Anyone who lives in a house or in a larger apartment may be familiar with the problem: the router's WiFi signal is too weak to reach even the remotest parts of the living area optimally - annoying dropouts or internet that is too slow are the result. Especially for these and similar problems, there are useful WiFi mesh repeaters on the market, which significantly extend the range of the home WiFi network. If you own a FRITZ! Box, the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200 is an inexpensive entry-level model that is available for around 60 euros. But what can the compact connector actually do? We will tell you in our following test report.
- Mesh WiFi: automatic consolidation of the used ...
- More WiFi range for all connected devices, super-fast ...
- Easy WLAN setup at the push of a button via WPS (Wi-Fi Protected...
The functions of the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200 at a glance
The AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200 increases the range of any wireless network in no time at all. It is equipped with two different radio units (WLAN AC, WLAN N) and can thus not only establish a very high bandwidth, but also a stable connection to the Internet - for all devices that are connected to the home network. This ensures that everyone living in the household benefits from a good internet connection and can use the WiFi for surfing, shopping, gaming or streaming.
The AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200 offers these advantages:
- Extremely fast transmissions through WLAN AC with up to 886 MBit/s and WLAN N with up to 400 MBit/s
- Automatic merging of all FRITZ! devices used into an intelligent network
- Alternatively, also compatible with almost all other common WLAN routers
- From the factory with a secure WLANEncryption fitted
- User-friendly WLAN setup at the push of a button via WPS
- Consumes comparatively little electricity
Setting up the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200
Fortunately, it is very easy to set up the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200. The device is only plugged into a free socket, which should of course ideally be in the immediate vicinity of the WLAN router. Then you press the red connect button on the repeater and then have around two minutes to find the corresponding counterpart Router to press - with a FRITZ! Box this would be the white Connect or WPS button.
Now some lights should flash on both the repeater and the WLAN router, which can take a few minutes. As soon as the lights have calmed down, the repeater is ready for use and can also be used at another socket in the house. Ideally, the repeater is located between the router and the end devices to be supplied so that it can do its job properly.
Particularly practical: If a FRITZ! Box, such as the FRITZ! Box 7590, is used, the repeater not only connects to the router, but also adopts its WLAN settings directly if desired - such as the selected network name or the previously set one WiFi password. In our opinion, this is a very practical function, as you don't have to re-enter your password or find a network key that you've misplaced for a long time. AVM has really put a lot of effort into making the setup of its repeater as convenient as possible. Incidentally, after successful pairing, both devices have the same WLAN SSID network identifier – ideally on all frequencies used.
The AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200 in a practical test
- Mesh WiFi: automatic consolidation of the used ...
- More WiFi range for all connected devices, super-fast ...
- Easy WLAN setup at the push of a button via WPS (Wi-Fi Protected...
Now things are getting serious, because as a buyer of the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200, you naturally ask yourself whether the compact device actually delivers speeds of up to 886 Mbit/s. Our practical test showed that the repeater achieved an average transmission value of 650 Mbit/s when sending and around 580 Mbit/s when transmitting data in close range with WLAN AC. Although this does not quite correspond to the data specified by the manufacturer, these are only maximum specifications anyway - which is why you usually have to be prepared for a smear.
We were also not quite able to achieve the speed with WLAN N, which according to the manufacturer should be up to 400 Mbit/s, but at least the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200 achieved an exemplary 285 Mbit/s when sending and 320 Mbit /s when receiving data. For most private users who don't regularly download huge amounts of data or upload it to a server or cloud storage, the given values should be completely sufficient. If this is not the case, it may be worth taking a look at the alternative available AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 2400: Although it is a bit more expensive to buy, it also achieves significantly better values of up to real 780 MBit/s, which enable several people to use the Internet even more intensively.
The power consumption of the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200
A good WiFi repeater should be as energy-efficient as possible - after all, like the router, it is permanently plugged into the socket. In the case of the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200, however, we have good news: In stand-by mode, consumption is just 3 watts, and under heavy load the connector draws an average of 4,15 watts. Since AVM specifies the power consumption as an average of 3,80, one can speak of a very good value that does not affect the wallet too much.
Our conclusion:
The AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200 not only impresses with its extremely compact design, but can also be connected to the home WLAN router in no time at all. This does not necessarily have to be a FRITZ! box, as all routers with the wireless standards 802.11 ac/n/g/b/a are also supported. If there is still a FRITZ! Box in the house, this has the advantage that all the settings made previously, such as the network name and the WLAN password, are automatically adopted - this saves valuable time during setup.
With regard to its transmission speed, the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 1200 convinces with very good values, which, however, do not quite come close to those of the AVM FRITZ!WLAN Mesh Repeater 2400. If you are on the Internet with several devices at the same time and frequently upload or download large amounts of data, you should definitely invest the 20 euro surcharge for the repeater model 2400 - for everyone else the speed of the 1200 model should be completely sufficient.
- Mesh WiFi: automatic consolidation of the used ...
- More WiFi range for all connected devices, super-fast ...
- Easy WLAN setup at the push of a button via WPS (Wi-Fi Protected...
