.4 GHz network at the same distance, no major differences were noticeable. Here, the data rate remained at about 12 MB/s. One room further away, the data throughput in the 5 GHz network dropped to about 5 MB/s. Somewhat higher was the 2.4 GHz network with about 6 MB/s.
A smaller range of the WiFi network can prove useful: Especially in densely populated areas, the available networks interfere with each other. With a lower range, your FRITZ!Box interferes less with other WiFi networks.
Boosting your WiFi signal
If your FRITZ!Box is already transmitting at full power, you can easily boost the existing signal with a WiFi repeater.
In principle, you can increase the WiFi range with any repeater. However, we would recommend FRITZ!Repeaters because they fit into the home network even better. Personal experience has shown that AVM repeaters are also less prone to errors than some competitors.
The most affordable option would be the FRITZ!Repeater 600. The repeater is available on Amazon for just over 30 Euros and meets all the “basic requirements”. However, the repeater only transmits on 2.4 GHz.
The FRITZ!Repeater 1200AX is a bit more versatile. The device operates on 2.4 and 5 GHz and can support all modern WiFi standards with WiFi 6. However, the repeater currently costs around 70 euros, which is considerably more.
