FRITZ!Box 7490 and Fitbit Aria Scales

Updating the FRITZ!Box 7490 from firmware version 6.30 to 6.52 causes the Aria scales to fail to establish a WIFI connection. No matter what you try the scales will not re associate with the router.

http://www.fitbit.com/scale/setup/start

Root Cause

During my troubleshooting I stumbled across the cause, I had already fingered the firmware update to the Fritz!Box as the culprit and was just about to downgrade the firmware to the older 6.30 when found the following support notice.

Since updating FRITZ!OS, wireless connections can no longer be established

Reading the KB article it was obvious what had caused the problem.

During the update procedure, the obsolete wireless standard 802.11b is automatically disabled in order to improve wireless performance in the 2.4 GHz frequency band.

The fitbit Aria scales just happen to be 802.11b.

Solution

To fix the problem is quite easy but the setting is hidden away in the Fritz!Box interface.

Enabling the wireless standard 802.11b

  1. Click "Wireless" ("WLAN") in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Radio Channel" in the "Wireless" ("WLAN") menu.
  3. Enable the option "Adjust radio channel settings".
  4. Click "Additional Settings".
  5. Select the standard "802.11n+g+b" from the "wireless standard 2.4-GHz" drop-down list.
  6. Click "Apply" to save your settings.

Now you are able to establish the wireless connection again.