AVM is bringing a new feature to the FritzBox that will probably interest every internet user. Because it protects you from readers, allows you to stream anywhere and brings your home network to the whole world.
The new feature comes with the new operating system FritzOS 7.50 , which is currently gradually coming to the FritzBox models. The first routers already have the new operating system, others can use it via the FritzLabor, a public beta test of the new firmware. The new feature is about an easy-to-configure VPN connection via Wireguard. It allows you to call up your FritzBox from anywhere in the world and use your internet connection when you’re on the go – for example to surf the web more securely.
VPN: WHAT IS IT ANYWAY?
With a VPN tunnel, your laptop or smartphone establishes an encrypted connection to your FritzBox. Your smartphone or laptop then uses this tunnel to transmit the data that it would otherwise send directly to the Internet. The FritzBox unpacks this tunnel data and processes it further. So you can use your home internet connection from anywhere in the world. This is interesting, for example, if you use a public, unencrypted WiFi hotspot . Then, without a VPN, other users could “listen in” on your data traffic in the WLAN . Also, the operator of the hotspot cannot understand which pages you access when you use a VPN connection.
If you are traveling abroad, the VPN tunnel home allows you to bypass geo-blocking. In this way, you can also use German streaming services if they are blocked in your travel country due to rights problems. You can also access your home network and use data that is stored on a storage device in your home four walls. This can be a NAS storage device, but also a USB storage device connected to the FritzBox.
You can imagine using the VPN tunnel as if you put the data to be transmitted in an opaque envelope and sent it home. Only there is the letter opener and the data is passed on. When transferring without a VPN, you write your data on a postcard, which you leave in the café after writing: Unencrypted connections could be read. And not only in the actual network, but even before it is thrown in the mailbox – on the way to the Internet at the hotspot .
THIS IS HOW YOU SET UP WIREGUARD VPN WITH THE FRITZBOX
VPN has long been possible on the FritzBox using the IPSec protocol. However, the setup was always complicated and error-prone. In addition, the connections were often comparatively slow. That changes with Wireguard. It is set up via the FritzBox interface at https://fritz.box . There you will find the “VPN (Wireguard)” tab under “Internet” and then under “Shares”.
To get your smartphone ready for Wireguard use, all you have to do is download the Wireguard app and click on “Add connection” in the tab mentioned. In the following, select the simplified setup, give the connection any name and click on Finish. Now scan the QR code that appears with the Wireguard app and you can use the VPN tunnel.
To set it up on a laptop, you also have to download the app and then download the necessary settings from the FritzBox and import them into the program. You can find out the necessary steps in the FritzBox at the end of setting up the connection.
As a FritzBox user, you can use the Wireguard VPN service free of charge.
VPN USE CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS HERE
Important: If you log into a public WiFi hotspot and want to use VPN, you must not use the VPN tunnel immediately. You should only activate the tunnel after you have entered your user data on the front page of the WLAN hotspot or accepted the terms of use. Otherwise it is possible that no internet connection will be established and therefore the VPN tunnel home will not work either. If you use the Wireguard tunnel at home, it is possible that individual applications such as printing or controlling a Sonos system no longer work.
According to AVM, there can also be problems with Wireguard if your Internet provider only supports DS Lite. You get a classic IPv4 and a “new” IPv6 address. However, the conventional address is not used exclusively by you alone, but shared with many users. If you then use an Internet connection on your smartphone or laptop that does not support IPv6, it will not be possible to establish a connection.
