Free is no longer alone on high-end boxes. The operator has just lifted the veil on the Bbox Wifi 7, its new box which does not replace the model launched in 2022 (limited to Wi-Fi 6E) but which completes the offer. This will be officially marketed on January 27 from 44.99 euros per month (12-month commitment), then 51.99 euros per month. This offer, slightly cheaper than that of the Freebox Ultra, nevertheless arrives without the content integrated into the Free offer (Disney+, Netflix, Prime video, etc.). However, Bouygues believes it holds a unique card in its hand, with which Free cannot compete: real Wi-Fi 7.
Moreover, the general director of Bouygues Telecom did not hold back from tackling his rival from the first minutes of the presentation: “our Box will have real Wi-Fi 7 and not partial Wi-Fi 7 as it can be the case elsewhere. By “elsewhere”, we must of course understand Free, whose Freebox Ultra arrived a few months before Wi-Fi 7 certification was made official.
Wi-Fi 7 box and certified tri-band repeater
In this sense, Bouygues Telecom is highlighting two specific features of its new box: WPA3, a reinforced encryption mechanism, but above all MLO (Multi Link Operation) transmission. For the operator's engineers, MLO is the flagship function of Wi-Fi 7 since it allows aggregation over two or three bands. To put it prosaically, when a terminal connects to a Bbox Wi-Fi 7 home network, it will automatically be allocated the best frequency based on its use at the time.
The other key argument of this Bbox Wi-Fi 7, compared to the Free offer, is its association with the first certified Wi-Fi 7 repeater. Here too, the notion of certification is important, at least for the operator who therefore indicates that this new accessory not only makes it possible to extend Wi-Fi coverage within a large home, but above all that it delivers a very high level of performance, even when it is far from the box. Thus, each Bbox can be associated with two tri-band repeaters (2.5 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz).
7 Gbit/s Wi-Fi and 8 Gbit/s symmetrical
For the rest, the new box comes in a design that was seen at the end of last year with a leak that caused a lot of talk. As usual, the operator favored a vertical format, ideal for placing the four antennas on the upper part. Another particularity: Bouygues has limited the connectivity to only three Ethernet ports. A risky choice given the target audience for this high-end box, but which the operator justifies in two ways. According to Bouygues, a large majority of users would be satisfied with fewer than three ports. Above all, better Wi-Fi performance would make it possible to gradually move away from traditional Ethernet use.
-In terms of performance, the new Bbox will therefore play in the same division as the Freebox Ultra, far ahead of rival boxes from Orange and SFR which should not present their new version until later in the year. It can boast of offering symmetrical 8 Gbit/s Fiber and Wi-Fi 7 of up to 7 Gbit/s.
Is this enough to respond to the Freebox Ultra and its plethora of content? Response from January 27, marketing date.
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