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Checked 13 September 2026

Zen Internet router settings: FRITZ!Box login, Wi-Fi, port forwarding and using your own router

Everything Zen and AVM actually publish about the FRITZ!Box 7530 AX admin pages, the eero on Full Fibre Max, and the connection settings you need for a router of your own. Where a figure isn't published, I say so rather than guess.

By Chris, a paying Zen Internet customer · offer and prices checked 13 September 2026

Wi-Fi 6 router on a wooden table next to a laptop

How do I log in to the Zen FRITZ!Box?

Zen's own guides use the router's IP address; AVM's documentation adds the friendlier hostname. Both work as long as you're connected to the router by Wi-Fi or ethernet.

  1. Turn the router over. The “FRITZ!Box Password” is printed on the label on the underside.
  2. In a browser, open http://192.168.178.1 (Zen's guides) or http://fritz.box (AVM's guide). AVM lists http://169.254.1.1 as the fallback address if the usual ones don't load.
  3. Enter the password and click Log In. There's no username to fill in on the login page.

One catch from AVM's notes: devices connected to the guest Wi-Fi are blocked from the admin pages, so log in from your main network. Forgotten the password after changing it? Zen's factory-reset guide covers the “Forgot your password?” route, but it wipes your settings.

Changing the admin password

  1. Log in, then choose System in the left menu.
  2. Open the FRITZ!Box Users tab.
  3. Click the edit pen next to the saved user, set a new password (Zen recommends one the router rates “Very Strong”) and click Apply.

Changing the Wi-Fi name and password

  1. Log in and choose Wi-Fi, then Wi-Fi Network.
  2. Type a new name into “Name of the Wi-Fi network (SSID)” and click Apply. AVM warns that every device is disconnected when the name changes, so you re-join them all afterwards.
  3. For the password, go to Wi-Fi then Security, change the Network Key box and click Apply.

Guest Wi-Fi

  1. Go to Wi-Fi then Guest Access.
  2. Tick “Guest access enabled” and pick a mode: a private guest network with its own SSID, encryption (Zen suggests WPA2+WPA3) and network key, or a public hotspot with just a name.
  3. Optional extras on the same page: a captive-portal login screen, automatic disconnect after a set time, letting guest devices talk to each other, and restricting guests to browsing and email only. Click Apply.

Port forwarding on the FRITZ!Box

AVM calls it “port sharing”. It needs a public IPv4 address on the WAN side, which Zen gives you (see the static IP section below). Steps from AVM's 7530 AX guide:

  1. Go to Internet, Permit Access, then the Port Sharing tab.
  2. Click Add Device for Sharing and pick the device from the list (or enter its IP address manually).
  3. Click New Sharing, choose Port Sharing, and select Other application.
  4. Give it a name, choose the protocol (TCP, UDP, ESP or GRE), fill in Port to device and Port requested externally (IPv4) (a range is allowed), enable it and click Apply.

If the game or app supports UPnP, AVM's guide also describes automatic port sharing, which saves doing this by hand.

Does Zen give you a static IP?

Yes. Zen's home-working page says a static IP is “free with every Zen connection” and I found no add-on to buy or request for it. You can read your address in the customer portal: My Services, the arrow next to your service, then Technical Details, where it's listed as WAN/IPv4 Address. The same page holds the PPP username and password you need for a third-party router. One honest caveat: in early 2024 Zen migrated many customers to new static addresses (ISPreview covered it), so “static” means fixed day to day, not guaranteed forever.

Using your own router with Zen

Zen publishes the settings openly on its “General Settings for a Non-Zen Router” page. Every Zen service uses PPP with your username and password — Zen doesn't use DHCP/IPoE on the WAN.

  • Openreach Full Fibre (FTTP): PPPoE, no VLAN. Zen's FRITZ!Box guide is explicit that “VLAN Enabled” stays unticked.
  • CityFibre Full Fibre: PPPoE with VLAN ID 911.
  • FTTC / SoGEA (VDSL): PPPoE with VLAN ID 101.
  • ADSL: PPPoA, no VLAN.
  • Username format: Zen's examples show zen123456@zen; the real one is in the portal under Technical Details.
  • DNS: Zen lists 212.23.3.100 and 212.23.6.100 (any public resolver works too).
  • MTU: not published by Zen, so I won't quote one.

On Full Fibre the router's WAN port plugs into the ONT's ethernet port. If you ever reset a Zen-supplied FRITZ!Box, the manual settings Zen publishes are: Internet Service Provider “Zen Internet”, connection “Via an external modem”, VLAN off (or 911 on CityFibre), Upstream and Downstream both 1000, and “Maintain permanently” ticked. Zen's guide plugs the ONT into LAN1 on the FRITZ!Box for this setup. Keep the Zen router in a drawer regardless — see the router guide for why.

eero Pro 6E on Full Fibre Max

The eero is managed entirely from the eero app; there's no browser admin page. Zen's setup guide has you plug the ONT into a 2.5 Gb port on the eero, wait for the light to go from flashing white to solid blue, then create your network in the app. If the app reports it “can't reach the internet”, Zen's fix is Internet Settings, WAN Type, PPPoE, then your Zen username and password (on CityFibre, also enable Uplink VLAN and enter 911). After setup the same options live under Settings, Network Settings, ISP Settings.

eero's own support pages list what you can change: IP reservations and port forwarding (Settings, Advanced networking, Reservations & port forwarding), custom DNS, UPnP, IPv6, PPPoE and VLAN tagging. What you can't do is the FRITZ!Box-style deep configuration, and Zen notes the eero doesn't work with its digital voice service. If you want the multi-gig speed but hate app-only routers, that's worth weighing against Full Fibre 900.

Does Zen support IPv6?

Yes, but it isn't switched on by default. Zen's help page says to request “free activation” via the chat button in My Account, or under My Services, your internet service, then Request IPv6 Address. Once you get confirmation, power-cycle the router and it configures itself; Zen says its own routers are ready for it, and to check a third-party router supports IPv6 before asking. Zen doesn't state the prefix size on that page, so I haven't either. Problems go to IPv6@zen.co.uk, with a two-working-day response promised.

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Sources

Offer checked 13 September 2026

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