The operator Free, which already offers a fixed 4G box for customers who do not have a fixed offer, does not yet market a 5G equivalent. But all this will soon be a thing of the past.
You don’t want optical fiber at home, you don’t have access to it or do you generally find that your fixed connection does not live up to your expectations and/or your hopes? For several years, operators have all been offering small 4G pebbles (or keys) which allow you to enjoy a bit of Internet while you receive your fixed connection. Others are choosing to focus entirely on 4G and now fixed 5G, with dedicated boxes. If some operators have already taken the plunge to offer 5G boxes, Free remains behind here. But a message on social media changed everything.
Free currently only has a 4G box on landline, but the best is yet to come!
Questioned on February 19, 2024 by an Internet user, Tom, who asked if a date for the release of a possible 5G Free box offer was planned, the operator responded by inserting several rocket emoticons during takeoff into the conversation, as he has been doing for ages to tease its announcements for Freebox and others, most recently the Freebox Ultra. In other words: the file is on fire, where an exit is well planned, undoubtedly rapid (in 2024).
Free currently has a Huawei-branded Free 4G+ box available, without commitment, for 29.99 euros/month. Xavier Niel’s operator includes 250 GB per month, which allows you to benefit from all the usual uses, Internet, television and applications. And the downstream speed (downloading) can reach, depending on the area, up to 320 Mbit/s.
If you have 4G Free mobile antennas near your home and you do not benefit from optical fiber, the compromise is far from ridiculous, quite the contrary. But where does Free stand on the market compared to its historic competitors Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom?
Orange and Bouygues Telecom already have their fixed 5G box
On the Orange side, we find a slightly aging 4G Home (38.99 euros/month without commitment and up to 300 Mbit/s downwards), which has given way to a new generation 5G Home. This offers a theoretical maximum downstream speed of 615 Mbit/s in 5G 2.1 GHz, and 1 Gbit/s in 5G 3.5 GHz, that is to say in the core band of the technology, that what we call “real 5G”. It is quite expensive, of course, but does not limit the subscriber’s data (the connection sessions nevertheless last a maximum of 12 hours), and it is possible to complete it with a TV key or TV option. Orange for an additional 5 euros each month.
Bouygues Telecom also offers an Arcadyan brand 5G box. It is offered to customers at 40.99 euros/month, also without commitment, and promises speeds of up to 1.1 Gbit/s for downloading, and 58 Mbit/s for sending. Where Bouygues differs from Orange is that its offer directly includes the TV option via the B.tv application, with more than 70 channels. But the 5G network is not the same.
Free has a significant advantage over 5G
For its part, SFR only offers a 4G box at 34.99 euros/month, without commitment and limited to 200 GB per month, for speeds of up to 260 Mbit/s download and 50 Mbit/s upload. (sending). The SFR TV app is, on the positive side, included in the offer. And the company in the red square does offer a fixed 5G box, but intended for professionals only (up to 1.43 Gbit/s downwards, for 19 euros excluding tax per piece of equipment.
Free now has the technological assets and financial power to also disrupt this more confidential but growing market. Even if it has a speed disadvantage, the Iliad group has a major advantage: its excellent coverage of the 5G territory, which it built by relying on antennas initially… 4G.
Sources: Free, via X.com, Freebox universeClubic
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