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14 March 2022

Give your FRITZ!Box a second life

Have you purchased a new FRITZ!Box and are now wondering what to do with the one you already have? Here are a few tips on how to breathe new life into your existing FRITZ!Box.

Use as a Mesh Repeater

Provided that the existing FRITZ!Box is running at least FRITZ!OS 7 (or later), it can be used to easily and efficiently increase the range of your home network. The FRITZ!Box is integrated into the Mesh via Wi-Fi or network cable and, as a Mesh Repeater, adopts all the Mesh Master's required settings.

This creates another Wi-Fi network that the devices on your home network can connect to. With a FRITZ!Box as a Mesh Repeater, additional LAN ports are also available, which are ideal for TVs, consoles, media players and other devices.

The FRITZ!Box can also be used for a Smart Home Mesh to connect more Smart Home devices in the home network. This way you can combine smart products from FRITZ! connected to the Mesh Master with Smart Home devices connected to the Mesh Repeater to a group and then switch them together, for example.

How to: Set up a FRITZ!Box as a Mesh Repeater

Use as NAS

Files and media can be stored centrally on a NAS (network-attached storage) so that all network devices have access to them. Typical uses include backing up files and streaming media in the home network.

To use the FRITZ!Box's NAS function, the first step is to insert a suitable hard drive or USB stick into the FRITZ!Box's USB port. The setup is then carried out in the FRITZ!Box user interface.

You can find instructions on how to use NAS in your home network in our guide section. This article describes how to set up storage (NAS) on your computer as a network drive.

Give away or donate the FRITZ!Box

Your discarded FRITZ!Box still receives product support, but you have no use for it? Then why not make someone else happy and gift the FRITZ!Box to a friend or acquaintance. Of course you can also donate the FRITZ!Box.

Look for organizations/initiatives in your area that accept donations of electronic devices.


These tips are for all FRITZ!Box models that receive product support and are therefore also provided with security updates.