Therefore AVM is due only once a praise: For the price of less than 100 euros to bring a DVB-C double tuner streaming box on the market, in addition to Wi-Fi and a Gigabit LAN port, a high-performance repeaters for both Wi-Fi tapes (!) and provides flexibility for integration into your home network, all honor is ever worth it! On top of everything is still included, what you need to start, ie. In addition to a ribbon-network cable a coaxial antenna cable and a T-adapter into a usable quality (For this accessory alone is you suddenly need 10 euros or more going on when you have to buy it separately.) The Tivizen nanohybrid sees mind despite its now lower price, real old from. (However, the Tivizen DVB-T so that it go well, for example, is at the campsite, use.)
In the repeater function I could even do without, since my Asus Dual Band Router (RT-N66U) provides adequate coverage in all my house, but the LAN connection is me after the experience with the Tivizen very important (reasons below or in the Tivizen-review).
AVM typical is the Repeater is very easy to operate (although this is my first AVM device, but the user-friendliness of the Fritz boxes is indeed legendary). An accompanying Quick Start Guide are actually already sufficient evidence, questions have been downloaded from the clutter AVM home page in a few minutes the detailed manual or found in the FAQs a comprehensive response to its own question. As the central configuration interface used, as usual, a very simple web interface, which is accessible in a web browser by entering the IP address of the repeater. (In order to facilitate the later discovery of the repeater, it is worth considering to miss the device a fixed IP address, because the alias "fritz.repeater" only works if you are logged in repeater's (W) LAN.) In Basically, it has to be connected in any case, the easiest to connect the repeater to their factory settings into an electrical outlet and a PC via a LAN cable with it (and only with him, that is also necessary, WLAN switch off the PC). Then you can reach the web interface via the IP address 192.168.178.2 (or just above the "fritz.repeater" alias).
My unit came with the outdated firmware 6:12 (currently 6.21), so the first action was a firmware update, the online as well as offline is possible and was done in a few minutes.
Conclusion in the discipline base installation: a resounding "very good". For a Network "professional" the first installation of the unit is anyway not a problem, but even laymen with only rudimentary knowledge network should be able to meet the challenge.
Now for the configuration: Because my goal is "DVB-C throughout the home network" and I do not need the repeater function, I have the repeater mode on the "LAN Bridge" is set and the WLAN permanently disabled. In this way, DVB-C is available throughout the home network all clients (PCs, Android or iOS devices, whether via LAN or WLAN connected) are available, the performance-eating double transmission of the signal in the WLAN will be invisible (the repeater transmits the TV signal via Gigabit-LAN to the router, and only during transmission to the client comes into play Wi-Fi).
When connected to DVB-C (KabelBW) repeater launched an automatic station search, and after about 10 minutes all unencrypted TV and radio stations were found easily. Commendable, because that is a different way (see my review for Tivizen).
Conclusion in the discipline configuration: Also a "very good"! Flexible and clear, much better you can not make it.
First tests with the "FRITZ! App TV" on a Sony Xperia Tablet Z (from today's perspective, a mid-size Android tablet) were then more than satisfactory. The app starts and finds the repeater quickly. The TV channels found are clearly displayed with their station logo. Whoever wants to can make a local favorites list and only display them (which they apparently - yet - can not sort, but for me is not that bad). Tap once on a logo and after 2-3 seconds running TV on your tablet. Switching to another station with good second I've seen so far still not faster. The transmission runs absolutely smoothly (with me), the picture and sound are out of sync. Surprisingly, there is even no up only minimalistic delay (max. Half a second) compared to the parallel program display on the TV. Also, the parallel stream of a second transmitter to a second WLAN client works without problems (with me). Bravo, AVM!
Finally, a test with the VLC Media Player on (connected via Gigabit-LAN) PC: The .m3u lists (one for SD and HD) hastily created in the web interface of the repeater is stored on the desktop, drag and drop on the VLC icon, and has been running TV in VLC, stable and of good quality (in both SD and HD).
Only once froze after about one hour of operation with the Sony Tablet, the television signal, and streaming could not be restarted. Even measures such as WLAN reconnect, repeater restart, restart app with or without deletion of cache and data the app helped. Only after you restart your tablet went all normal. But the whole time I was able to stream smoothly with a second Android client, so it can not have acted a problem of the repeater, but rather a local problem on the Android-tablet; Another indication of this is that it ran smoothly again after the tablet reboot. Let's see how this develops, but I would check off it at the moment times than once (Android) problem.
Conclusion in the discipline function, stability and performance: Again, a "very good".
Otherwise? With previous Fritz! OS and app versions of it like how you can see other reviews, still gave plenty of bugs, but the current versions seem to be really stable and well usable. Sure, the Fritz-Android-App has definitely still room for improvement. HD channels streaming, EPG and recording capability and at least Timeshift (running program to stop briefly and then resume) would be desirable, but (at least for me) not a killer criterion. Even on 10-inch tablet can live very well with SD channels. For a program I can sometimes quickly go in on the phone in the clack-App. And we wait and see it, I can well imagine that AVM still incorporating these features, but if not, that's not a doomsday. Me is much more important a stable streaming function, and which is given in principle.
Conclusion in the discipline Features / Comfort: A "satisfactory" to "good". Once added more features as mentioned, you can assign a better grade here.
I tested only briefly, the repeater function, they work for me but on both wireless bands properly.
Conclusion: AVM provides with this device a DVB-C-streaming / repeater combo for home network that is reliable, easy to operate and is highly configurable. Just such a device I wished for a long time and finally found. Despite the slight weaknesses in features / comfort I give 5 stars and we can highly recommend.
Finally, a few tips for those where DVB-C streaming not really gets into gear:
- Be sure to check first of all the software installed on the repeater Fritz OS version and perform an update, if a newer version is available!.
- They also make sure that you are using the latest version of Fritz app.
If the DVB-C station search with you the problem (found too few channels, poor quality, etc.) be, try instead of the fast channel scan the full channel scan (the but - uniquely - can take several hours).
Now to the most likely problem is that the reproduction of the TV streams through constant stuttering, "blocks" formation, etc. is disturbed: Here would only times their own home network optimized. If their priority, as in my case, interference-free DVB-C streaming throughout the home network is, proceed as I suggest, that
- Integrate, if at all possible, the repeater via LAN cable to the home network at (mode "LAN Bridge"). This ensures that your total available wireless capacity for the transmission of TV streams from the router to the terminal is available and not already in part for the transmission of TV streams from the repeater to the router is "consumed".
- If possible, optimize your router for video transmission. With Fritz boxes we find this in the web interface a special setting ("WLAN for live TV optimize" or similar), with Asus routers it is (far less obvious) "IGMP snooping" (to activate the "Wireless" settings, tab "Professional"). This setting a rudimentary QoS feature (Quality of Service) is activated in the router probably that gives video data priority over other data.
If a connection of the repeater via WLAN is inevitable:
- Take definitely different wireless bands for the two transmission paths (eg 5 GHz for repeater> router and 2.4GHz for Router> terminal or vice versa).
- Consider whether you need the repeater functionality at all. If not, you can use the device even without connection to the home network operate (only connection to DVB-C) as a separate access point. If you, for example, restricting the home network on 2.4GHz and switch only the 5 GHz WLAN Repeater when you have the 5 GHz band for transmission repeater> terminal fully available. The only disadvantage: Before starting the Fritz-App, you must manually switch your client to the WLAN Repeater.
If now is still not a stable streaming to wireless clients come about, your wireless client (smartphone, tablet) could to "weak" be (RAM a mid-size mobile phone / tablet with quad-core> 1.5 GHz and 1 GB or should it be beautiful). If this can be ruled out as the cause, it is almost always on wireless! Verify that, by checking whether the streaming to a connected via LAN client (eg a PC with VLC) is functioning normally. If so, is definitely the problem Fi. The reason for this is almost always the superposition of the own signal with neighboring WLANs; especially the 2.4 GHz band is it in almost all residential areas, especially those with multi-family houses, affected (Fortunately, only he who is a detached house, of which the nearest neighbors are at least 100 meters, inhabited). Now you can not do, unfortunately, around it, to deal with a little technical wireless details. Remedies could include:
- Analyze the situation in your home WLAN. (For example, the Android app "Wifi Analyzer" is for this very helpful.) If you have never done it before, you will be surprised how many neighbors you "butt in" and the quality and speed of your wireless signal massively affect what else, with the usual non-real-time applications (Web browsing in the browser, email call, downloads, etc.), not notice.
- If possible, soft, at least for streaming, completely on the 5 GHz band. That is not or much less crowded usually.
- Otherwise, you're looking GHz band are not, or at least the least used which channels in the 2.4, and set your wireless router on a fixed. Try, if necessary, to agree with neighbors who uses which 2.4 GHz channels. (Basically, this is true also in the 5 GHz band, because here it can happen that a neighbor on the same channel as you radioed.)
Let yourself be possibly from a friend / acquaintance / relative who knows well enough with network technology, help.
If, despite these measures still cause interference in streaming, you did not simply bad luck, because then your environment is just not for relatively bandwidth-intensive wireless real-time applications like TV streaming suitable. That's too bad, but happens to be due to the now mass distribution of WLANs can not be avoided. Even in my environment (relatively densely populated with detached and terraced houses residential area), there are peak times when the streaming, despite optimally configured own network, often has problems. However, the wireless overlays are not nearly as bad as in my parents' apartment (apartment house, more apartment buildings in the immediate (
Thank you have persevered this far. I hope my review is helpful to you. If so, I am pleased with a click on the Yes button.
