After the successful launch of the Freebox Ultra, Free is upgrading its Freebox Pop into a new fiber version which benefits from several notable improvements. The old model remains in the catalog, but just for ADSL.
At the end of January 2024, Free created an event by presenting its latest Internet box: the Freebox Ultra. A high-end model, available in two versions, with or without a streaming service pack. which immediately established itself as the most complete box in terms of technologies and services available to date in France (see our article). But the operator still had a few surprises in store, notably a new version of the Freebox Pop which presents several interesting improvements… but not for everyone.
Freebox Pop 2024: Wi-Fi 7 for the fiber version
As revealed by technical documents relating to the new Freebox Pop vintage 2024, published in error on the Free site at the beginning of February and which had leaked on Twitter (alias X) before being withdrawn by the operator, the Wi- Fi 7 is not reserved for the Freebox Ultra and the new Pop model also benefits from the latest wireless communication protocol standard. However, unlike the Ultra, the Freebox Pop 2024 does not manage the new 6 GHz frequency band and must make do with the classic 2.4 and 5 GHz. Performance will therefore be less good than with the Freebox Ultra, but still higher than that of the “classic” Pop because the 5 GHz channel of Wi-Fi 7 uses a bandwidth of 320 MHz and a 4096QAM type modulation then that Wi-Fi 6 is limited to 160 MHz and 1024QAM. In principle, the Wi-Fi speed of the new Pop would be doubled.
No improvement however on the fiber side, the maximum speeds will be much lower than with the operator’s high-end box: up to 5 Gbit/s in reception and 700 Mbit/s in sending for Pop, where the Freebox Ultra promises symmetrical speeds of up to 8 Gbit/s. No problem, no frustration, the 5 Gbit/s downstream is already more than sufficient for daily use, even in the case of intensive family use, with several 4K video streams. Another welcome new feature, a physical on-off switch appears on the Pop’s case and allows it to be turned off or restarted more quickly. Finally, a hanging system for wall mounting is added to the lower part of the box, in order to be able to connect the box as close as possible to the optical termination socket (PTO) of its housing.
On the other hand, this 2024 version of the Freebox Pop confirms the inexorable, and forced, advance of the operator towards all fiber optics, with the regrettable disappearance of the ADSL socket. Like the Freebox Ultra, this new model is therefore reserved only for subscribers with optical fiber in their home. If this technology is obviously the natural and desirable evolution of wired telecommunications networks in France, its deployment for all users is still far from being completed, notwithstanding the latest figures from operators and Arcep, which only give a macroscopic vision and completely avoid a large number of particular situations. And contrary to popular belief, residents of rural, isolated or difficult-to-access areas are not the only ones to be deprived of this technology, many homes in very dense urban areas are not yet connected, either due to lack of interest from operators for certain popular cities, or by refusal of owners to have optical fiber installed in their building, to the detriment of their tenants.
Fortunately, the operator is not abandoning its private fiber optic customers in the open countryside, and continues to market the “classic” Freebox Pop equipped with an ADSL input but lacking the improvements of the new model and in particular Wi-Fi 7, which is not really a problem in itself, the good old copper network is in any case not capable of providing sufficient speeds to take advantage of the potential of the new wireless protocol standard.
For the moment, only new customers of the operator can order the new Freebox Pop 2024 edition, but according to the information obtained by the Univers Freebox site, the operator will soon allow current Freebox Pop subscribers to exchange their model for the new version… for a fee of 49 euros. A particularly high price for a gain perhaps not so interesting immediately, devices compatible with Wi-Fi 7 are just starting to arrive on the market and are still rare in homes.
Freebox Player: a new TV box for the Freebox Ultra
During the Freebox Ultra presentation conference, one element caught some observers’ attention: the absence of a TV box dedicated to the new box. For the moment, subscribers who turn to the new Freebox Ultra offer will have to “settle” for the Pop Player, i.e. the TV box included in the Freebox Pop offer. In an interview granted to the Univers Freebox sitethe boss of Free returns to this notable absence and explains it in particular by the evolution of the viewing habits of subscribers, who now use their smartphone or connected television more to access video content.
The need to renew the Freebox TV box was therefore not urgent and the teams therefore focused instead on the development of the new Freebox Ultra Server. Nevertheless, Xavier Niel confirms that a new Player is indeed under development, with a desired release for spring 2024, but specifying that the project seems to have fallen far behind schedule and will certainly be postponed further into the year.