Fritz!Box7430 capped at 22Mb/s

Installing and Using OpenWrt Network and Wireless Configuration
1

OpenWRT version 23.05.3

I've bought the Fritz!Box7430 because it seemed to have full compatibility,

but the DSL connection is capped at 22Mb/s.
Is it something with vectoring?

I want to get the 100Mb/s.

DSL Status
Line State: Showtime with TC-Layer sync
Line Mode: G.993.2 (VDSL2, Profile 17a)
Data Rate: 22.159 Mb/s / 1.486 Mb/s
Noise Margin: 6.2 dB / 7.6 dB

image removed

DSL Config:
Annex B + VDSL2
Tone B+B
Encapsulation mode PTM
line mode VDSL

Or is it because i need to set Downstream SNR offset to 60 instead of 0 ?

config interface 'lan'
	option device 'br-lan'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '192.168.1.1'
	option netmask '255.255.255.0'
	option ip6assign '60'

config device
	option name 'dsl0'
	option macaddr 'xxxxxx'

config interface 'wan'
	option proto 'pppoe'
	option device 'dsl0.7'
	option username 'Hinternet/xxxxxx-xxx@de-access.de'
	option password 'xxxxxxxxxxx'
	option ipv6 'auto'

config interface 'wan6'
	option device '@wan'
	option proto 'dhcpv6'
	option reqaddress 'try'
	option reqprefix 'auto'
	option peerdns '0'
	list dns '2620:fe::fe'
	list dns '2620:fe::9'
2

Likely. You seem to be from Germany so you need a vectoring capable firmware, otherwise your modem will be put into the non-vectoring fall-back VDSL2 profile, which only uses the first 512 carriers (up to ~2.2 MHz).
But please install @janh's excellent go-dsl (binaries here) and take a screenshot of the resulting window (please check both checkboxes: "Show minimum/maximum" and "Auto-scale graphs"). That way we can look at the spectra to confirm my hypothesis.
Or if you installed luci-mod-dsl (maybe:opkg update ; opkg install luci-mod-dsl) just post screenshots of the Stats and Spectrum pages from the Luci-GUI's Status -> DSL Status page...

1 Like
4

Yes the hardware supports it, but it is only used if the firmware is configured/compiled to use vectoring. I believe this was/is a licensing issue, but I do not know for a fact. Anyway the fact that SNR and bitloading spectra end sharp after carrier 512 confirms my suspicion, you need a vectoring capable firmware blob.
Maybe from here:

or try this (if you trust me):

copy it on the router and add a line to the dsl section in /etc/config/network:
option firmware '/etc/config/vr9-B-dsl.fb7490-07.28-5.9.1.4.0.7.bin'
replace /etc/config/with the actual path you copied it to...

After the next reboot, please post the dsl-mod output again. Personally, I prefer go-dsl, but for this purpose dsl-mod was just as useful.

5

I dont want to use unofficial firmware from strangers, i've tried a firmware from xdarklight.github.io and set

config dsl 'dsl'
	option annex 'b'
	option tone 'b'
	option ds_snr_offset '0'
	option xfer_mode 'ptm'
	option line_mode 'vdsl'
	option firmware '/etc/config/xcpe_579906_574402.bin'

but it didnt fix it.

When i got the router, i saw on the openwrt page that super vectoring isnt supported, so i though normal vectoring must be if not stated otherwise, but i guess even just normal vectoting isnt supported..

i thought it should work out of the box.

guess i will just use it at 22Mb/s then.

6

From the filename, it sounds like you picked the exact firmware file that is already included with OpenWrt. This one doesn't support vectoring.

Instead, you need to choose a firmware file that is listed with the application types "VDSL over ISDN incl. vectoring support" and "ADSL Annex B" in the table. For example, "5.9.1.4.0.7-5.9.0.D.0.2" would be a good choice. That is the latest version that AVM themselves use in their firmware. The download link is currently broken, but you should be able to just extract it from the latest version instead (i.e. FRITZ.Box_7430-07.31.image).

After you installed the correct firmware file, it would also be a good idea to add the path to /etc/sysupgrade.conf, so it is kept during OpenWrt system upgrades.

2 Likes
7

Oh Very good! so i can just extract the newest blob if the link is down, good.

Will try that, and if it doesnt work it probably cuz i need the ISP the deactivate fall-back mode again, but will see maybe it works instantly. Thank you everyone.

8

you should be able to just extract it from the latest version instead (i.e. FRITZ.Box_7430-07.31.image).

how can i extract/unpack the .image file?
error: archive type not supported, when unpacking.
im on linux

9

Did you try the instructions on the firmware page next to the version I mentioned? (You can skip the bspatch step, "vr9-B-dsl.bin" is already the file you need.)

1 Like
10

That solved it! Thank you so much!

Data Rate is now 116Mb/s instead of 22Mb/s.

But when doing a speedtest on my computer (connected via lan and CAT5e cable) i now get up to 47Mb/s compared to the 20Mbs i got before, but i was expecting to get about 100Mbs to the clients now. any idea how the get the 100 the router receives to the clients that are connected?

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11

So when I was trying to use an old xrx200 device as all in one OpenWrt router, I failed to reliably achieve 50 Mbps (with firewall, nat, wifi, and sqm) as this generation of SoCs is a bit weak on the CPU side.
I then configured the xrx200 to act as bridged modem and attached a more powerful device as router behind it. In that configuration I could achieve ~100 Mbps download rates.

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12

I could get the bthub5a up to 82-85 MBit/s without software flow-offloading and all the way (synced link speed 94 MBit/s) with software flow-offloading enabled. However, I never managed to get the easybox 904 xdsl beyond 65 MBit/s (even in smp configuration and with software flow-offloading enabled) - on the O² box 6431 SMP or no-SMP (but voice core enabled) made all the difference to go beyond 55 MBit/s.

All these tests have been conducted between 2017 and 2020 (so well before we got nftables or DSA support for lantiq), with VLAN tagging and PPPoE, but I can no longer repeat them (no longer using VDSL).

1 Like
13

I dont get it, the Fritz!Box 7430 with factory firmware archives 100Mbs, why would you say that it cant do so using OpenWRT because the SoC is a bit weak when it's the same in the factory firmware, shouldn't it even be faster with OpenWRT compared to factory OS because OpenWRT is less demanding than bloated factory firmware?

What is SMP and what is software flow offloading? should i activate these two?

Whats the best cheap router+modem for openwrt that can achive near 100Mbs?:

Whats the newest Fritz!Box that is compatible as a DSL (or cable) modem with about 100Mbs?

The router should support:

1TR112 der Deutschen Telekom, sowie VDSL2 Vectoring nach ITU-T G.993.5 und ITU G.993.2/.3, sowie die RFC 5072 (IPv6 über PPP), RFC 6333 und RFC 6334 (DS-Lite mit netzseitiger Vorgabe des AFTR mittels DHCPv6)

Or be one of the following:

FRITZ!Box 6890 LTE, FRITZ!Box 7360 SL, FRITZ!Box 7360 V1, FRITZ!Box 7360 V2, FRITZ!Box 7362 SL, FRITZ!Box 7369, FRITZ!Box 7390, FRITZ!Box 7412, FRITZ!Box 7430, FRITZ!Box 7490, FRITZ!Box 7510, FRITZ!Box 7520, FRITZ!Box 7530, FRITZ!Box 7530 AX, FRITZ!Box 7560, FRITZ!Box 7580, FRITZ!Box 7581, FRITZ!Box 7582, FRITZ!Box 7583, FRITZ!Box 7590, FRITZ!Box 7590 AX

I saw some people using Fritz!Box 7490 which is newer and has better SoC, but the Wiki/Doc is saying it is not compatible anymore..

14

It would be the 7530.

https://openwrt.org/toh/avm/avm_fritz_box_7530

For the 7490 there are snapshot images now.
The wiki is not quite up to date.
Check the firmware selector.
There are two variants though, based on the flash chip installed.

1 Like
15

Oh yeah, i remember wanting to use that Router but the problem was:

The “Typ B” model of the 7520 is not (yet?) supported. It uses the same SoC but a different DSL chipset.

How the heck can i check the model type before buying? i tried but didnt seem to be possible, cant buy the router if i dont know if it will work.

some models of the 7530 require a patch to enable the VDSL modem which is not yet included in any build

Where can i get that patch?

16

https://boxmatrix.info/
To make sense of all the variants, I found this quite helpful.

So if we are talking about 7520, it seems they first introduced this, which is supported by OpenWrt:
https://boxmatrix.info/wiki/FRITZ!Box_7520

And later they used the same case as the 7530 and a different VDSL chip:
https://boxmatrix.info/wiki/FRITZ!Box_7520_v2

1 Like
17

No, AVM will use all offload engines the SoC's SDK will offer to squeeze every last B/sec out of the hardware. Most of these offloads are proprietary and not supported by upstream Linux, so OpenWrt typically can not use those and hence needs to relay more on the SoC's CPU(s) and these often are simply nothing to brag about. Personally I consider OpenWrt's openness and configurability value enough to make up for any loss in throughput.
But realistically, in 2024 I would have aimed for a FB7530/7520 to use as OpenWrt router on a vdsl2 link, these have enough punch for a 100 Mbps link and are not that expensive if bought used. However installing OpenWrt on those is a bit trickier (but still doable for people capable and willing to read) and under these names there are now multiple models and only some can be used with OpenWrt.

SMP is symmetric multi processing, essentially more than a single CPU, but all CPUs are equivalent (identical or at least support the same instruction set). Software flow offload is a technique in Linux that helps reduce the per packet cost in the linux network stack. I believe by only piping the first packet(s) of a flow through the full stack and cache the forwarding decision and simply treat all other packets to the same forwarding decision without running them through the full stack. But I have not looked at the code so this might be off by a lot.

The set of vdsl modem-routers that support OpenWrt is really small, I believe essentially only some lantiq xrx200 and lantiq (intel/maxlinear) vrx500 are really suited, and as all-in-one routers essentially only the more modern vrx500 generation (so a few select model variants of the Fritzbox 7520 or 7530).

The 7490 is alsao just a xrx200 device with essentially the samer limitations of only achieving 100 Mbps reliably as bridged-modem. But the 7490 is not fully supported in OpenWrt due to its complicated architecture, where IIRC they did not use the lantiq WiFi but tacked on another WiFi chip.

I would go get one second hand (ebay or kleinanzeigen) if it is old enough it is likely variant A and I would make sure that it has the right look:
https://boxmatrix.info/wiki/FRITZ!Box_7520 (the correct 7520 one with the two finn-like wifo antennas)
and not the wrong look:
https://boxmatrix.info/wiki/FRITZ!Box_7520_v2 (the wrong 7520 with out the fin like antennas)

EDIT: I see that @dnd got the same information earlier, well played, Sir, well played :wink:

There is still a potential issue with incompatible flash chips, but I have no clue about diagnosing that.

2 Likes
18

For the 7490…

It’s described in the PR adding the support:
https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/5075

Installation:
Check which NAND the device has by using the following procedure with
stock firmware:
Go to to http://<fritzbox_ip>/support.lua, download the support data file
and search for string "NAND device" to get the manufacturer kernel output.
Use Micron image if Micron is displayed otherwise the non-Micron image.

19

Thanks, but that only helps after the fact and not before buying a 7520, or?
Still, great that there is a way to diagnose this!

20

Yes, you can only check with the device in your hand.
Either open the case.
Or try the method above.

1 Like
21

Ok, i will buy a 7530 or 7520.

But which one should i choose?

If i buy a 7530 i dont have to worry about getting the wrong model type but
"Some models of the 7530 require a patch to enable the VDSL modem which is not yet included in any build."

where is this patch, in case i need it..!?

or if i buy the 7520 it will definitely work but i have to buy the one with the antennas instead of the one without antennas.