AVM - 6690 Cable

If you're upgrading from FritzBox 6591 (1.733 MBit/s + 800 MBit/s) to FritzBox 6690 (4.800 MBit/s + 1.200 MBit/s), then yes. The upgrade will be significant.

Quick disclaimer: I know my setup is extremely niche and probably not relevant to most people, which is likely why there’s so little information about it online. 😅 So here’s my situation: I’m getting my internet wirelessly from my landlord’s network (long story), and unfortunately, running a physical cable is not an option anytime soon. Here’s the catch: I want to have my own subnet with separate DHCP, so I can assign my own IP addresses and keep my devices isolated — meaning my landlord shouldn’t be able to access my network. At first, I used a Fritz!Box 7490, which technically supports this setup (as far as I understand, that would be called WISP mode), but it only supports Wi-Fi 5, which made the connection very unstable. Then I bought a Fritz!Box 6690, not knowing that all newer Fritz!Boxes no longer support true router mode via Wi-Fi uplink. So I had to return it. Instead, I went with the Asus RT-AX68U due to its many configuration options. It technically supports using Wi-Fi as the internet source, but only in repeater mode, which is very limited — no DHCP server, and I can’t even disable Wi-Fi if I wanted to. My current workaround: I’m running the Asus router in repeater mode, then using its LAN port to connect to my old Fritz!Box, which creates its own subnet. This actually works great and the speed has improved massively (from 50 to 400–500 Mbit/s!) thanks to the Asus router’s better Wi-Fi performance and hardware. BUT: Since everything still passes through the Fritz!Box 7490, I’m still limited to Wi-Fi 5 speeds on my client devices. ⸻ So here’s what I’m asking: • Is there a way to configure the Asus RT-AX68U to work as a fully independent router while getting its internet via Wi-Fi uplink? • Or is there a different router that natively supports this kind of WISP setup with full routing, DHCP, and Wi-Fi 6? Thanks a lot in advance for any help or recommendations!

Both renting or buying are valid options. The telekom routers are not bad. The advantage of renting is that they will replace the router if it breaks or if for reasons of modernization you need a new one, but both of these cases are rare. Fritzbox are generally easy to use and seen as reliable; also they get software updates for a long time usually - at least in the past it was usually 10 years after the introduction of a model, possibly even more. However the manufacturer of Fritzbox (AVM) has been bought by an investor last year (I believe, maybe even 2023), so it is quiet probable that the software update policy will worsen. I still would buy a fritzbox though if I would want to buy a router. Which router you could buy depends on what technology your internet access is. The most common ones are DSL or Glasfaser (fibre). Some buildings have cable internet.

GenieACS works fine with fritzboxes. What exactly does not work for you? How do you feed the ACS URL to your boxes, do they even register in the ACS?

Renting is the better option and Fritz! Box is the way to go (made in Berlin, Germany, for all the r/BuyfromEU reasons).

Used quite a bit by regional ISPs in Ireland

These things are solid. I've been using them for 10 years... Before with copper and now fibre. Never had an issue.

Maybe they send the good ones to Switzerland 😂

I have been using FRITZ!Boxes for 20 years without any issue. Also running FRITZ! smart home stuff, no issues as well.

False, you can also configure it to use TOTP to confirm security settings.

You can also configure it to use TOTP via any Authenticator of your choice.

The speedports work, but they are very basic. If you want a more configurable option, you can use the speedport as a modem and attach e.g. a FRITZ!Box. That seems too much but this way the Telekom support can still check the connection with whatever proprietary thing they do with the speedport.