Wow, that looks some bit of kit. Needless to say, $ translates almost straight into the same number of £ in the UK. I note that it is Wi-fi 6E which is not a standard on any devices I currently own but no doubt it will become more widely available as time goes by.

I have asked Zen whether they would supply me with the Fritz!Box 7530AX instead of the standard 7530 and let me pay any extra cost but I have yet to receive a reply.

In the first instance I shall probably try to bribe the sparky installing the wiring in my new house to drape a few lengths of Cat 6 cable in some strategic locations for me to "find" behind the plasterboard once we move in. If I can just get my main computer connected via ethernet then I shall be happy plus a couple of wi-fi access points ethernet connected to the router,

It's not that I am likely to need very high speeds. It's just that I have been using and building my own computers ever since I first tried to fix a RAM pack on to the back of my Sinclair ZX81. I have always wanted to have the latest standard just because it is there!

In the first instance I shall probably try to bribe the sparky installing the wiring in my new house to drape a few lengths of Cat 6 cable in some strategic locations for me to "find" behind the plasterboard once we move in. If I can just get my main computer connected via ethernet then I shall be happy plus a couple of wi-fi access points ethernet connected to the router,

Categorically, hands-down the best thing that you can do (data networking wise) when you renovate your house or otherwise have the walls and/or ceilings opened up. Best time to do it and don't skimp, definitely put it where you need it. You will be thankful later.

WiFi 6E should be welcome, whatever kit you choose AP wise should be grandfathered to support 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and in time 6 GHz operation. Kit that uses 2.4 Ghz especially IoT stuff in appliances etc will be with us for a very, very long time so its important the AP seamlessly support all bands in operation.

Good luck.

Oh yeah i am sure that Wi-fi 6 will become a standard as it is built into more devices, but I still think it will take a while.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Oh yeah i am sure that Wi-fi 6 will become a standard as it is built into more devices, but I still think it will take a while.

It is a standard. Be a while before it's in everything. A reminder that some IoS devices being sold right now don't even have WiFi 5 or WiFi 4 in them.

6 and 6e will take over. They handle the congested 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum better, and for high end devices 6e is the reduced range, higher bandwidth solution.

In reply to a post by XGS_Is_On:

It is a standard. Be a while before it's in everything. A reminder that some IoS devices being sold right now don't even have WiFi 5 or WiFi 4 in them.

6 and 6e will take over. They handle the congested 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum better, and for high end devices 6e is the reduced range, higher bandwidth solution.

I can't see it being in my house for a few years, my phone have the most advance Wi-fi in the house and that is 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band. The router I am using don't even go past the older 2.4Ghz.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I can't see it being in my house for a few years, my phone have the most advance Wi-fi in the house and that is 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band. The router I am using don't even go past the older 2.4Ghz.

WiFi 6 is (802.11ax) and WiFi 5 is (802.11ac). The iPhone 11 from 2019 was the first iPhone to support WiFi 6, and Android may have been the year before. The benefits of 5 (ac) and 6 (ax) are useful.

Your router is quite old if it doesn't support dual band with 5 GHz (typically N, as the older A is obsolete, as is B, and actually G).

The majority of my friends homes are WiFi 5 (AC) which is a big improvement on N on the 5 GHz band; many are on cable with 200 Mbps or faster services. For those large families, kids doing school work and adults trying to work from home, the WiFi 5 (AC) improvements made a dramatic difference. Especially during the lockdowns.

WiFi 6 (AX) is the next step on from 5, and 6E is the use of the 6 GHz channel which does not have to co-exist with legacy.

The sooner the old a/b/g routers are decommissioned, the spectrum will be usable by those with WiFi 5 routers on both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I can't see it being in my house for a few years, my phone have the most advance Wi-fi in the house and that is 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band. The router I am using don't even go past the older 2.4Ghz.

All good. It isn't compulsory and doesn't need to be in every home to be the de facto standard. Shouldn't be long before big ISPs are handing out ax routers and it'll replace ac same way ac replaced n.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

WiFi 6 is (802.11ax) and WiFi 5 is (802.11ac). The iPhone 11 from 2019 was the first iPhone to support WiFi 6, and Android may have been the year before. The benefits of 5 (ac) and 6 (ax) are useful.

Your router is quite old if it doesn't support dual band with 5 GHz (typically N, as the older A is obsolete, as is B, and actually G).

The majority of my friends homes are WiFi 5 (AC) which is a big improvement on N on the 5 GHz band; many are on cable with 200 Mbps or faster services. For those large families, kids doing school work and adults trying to work from home, the WiFi 5 (AC) improvements made a dramatic difference. Especially during the lockdowns.

WiFi 6 (AX) is the next step on from 5, and 6E is the use of the 6 GHz channel which does not have to co-exist with legacy.

The sooner the old a/b/g routers are decommissioned, the spectrum will be usable by those with WiFi 5 routers on both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands

My router is very old as far as routers go, it is a TP-link cable router connected to an open reach FTTC modem. I got it when I went for a wireless internet providers around 9 years ago. But it is one of the most reliable routers I have had. Everything that is suppose to connect to it wirelessly does so without problems, with the zyxel, My echo dots would lose connection and my cameras would go off line.
the router I had before that, which was the Plusnet one hub, would not even connect to broadband, I had to use a Huawei modem. Saying that there was a problem with the open reach network, but it was strange that the only thing that would connect was a Huawei modem. I know that have nothing to do with wi-fi, but even then the Wi-fi on the hub one was not great.


This old TP-link have not hiccuped once. I was going to get Plusnet to send me another router, but since I am not sure what I am doing at the end of the contract, it is not really worth it and as I said, the Tp-link is working fine, the only problem I have with it is the UI, it is awful, but how often do you go into the UI? Oh yeah and the aerials stick out, not the best thing for wall mounting.

I think you will be waiting a long time before a/b/g routers are decommissioned, I bet there are still a fair few of them out there, also how many other devices still use these old standards?

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I think you will be waiting a long time before a/b/g routers are decommissioned, I bet there are still a fair few of them out there, also how many other devices still use these old standards?

Using the free WiFi scanners for Windows/Mac or Android, you can see the tech standard in use. Majority are now N (dual band) or higher. The old B and G routers need to go, the transmissions they create slow down other networks nearby on overlapping channels. As is normal in computing, the newer protocols are more robust and enable better throughput. (Not an issue if you are using a 5Mbps ADSL of course).

I had a B WiFi setup in around 2003, and then G in 2005, but moved to N by 2010, and dual-band N by 2013. Then quite a few years on AC (WiFi 5), and only in 2020 did I move to AX (WiFi 6), and I passed my WiFi 5 (AC) router to a family member.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Using the free WiFi scanners for Windows/Mac or Android, you can see the tech standard in use. Majority are now N (dual band) or higher. The old B and G routers need to go, the transmissions they create slow down other networks nearby on overlapping channels. As is normal in computing, the newer protocols are more robust and enable better throughput. (Not an issue if you are using a 5Mbps ADSL of course).

I had a B WiFi setup in around 2003, and then G in 2005, but moved to N by 2010, and dual-band N by 2013. Then quite a few years on AC (WiFi 5), and only in 2020 did I move to AX (WiFi 6), and I passed my WiFi 5 (AC) router to a family member.

It is not just the routers, a lot of the smart home products uses 2.4ghz and how many of them still use 802.11a or G. I have a fair few smart plugs in the house, I have no idea what protocol they use, all I know is that they use 2.4Ghz, My cameras, all use 2.4Ghz, i presume they will use 802.11G, but I don't know that.

I wonder what all the older printers use? My brother Hl-3150CDW uses 802.11b/g/n according to the manual, I use Ethernet on it, but I do have the direct printing turned on, which is 802.11g/n, but I wonder what some older Wi-fi printers use.

I think it will be years before we get rid of the older systems with so much still relying on it.

New routers still support all the older standards, so I think you will be waiting for many years.

At some point I will get another router, but I am in no rush as this one is working fine, better than the newer standards that seems to come to a stop as soon as a wall is in its way,