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What Wi-Fi speeds can be achieved with the FRITZ!Box?

Manufacturers state the maximum Wi-Fi speeds that can be achieved as the maximum gross data rates that are technically possible. However, the actual user data rates available for file downloads, video streams, etc., are lower.

In this guide, we tell you which factors determine the gross data rates, which user data rates you can actually achieve with the FRITZ!Box and your wireless devices, and what you can do if these data rates are too low.

1 What determines the gross data rate?

The maximum possible speed of a Wi-Fi connection (gross data rate) is determined by the wireless device with the slowest speed and depends on three factors:

  1. the wireless standard (for example Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6),
  2. the number of data streams in MIMO multi-antenna technology (for example 1x1, 4x4),
  3. the channel bandwidth (for example 20 MHz, 160 MHz).

2 Which gross data rates does the FRITZ!Box support?

You can find the gross data rates of current FRITZ!Box models in the following table. If your FRITZ!Box model is not listed here, you can find this information in the chapter "Technical Specifications > Ports and Interfaces" of itsmanual:

FRITZ!Box modelMax. gross data rate
FRITZ!Box 6690 Cable
4800 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 6, 4x4 data streams with 160 MHz channel bandwidth)
1733 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 5, 4x4 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth or 2x2 data streams with 160 MHz channel bandwidth)
800 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 4x4 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 7590 AX, 5590 Fiber 2400 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 6, 4x4 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth or 2x2 data streams with 160 MHz channel bandwidth)
1733 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 5, 4x4 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth or 2x2 data streams with 160 MHz channel bandwidth)
800 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 4x4 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 4060 2400 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 6, 4x4 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth)
1733 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 5, 4x4 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth)
800 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 4x4 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 6660 Cable, 5530 Fiber 2400 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 6, 2x2 data streams with 160 MHz channel bandwidth)
1733 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 5, 2x2 data streams with 160 MHz channel bandwidth)
400 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 2x2 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 7530 AX 1800 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 6, 3x3 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth)
1300 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 5, 3x3 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth)
400 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 2x2 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 7590, 7583, 6890 LTE, 6591 Cable
1733 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 5, 4x4 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth or 2x2 data streams with 160 MHz channel bandwidth)
800 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 4x4 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 7582, 7490, 6490 Cable
1300 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 5, 3x3 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth)
450 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 3x3 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 7530, 7520, 6850 5G, 6850 LTE, 4040 866 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 5, 2x2 data streams with 80 MHz channel bandwidth)
400 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 2x2 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 7510 600 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 6, 2x2 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
400 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 2x2 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)
FRITZ!Box 6820 LTE
450 Mbit/s (Wi-Fi 4, 3x3 data streams with 40 MHz channel bandwidth)

 

3 Which gross data rate does the wireless device support?

Refer to the manufacturer for information on the maximum gross data rates and other properties of the wireless device (supported wireless standards, frequency bands, data streams, and channel bandwidths), for example consult the manual. If you cannot find this information, you can refer to the current gross data rates of the wireless device that is displayed in the FRITZ!Box user interface:

  1. Click "Home Network" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Mesh" or "Home Network Overview" in the "Home Network" menu.
  3. Click "Details" next to the corresponding wireless device.
  4. Make note of the "Max. data rate possible" and "Current throughput" for the Wi-Fi connection. Each of the first values shows the gross data rate for the "upstream" (send direction) and the second value shows the gross data rate for the "downstream" (receive direction).

4 What determines the user data rate?

As with all radio technologies, Wi-Fi is a so-called "shared medium". Therefore, all of the wireless devices connected to the FRITZ!Box must share the total available gross data rates.

Since the gross data rates also include control data and overhead (protocol overhead), the actual user data rates available are lower. Under ideal conditions, the user data rates for Wi-Fi 6 are around 60-65%, for Wi-Fi 5 they are around 50%, and for Wi-Fi 4 they are around 40% of the gross data rates.

Since data packets are lost with increasing distance and when sources of interference are present and have to be resent repeatedly, the achievable user data rates are usually lower in practice.

5 How can the user data rate be measured?

We recommend using FRITZ!App WLAN to measure the user data rate and determine the influence of interference and distance on it. FRITZ!App WLAN is available for mobile devices with Android and iOS; while it is measuring, it displays the user data rate of the mobile device that can actually be achieved at the respective location. The speed of the internet connection does not matter.

Start the measurement process directly next to the FRITZ!Box by tapping "Measure Wi-Fi" in FRITZ!App WLAN and then move away from the FRITZ!Box to observe the effects of distance on the user data rate in real time.

6 How can the Wi-Fi speed be increased?

In the factory settings, the FRITZ!Box already evaluates its Wi-Fi environment and the quality of the connection of the wireless devices connected to it at regular intervals and automatically selects the best possible settings for stable and fast Wi-Fi connections. A significant increase of the Wi-Fi speed can therefore usually only be achieved by using additional FRITZ!Repeaters.

However, if the Wi-Fi speed of the connection between your wireless devices and the FRITZ!Box is always very low regardless of the distance, web pages only load slowly, or video streams stop playing, follow the steps in our guide Slow Wi-Fi connection.

7 Overview of Wi-Fi speeds

The following table lists examples of the maximum gross data rate and the maximum user data rate for various wireless standards, data streams, and channel bandwidths:

Wireless standardData streamsChannel bandwidthMax. gross data rateMax. user data rate
Wi-Fi 6 4x4 160 MHz 4800 Mbit/s ≈ 2880 Mbit/s
80 MHz 2400 Mbit/s ≈ 1440 Mbit/s
40 MHz 1200 Mbit/s ≈ 720 Mbit/s
20 MHz 600 Mbit/s ≈ 360 Mbit/s
3x3 160 MHz 3600 Mbit/s ≈ 2160 Mbit/s
80 MHz 1800 Mbit/s ≈ 1080 Mbit/s
40 MHz 900 Mbit/s ≈ 540 Mbit/s
20 MHz 450 Mbit/s ≈ 270 Mbit/s
2x2 160 MHz 2400 Mbit/s ≈ 1440 Mbit/s
80 MHz 1200 Mbit/s ≈ 720 Mbit/s
40 MHz 600 Mbit/s ≈ 360 Mbit/s
20 MHz 300 Mbit/s ≈ 180 Mbit/s
1x1 160 MHz 1200 Mbit/s ≈ 720 Mbit/s
80 MHz 600 Mbit/s ≈ 360 Mbit/s
40 MHz 300 Mbit/s ≈ 180 Mbit/s
20 MHz 150 Mbit/s ≈ 90 Mbit/s
Wi-Fi 5 4x4 160 MHz 3466 Mbit/s ≈ 1720 Mbit/s
80 MHz 1733 Mbit/s ≈ 860 Mbit/s
40 MHz 800 Mbit/s ≈ 360 Mbit/s
20 Mhz 347 Mbit/s ≈ 175 Mbit/s
3x3 160 MHz 2600 Mbit/s ≈ 1200 Mbit/s
80 MHz 1300 Mbit/s ≈ 600 Mbit/s
40 MHz 600 Mbit/s ≈ 300 Mbit/s
20 MHz 289 Mbit/s ≈ 130 Mbit/s
2x2 160 MHz 1733 Mbit/s ≈ 860 Mbit/s
80 MHz 866 Mbit/s ≈ 430 Mbit/s
40 MHz 400 Mbit/s ≈ 200 Mbit/s
20 MHz 173 Mbit/s ≈ 85 Mbit/s
1x1 160 MHz 866 Mbit/s ≈ 430 Mbit/s
80 MHz 433 Mbit/s ≈ 215 Mbit/s
40 MHz 200 Mbit/s ≈ 100 Mbit/s
20 MHz 86 Mbit/s ≈ 40 Mbit/s
Wi-Fi 4 4x4 40 MHz¹ 600 or 800 Mbit/s² ≈ 240 or 320 Mbit/s²
20 MHz 288 Mbit/s ≈ 120 Mbit/s
3x3 40 MHz¹ 450 or 600 Mbit/s² ≈ 180 or 240 Mbit/s²
20 MHz 216 Mbit/s ≈ 90 Mbit/s
2x2 40 MHz¹ 300 or 400 Mbit/s² ≈ 120 or 160 Mbit/s²
20 MHz 144 Mbit/s ≈ 60 Mbit/s
1x1 40 MHz¹ 150 or 200 Mbit/s² ≈ 60 or 80 Mbit/s²
20 MHz 72 Mbit/s ≈ 30 Mbit/s
¹ Only usable in Wi-Fi environments with few Wi-Fi networks in the 2.4-GHz frequency band.
² Depending on the modulation method (64 QAM or 256 QAM) of the wireless devices