Moral dilemma

[Tim+]

Just upgraded from FTTC to FTTP with Zen. Unexpectedly they’ve sent me a
new router which does Wi-Fi 6.

Thing is, I have my own mesh system and have no intention of using the new
Fritz!box’s Wi-Fi so it’s entirely superfluous.

Do I send it back, sell it on eBay or plug it in and try and sell my old
Fritz!box? I rather suspect that it’s not actually mine to sell though…

Tim

[David Wade]

Post by Tim+
Just upgraded from FTTC to FTTP with Zen. Unexpectedly they’ve sent me a
new router which does Wi-Fi 6.

Possibly need that to keep up with FTTC speeds

Post by Tim+
Thing is, I have my own mesh system and have no intention of using the new
Fritz!box’s Wi-Fi so it’s entirely superfluous.

Try it. I thought like you till I found out how much my mesh slugged the
speed.

Post by Tim+
Do I send it back, sell it on eBay or plug it in and try and sell my old
Fritz!box? I rather suspect that it’s not actually mine to sell though…

Pretty sure ZEN don't want your old Fritzbox back. I bought a used 7530
on E-Bay to build a VPN to a Holiday Home...

Post by Tim+
Tim

Dave

[Tim+]

Post by David Wade

Post by Tim+
Just upgraded from FTTC to FTTP with Zen. Unexpectedly they’ve sent me a
new router which does Wi-Fi 6.

Possibly need that to keep up with FTTC speeds

Post by Tim+
Thing is, I have my own mesh system and have no intention of using the new
Fritz!box’s Wi-Fi so it’s entirely superfluous.

Try it. I thought like you till I found out how much my mesh slugged the
speed.

I’m getting over 100Mbps via my Wi-Fi so I think the existing router and
mesh system are coping just fine.

Tim

[David Wade]

Post by Tim+

Post by David Wade

Post by Tim+
Just upgraded from FTTC to FTTP with Zen. Unexpectedly they’ve sent me a
new router which does Wi-Fi 6.

Possibly need that to keep up with FTTC speeds

Post by Tim+
Thing is, I have my own mesh system and have no intention of using the new
Fritz!box’s Wi-Fi so it’s entirely superfluous.

Try it. I thought like you till I found out how much my mesh slugged the
speed.

I’m getting over 100Mbps via my Wi-Fi so I think the existing router and
mesh system are coping just fine.

That depends on what service you have from ZEN. I have Full Fibre 500
and was somewhat under underwhelmed with the 100Mbps that I got out of
the Draytek Router, and felt it was not letting me see the full benefit
of my contract.

Currently seeing 468Mbps down 66Mps up via WiFi through the Zen Router.

Post by Tim+
Tim

Dave

[Tim+]

Post by David Wade

Post by Tim+

Post by David Wade

Post by Tim+
Just upgraded from FTTC to FTTP with Zen. Unexpectedly they’ve sent me a
new router which does Wi-Fi 6.

Possibly need that to keep up with FTTC speeds

Post by Tim+
Thing is, I have my own mesh system and have no intention of using the new
Fritz!box’s Wi-Fi so it’s entirely superfluous.

Try it. I thought like you till I found out how much my mesh slugged the
speed.

I’m getting over 100Mbps via my Wi-Fi so I think the existing router and
mesh system are coping just fine.

That depends on what service you have from ZEN. I have Full Fibre 500
and was somewhat under underwhelmed with the 100Mbps that I got out of
the Draytek Router, and felt it was not letting me see the full benefit
of my contract.

100Mbps is what I’m paying for so it’s all good. Sadly no Cityfibre etc in
my area so connection via OpenReach (at their rates) is the only option.
If it weren’t so expensive I’d consider a faster connection.

Tim

[NY]

Post by Tim+

Post by David Wade
Try it. I thought like you till I found out how much my mesh slugged the
speed.

I’m getting over 100Mbps via my Wi-Fi so I think the existing router and
mesh system are coping just fine.

Over 5 GHz wifi (as opposed to 2.4 GHz) I regularly get *local* connections
between two different computers in my house, over SMB sharing, of 25+ MB/sec
which equates roughly to 250+ Mb/sec. Since my WAN connection is only about
30 Mb/sec, that is the rate-limiting step for web browsing of external
servers.

That's for Linksys Velop mesh nodes - typically laptop connected to one node
which has a 5 GHz backhaul connection to another node which is connected by
Ethernet to my router, with another computer connected by Ethernet to the
router.

I've not compared this with the same laptop accessing the same "SMB server"
but connected to the router's own wifi as opposed to the mesh network. It's
possible that the Raspberry Pi or Windows "SMB server" may be a
rate-limiting step. I suppose I need to write a TCP sender and a TCP
listener to test raw TCP transfer rates...

[Graham J]

Post by Tim+
Just upgraded from FTTC to FTTP with Zen. Unexpectedly they’ve sent me a
new router which does Wi-Fi 6.
Thing is, I have my own mesh system and have no intention of using the new
Fritz!box’s Wi-Fi so it’s entirely superfluous.
Do I send it back, sell it on eBay or plug it in and try and sell my old
Fritz!box? I rather suspect that it’s not actually mine to sell though…

I have known Zen ask for a failed router to be returned when they send
out a new one. Specifically a Technicolor TG588v v2 supplied in 2018
which failed recently, and Zen delivered a FRITZ!Box 7530 in May this
year.

The internet connection now works - more reliably - so Zen want the
Technicolor back. I can't imagine why.

The FRITZ!Box 7530 comes with Zen firmware ("Edition Zen Internet"
printed on label on underside) which means that it contains the Zen
username & password for their TR-069 service. If Zen have its serial
number correctly logged in their database (which I have known is
sometimes not true) it will configure itself once connected to the phone
line or via Ethernet to an ONT. It's clearly intended for use with
their "Digital Voice" service as a "zero configuration" package for
non-technical users.

If you configure it yourself it will work with any ISP - clearly
irrelevant in your case.

Given their very high price both new (over £100) and on the second hand
market (about £40) I'm surprised that Zen include them in new contracts
or upgrades to FTTP. My new FTTP service in March 2023 included a £15
setup fee so presumably this covers the cost to Zen of their bulk
purchases. I would claim this means I own that router.

If you paid a one-off fee for your upgrade to FTTP I think you own the
new router, and it's yours to sell.

Others here have reported it's WiFi capability is poor.

Generally it's a good router with useful features, but it doesn't
respond reliably to ping from the internet (deliberately so, as a DoS
attack protection measure) so any monitoring with the likes of F8Lure
fails - so if you're trying to get evidence for an unreliable line with
which to challenge your ISP and Openreach then its not useful. See:

<https://f8lure.mouselike.org>

It doesn't support multiple simultaneous VPN connections.

Do you intend ever to use Zen's "Digital Voice" service? If so you will
need their FRITZ!Box.

[Roderick Stewart]

On Sun, 16 Jun 2024 08:25:37 +0100, Graham J <***@nowhere.co.uk>
wrote:

[re Zen Fritxbox]

Post by Graham J
Others here have reported it's WiFi capability is poor.

Curious. For what it's worth, mine is very good, better than the
Draytek that it replaced.

My router is on a high shelf in the hallway just inside the front
door, and previously I would get occasional dropouts on my internet
radio which is in a bedroom at the back of the house, but with the
Fritzbox there have been none at all. Wi-fi reception is consistent
throughout the house and even in the back garden. This surprised me as
Draytek have a reputation for quality, but that's what happened.

Rod.

[Peter Johnson]

Just upgraded from FTTC to FTTP with Zen. Unexpectedly they’ve sent me a
new router which does Wi-Fi 6.
Thing is, I have my own mesh system and have no intention of using the new
Fritz!box’s Wi-Fi so it’s entirely superfluous.
Do I send it back, sell it on eBay or plug it in and try and sell my old
Fritz!box? I rather suspect that it’s not actually mine to sell though…

I keep mine as a backup.