The Fritzbox 6670 Cable is the first AVM router to support Wifi 7. In the test it sometimes achieves high data rates, but not always. What's exciting is that it supports ZigBee. This means it can include more devices from other manufacturers in the home network, including those from Ikea and Philips Hue.
The Fritzbox 6670 Cable is the latest router for cable internet from the Berlin manufacturer AVM. It is not the new flagship for this type of connection, but replaces the somewhat weaker 6660 Cable. Nevertheless, it is an extremely exciting newcomer, because it is one of the few routers that already support the WLAN standard Wifi 7, which was only officially introduced at the beginning of the year. The Fritzbox 6670 Cable also has a ZigBee gateway integrated, which means it can integrate not only in-house and other DECT ULE devices, but also those from other manufacturers such as Ikea or Philips Hue into the home network.
Not everything is new
The new one has adopted the design and several components from its predecessor. Both devices have a LAN port on the back that allows data rates of up to 2.5 gigabits per second (Gbit/s), and there are four 1 gigabit ports next to them. Like its predecessor, the 6670 Cable supports the DOCSIS 3.1 cable standard, which theoretically allows transfer rates of up to 6 Gbit/s for downloads. You can connect an analog telephone and use the Fritzbox as a Dect base for cordless telephones. On the left side there is a comfortable USB 2.0 input for printers or storage media.
The 6670 also adopted the meager antenna equipment from its predecessor. With two antennas, it can transmit data to two receivers at the same time (2×2 MU-MIMO), the more powerful Fritzbox 6690 Cable has twice as much to offer. Fortunately, the new one has also adopted the low power consumption. In normal operation, ntv.de determined around 14 watts.
Integrated ZigBee gateway and Wifi 7
The 6670 uses Wifi 7 with the handbrake on.
The key innovations are inside. On the one hand, the Fritzbox 6670 Cable has a ZigBee gateway on board. This means that it can integrate and control significantly more devices from other manufacturers into the home network than was previously possible with the DECT ULE standard. These include lamps from Ikea and Philips Hue. Previously, Fritzbox users needed the FritzSmart Gateway. AVM lists a complete overview of compatible ZigBee devices on a service page.
Wifi 7 is the other big innovation, although AVM has not implemented all the advantages of the new standard in the Fritzbox 6670 Cable. In addition to 2.5 and 5 gigahertz (GHz), the new router does not also transmit at 6 GHz, which, among other things, enables twice the bandwidth of 320 megahertz (MHz) and thus significantly higher data rates.
No 6GHz band
With Wifi 7, the router is at least able to use 2.5 and 5 GHz simultaneously. This means the data rate can be improved and faster switching between frequencies is possible, making connections more stable. AVM specifies data rates of up to 2880 megabits per second (Mbit/s) at 5 GHz and up to 720 Mbit/s at 2.4 GHz for the Fritzbox 6670 Cable.
To test what this means in reality in a household with many connected devices, ntv.de tested the transfer speeds with different devices: a Google Pixel 8 Pro that supports Wifi 7, an iPhone 15 Pro Max (Wifi 6E), a MacBook Air M3 (Wifi 6E), a Lenovo Thinkpad T15 Gen. 2 (Wifi 6) and a MacBook Pro (2016/Wifi 5). First, measurements were taken directly at the router, then about ten meters away, with two walls in between.
High data rates possible close to the router
In close proximity to the Fritzbox 6670 Cable, the Pixel 8 Pro achieved an average of 793 Mbit/s and the iPhone 15 Pro Max 477 Mbit/s. The MacBook Air and the Thinkpad T15 both achieved around 2400 Mbit/s, while the old MacBook Pro still reached 867 Mbit/s.
As the distance increases and there are obstacles on the radio link, the values decrease drastically. At the second measuring point, the MacBook Pro no longer had any connection at all, the iPhone 15 Pro and the Pixel 8 Pro only achieved 17 and 21, and the MacBook Air only achieved 34 Mbit/s. By far the best performer was the Thinkpad T15, which achieved 432 Mbit/s with Wifi 6.
Users with large apartments need a repeater or powerline adapter to expand the Fritzbox 6670 Cable's WiFi network. However, AVM does not yet have any devices with Wifi 7 to offer; the FritzRepeater 3000 AX or the Powerline 1240 AX, for example, only support Wifi 6.
Conclusion
The Fritzbox 6670 Cable is currently particularly worthwhile for users who want to benefit from the integrated ZigBee gateway. If you use a 6690 or a 6660, you can just wait and see what comes next. If you now need a new Fritz box for the cable connection, the 6670 is a good and future-proof choice.
