AVM Fritz!Box Fon WLAN 7390 review

AVM may not be well-known in the UK, but the German company's latest wireless router is packed full of telephony features. Should smaller businesses and branch offices buy it? Kat Orphanides and Andrew Webb take a closer look.

We tested the 7390 with AVM's Fritz!Fon MT-F DECT phone, which you'll frequently find on sale as part of a bundle with the router. The MT-F is well-designed and pleasant to use. It integrates seamlessly with the 7390 and provides some useful extra features such as the ability to switch the Wi-Fi on or off by dialling a feature code from the handset.

Initial setup and configuration was simple, even though the quick setup sheet at one point shows the German phone plugs rather than the supplied UK ones. Fortunately, it's not actually possible to connect the phone cables incorrectly.

A web-based configuration wizard makes it easy to set up the Fritzbox's key features, whether you want to use it as your router or configure it to obtain an internet connection from your existing router or modem. There are also wizards for setting up your telephony devices and configuring your telephone numbers and lines.

Once you've reached the router's main menus, the first thing you'll want to do is enable expert mode, which provides extra options in some of the menus, such as the ability to configure cable modem connections from the internet menu, instead of just the DSL and shared connection options.