AVM has begun distributing FritzOS 8.50, its next major firmware release. The first device to receive it is the Fritzbox 7690, a Wi-Fi 7 DSL router; users can trigger the update from the web interface at fritz.box or 192.168.178.1, or let auto-update do it. More 'current Fritzbox and Fritz repeater models' are to follow in the coming weeks, though AVM as usual does not name them. Models that have received the corresponding laboratory preview builds are the safest bets: the fibre boxes 5690 Pro, 5690, 5690 XGS and 5590; the DSL models 5690 Pro, 7630, 7590 AX, 7590 and 7530 AX; the cable routers 6690, 6670 and 6660; the mobile 6850 series; and the modem-less 4690 and 4050.
The headline feature is a DNS filter. Filter lists block advertisers' servers before a request is answered, so banners never appear and tracking servers are left with nothing to talk to. Because the filtering happens in the router, it applies to every device on the home network, over Wi-Fi and Ethernet alike — including phones, where the right lists should also put an end to unwanted new browser tabs.
The update also changes traffic prioritisation. Until now, Fritzbox owners could prioritise a whole client such as a PC or smartphone; with 8.50 they can prioritise individual real-time applications, so game traffic or a video call keeps its share of bandwidth even when the device is busy with something else. One function is specific to mobile Fritzboxes: once updated, they can use a LAN internet uplink — for instance through an upstream fibre modem — and automatically fall back to cellular if that connection fails.
Elsewhere, the MyFritz app gets a new overview page that summarises the router's state and, on FritzOS 8.50, reports recommendations, hints and warnings. Smart-home users get new routine options, and Fritz phones gain a 'simple mode' that turns selection keys into speed-dial buttons, plus an SOS call that dials up to four stored numbers in sequence in an emergency.
