Broadband Router Giant AVM Rolls Out FRITZ!OS 8.20 Firmware

Network kit manufacturer AVM, which is a well-known German developer of home networking products (e.g. FRITZ!Box routers are used by various UK consumers and several ISPs), has begun to deploy their latest FRITZ!OS 8.20 software update (Firmware) that includes various new features. But it’s not without the odd bug.

At the time of writing, AVM has already started the first non-beta rollout with the FRITZ!Box 7590 router, but updates for other models will soon follow. The new firmware introduces the usual array of bug fixes and performance improvements, as well as several new futures.

Highlights of FRITZ!OS 8.20

➤ The new Online Monitor offers a clear graphical overview of the internet usage of top consumers and selected home network devices

➤ Mesh optimization – for greater stability and improved data throughput, FRITZ!Repeaters independently select the ideal connection in the Mesh

➤ More options for triggering routines in the smart home and many other interesting new features

➤ The new, easy-to-use FRITZ!NAS sharing function makes it possible to share a folder, for example to collect and share photos after a family celebration

➤ Simplified user guidance for the parental controls – access profiles and the home network devices assigned to it are now clearly displayed

➤ Protection against internet connection failure: FRITZ! Failsafe automatically switches to a substitute connection, for example via mobile network

➤ Reduce the FRITZ!Box’s energy consumption with EEE (Energy Efficient Ethernet) Can now be individually configured for the WAN or LAN sockets

Regular readers might recall that the deployment of FRITZ!OS 8.0 last year did cause some problems for a fair few owners of certain models, including disconnections at ISP Zen Internet (here), among other things. But the hope is that 8.2 will give end-users a smoother ride, although some early feedback from Germany suggests it might still need a bit of polish (examples), with complaints about error messages and connection issues already popping up (credits to Steve for the tip).

Full Changelog

New features and improvements in FRITZ!OS 8.20

Internet:

• NEW With the new internet fallback protection, the FRITZ!Box always stays online: If the internet connection fails, an alternative internet connection is established via an access device, e.g. via the mobile network with FRITZ!Box 6820 LTE or via USB mobile network dongles  
• NEW Online Monitor shows the network devices with the highest utilization of the internet connection (top consumers)  
• NEW The Online Monitor for “individual devices” also displays the total current utilization of devices that were not selected individually  
• NEW Simplified user guidance on the “Filter” pages (parental controls)  
• Improved In the Online Monitor the display of the utilization of the internet connection allows selection of not only one day or two months but also an interval of 2 weeks  
• Improved Device selection for display and data recording simplified in the Online Monitor  
• Improved Reworked diagrams and colors in the Online Monitor  
• Improved Online Monitor: Reworked display in the diagrams for the utilization of the internet connection    
• Improved Improved stability when there are many simultaneous requests to internet services  
• Improved Port 443 (HTTPS, QUIC) is taken into account when the network application “Surfing” is prioritized  
• Improved In the access profiles for parental controls, it is now possible to select whether network applications should be blocked or allowed  
• Improved Number of tickets to extend online time for devices blocked by parental controls was increased from 10 to 12  
• Improved In the parental controls, limited online time for a network device can now be easily extended by 45 minutes

Wi-Fi:

• NEW Operating mode Mesh Repeater: Use FRITZ!Box 7590 AX as a Mesh Repeater, e.g. after replacing the FRITZ!Box on the connection

Mesh:

• NEW Automatic detection of device type (e.g. smartphone, computer, or printer) for devices displayed in the Mesh Overview
• NEW Intelligent networking: FRITZ! products in the Mesh assess and optimize the connections among each other
• NEW Simplified login to Mesh Repeaters via the Mesh Overview of the Mesh Master

Telephony:

• NEW Caller announcements for the integrated answering machine can now also be entered as text (text-to-speech)
• Improved Support for the Vodafone IP Anlagen Anschluss

DECT/FRITZ!Fon: 

• Improved Podcasts can automatically continue from where they left off, even after a long interruption  
• Improved Revised menu order and dialogs in the FRITZ!Fon user interface

Home Network:

• NEW Save energy in the home network: EEE (Energy Efficient Ethernet) can now be set separately for each WAN/LAN port  
• Improved Completely reworked network settings for improved user-friendliness

Smart Home:

• NEW In the FRITZ!Box user interface of the Mesh Master, the registration of smart home devices with another FRITZ!Box or a FRITZ!Smart Gateway can be started  
• NEW Data read by the FRITZ!Smart Energy 250 from the export meter is shown under “Smart Home > Devices and Groups”  
• NEW With FRITZ!Smart Control 440, the following functions can now be controlled: the boost and frost protection functions for radiator controls, color and color temperature for lamps, activation and deactivation of routines, and the display of the QR code for Wi-Fi  
• NEW Routines can also be triggered by a phone call, by reaching a target temperature, or by activating boost or antifreeze functions, as well as by important events on the FRITZ!Box  
• NEW Templates and routines can be triggered with delay  
• Improved The schedule for a radiator control can be disabled without discarding the configured schedule  
• Improved Roller shutters can now be combined into groups

Storage (NAS):

• NEW Upload sharing: Via fritz.nas a folder can be shared for users with a sharing link to upload and download contents, e.g. to collect photos after a family celebration  
• Improved Better interoperability with FTP applications (e.g. Filezilla) through support for MFMT command  
• Improved Simplified generation of sharing links to access files saved in FRITZ!NAS

Security:

• Improved Push mail now also sends notifications about logins from FRITZ!Apps

System: 

• Improved File name for saved settings now includes name of individual FRITZ!Box  
• Improved The “Diagnostics > Function” page now displays information on problems with time synchronization via NTP  
• Improved If the configured/provisioned time server fails, automatic switch to public server  
• Improved “Forgot Password” function of the push service can now be configured with a freely chosen recipient  
• Improved Functional diagnostics now indicates when access for apps (TR-064) is disabled in the home network sharing settings  
• Improved Reworked pages of the update functions under “System > Update”  
• Improved Reworked user guidance for backing up or restoring settings  
• Improved Warning on the overview page when push service is interrupted  
• Improved Push service emails now clearly differentiate between function and security diagnostics through specific subject lines, adapted email texts, and file names  
• Improved Accessibility support for FRITZ!Box, FRITZ!Mesh Set Master, and FRITZ!Fon (in accordance with GAA Ordinance)

Mobile Network: 

• Improved Support for the execution of service and control commands in the mobile network (USSD over IMS)

Additional Improvements in FRITZ!OS 8.20

Internet:

• Changed FRITZ! devices in the home network, e.g. FRITZ!Repeaters, are no longer offered in parental controls and prioritization; they always have unrestricted internet access with normal priority  
• Changed Private IPv4 addresses (RFC 1918) are no longer posted via MyFRITZ!Net (DNS) if a publicly accessibly IPv6 address is available  
• Changed When VPN connections are active for which all network traffic is routed via the VPN connection (“full tunnel”), the guest network is excluded from this and routed over the normal internet connection  
• Changed Number of network devices for which the saving of internet data rates can be enabled was increased to 40  
• Fixed Enabling the UPnP filter had no effects for IPv6  
• Fixed For providers without support for IPv6, the Online Meter did not count consumption values as long as IPv6 was enabled in the account information of the FRITZ!Box  
• Fixed Possible internet disruptions when using a large filter list for blocked websites  
• Fixed For FRITZ! devices operated exclusively via IPv6, under some circumstance there was no search for new FRITZ!OS versions (updates)  
• Fixed Creation of new WireGuard® VPN connections could fail if many WireGuard® VPN connections had already been created  
• Fixed Under certain circumstances, a FRITZ! device operated exclusively via IPv6 could not obtain the system time via the Network Time Protocol  
• Fixed The rate information in the Online Meter showed an incorrect end of the billing period  
• Fixed Parental controls: Redeeming tickets to extend online time failed in certain scenarios [FRITZ!OS > 8.0 only]  
• Fixed Potential incorrect display in the Online Meter of the use of data capacity during the billing period

Home Network:

• Fixed In rare cases the information on a new network device in the home network was not immediately entered in the event log or change notice  
• Fixed In special scenarios it was possible for the IP address 192.168.178.1 to be displayed for a repeater in the home network instead of its own address  
• Fixed “Home Network > Network Connections” page was not displayed (empty page) when a FRITZ!Box was configured as an internet gateway and a Mesh Repeater

System:

• Fixed Push service sent the Forgot Password link of devices configured as IP clients with the incorrect IP address  
• Fixed Despite correct rate settings, the “Info” LED did not flash when online volume exhausted  
• Fixed Preview of personalized subject line from push service shows the suggested parentheses only if they were actually entered

Additional Improvements in FRITZ!OS 8.03

Internet:

• Changed FRITZ!Box assigns an IPv6 prefix via DHCPv6 to all downstream routers by default

System:

• Fixed Incorrect configuration could lead to restart after update in certain rare cases

Additional Improvements in FRITZ!OS 8.02

Telephony:

• Fixed In Austria (country code 43) dialing numbers beginning with 12, 13 or 14 was only possible en bloc

Internet:

• Fixed Changes to the device name of a device in the home network were not transmitted to MyFRITZ!Net
• Fixed No internet connection after update to FRITZ!OS 8.00 when no password included in account information
• Fixed Sometimes IPSec VPN connections with the option to route all data traffic via this connection did not work
• Fixed The preferred user for default login with the FRITZ!Box during MyFRITZ! access from the internet was not transmitted to MyFRITZ!Net
• Improved EDNS0 expansions for local domains (fritz.box) to improve interoperability with Linux system (systemd-resolved) during use of DNS-SEC

System:

• Fixed Although the push service worked, sending the test email to the provider GMX failed when the sender name contained umlauts
• Fixed Push service on Mesh Repeaters that adopted settings could not send email
• Fixed Restart of FRITZ!Box via user interface sometimes failed

Additional Improvements in FRITZ!OS 8.00

Internet:

• Changed:- The AES-192 encryption algorithm is no longer supported in Phase 2 SAs of VPN connections
• Changed The hash algorithm MD5 and the 3DES encryption algorithm are no longer used on VPN connections over IPSec for reasons of security
• Changed The IPv6 option “Assign unique local addresses (ULA) as long as no IPv6 internet connection exists (recommended)” is no longer offered
• Changed In PPPoE passthrough operation of the FRITZ!Box, DNS root queries are no longer filtered via UDP
• Fixed Under some circumstances the network traffic of a connected telephone system was not routed via a specially configured VoIP interface
• Fixed Under certain circumstances, OpenWrt devices operated behind a FRITZ!Box did not receive an IPv6 connection to the internet
• Fixed Independent port sharing (UPnP) for the same port with various home network devices did not work under certain circumstances
• Fixed In some circumstances active WireGuard® connections were interrupted when adding or deleting WireGuard® connections
• Fixed VPN connections via WireGuard® to an endpoint given as multiple (comma separated) domains could not be established

Wi-Fi:

• Changed For improved compatibility with older wireless devices, security settings can be adjusted on the “Wi-Fi > Security” page
• Changed Text reference to selection of “WPA2 + WPA3” Wi-Fi encryption removed
• Fixed Display of Wi-Fi properties of a registered wireless device was in rare cases incorrect
• Fixed When 5-GHz channels were checked for radar (DFS), no wait cursor was displayed under these channels in the user interface
• Fixed Repeaters that were logged into the guest network were not marked as “Wi-Fi guests”

Home Network:

• Changed Recommendation to enable the automatic update search at the bottom of the Mesh Overview page

System:

• Changed The link generated by “Forgot Password” push service in the email is valid for 20 minutes
• Fixed After results of functional diagnostics were sent, an event message about changed FRITZ!Box settings was displayed
• Fixed The “Live TV” button for Magenta TV streaming was missing in the user interface when displayed on smartphones and tablets

USB/Media Server:

• Fixed Files in a folder on the highest level of a file tree could not be moved, copied, or deleted via FTP
• Fixed In certain constellations, access to NAS contents via download link was not possible