A little less than four years ago, Free attacked the “pro” market and launched its Freebox Pro. It offered up to 7 Gb/s downlink and 1 Gb/s uplink, with specific guarantees. We then compared it to the competition's offers (Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR).
8 Gb/s symmetrical, 49.99 euros excluding tax per month
Today, the operator is back with its “new Freebox Pro”. Three axes are highlighted: “ ultra connectivity, cybersecurity and environmental responsibility “. The throughput thus increases to 8 Gb/s symmetrical, which is not exceptional in this area.
Indeed, alternative operators have long offered faster subscriptions up to 25 Gb/s for example (on dedicated fibers), but the prices are not the same. The new Freebox Pro is in fact 49.99 euros excluding VAT per month, with a reduction of 10 euros excluding VAT per month for one year, exactly like the first. The offer is always without obligation.
The ISP does not currently specify whether a migration from the old to the new offer is possible, nor under what conditions.
4G, Wi-Fi and 200 GB online backup
This box offers “ a backup link with an automatic 4G backup in order to provide continuity of service » (also available as an option for the general public). The ISP offers a “fair use” of 200 GB per month, with a reduced speed beyond that.
We also find Wi-Fi 7 MU-MIMO on 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz (with repeaters), an integrated IPv4/v6 firewall, and “ an innovative dual data protection solution, combining local storage and automatic synchronization of selected data in the cloud ”, with 200 GB of online storage included. Beyond that, count 2 euros excluding tax per 100 GB. Here again, this was already the case previously.
Connections include a 10 Gb/s SFP+ cage, four 2.5 Gb/s Ethernet ports (including one PoE), a USB Type-C port for power and a USB 3.0. Storage upgrades to PCIe (NVMe) with a 1TB M.2 2280 SSD included (the box offers two slots).
In short, in broad terms, the new Freebox Pro is a variation of the Freebox Ultra for professionals. Free also highlights a Qualcomm Networking Pro 820 processor (four cores at 2.2 GHz in both boxes) with 4 GB of memory.
Cyber Protect Essentiel analyzes “all flows passing through the Freebox Pro”
Free also highlights a cybersecurity solution: Cyber Protect Essentiel, in partnership with ITrust. She ” allows companies to benefit from an essential cybersecurity brick to protect themselves from malicious flows “. The operator explains that he “ supervises its entire network and analyzes all flows passing through customers' Freebox Pro 24/7 “. This goes through the Free Operations Center (or Security Operations Center, SOC), which is located in Paris and Toulouse.
With the help of artificial intelligence, its teams can “ detect threats in real time » and alert customers. In the event of an alert, they receive a precise diagnosis with suggested actions. Free claims to rely on “ a database of more than 4M malicious flow signatures, updated daily ».
On the environmental side, Free announces that its new box has “ a minimum lifespan of 10 years » and that energy consumption is reduced by 40% compared to the previous Freebox Pro. It has a “total sleep” mode, like the Freebox Ultra presented just a year ago. An on/off button is also present.
2 VoIP lines, a 5G mobile plan
As before, two VoIP landlines are included. Calls are included to mobiles in mainland France, overseas territories, Canada, China, Cyprus, South Korea, United States (and therefore not in Europe), as well as to landlines in more than 100 destinations. A Free Pro 5G mobile plan is also included in the offer at no extra cost (apart from a activation fee of 10 euros excluding VAT).
But be careful, it is less generous than the basic offer for the general public: 150 GB of data and 28 GB abroad (instead of 350 and 35 GB respectively). Other mobile plans can be subscribed to with a 50% reduction (9.99 euros excluding tax instead of 19.99 euros excluding tax).
Small additional costs
In the price brochure, the ISP specifies that up to three Wi-Fi Pro repeaters are made available for 20 euros excluding VAT each, that a second 1 TB NVME SSD can also be made available for 75 euros excluding VAT (it will be necessary return it at the end of your subscription, it is not a purchase).
The Freebox Pro 1U racking kit costs 45 euros excluding tax, the commissioning and termination fees are 50 euros excluding tax each. Free specifies that commissioning is offered “ if subscribing to an initial commitment period with an independent reseller partner “. A fixed IPv4 address is available on request, but “ subject to availability ».
Finally, “Essential Support” is included, with online assistance Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free claims to respond “ in less than 8 working hours ”, with if necessary a “ intervention on the Customer's site on D+1 (excluding non-working days and public holidays) ».
“Premium Support” is available for an additional 10 euros excluding tax per month. You are then entitled to a “ telephone access to an expert from Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (excluding public holidays) or incident reports/requests via the Customer Area and response in less than 2 working hours »as well as a “support service for getting started with the Freebox Pro at the Customer's request (1 call of 30 minutes, by appointment, within 2 months following commissioning) “. When the first Freebox Pro was launched, Premium support was 20 euros excluding tax per month.
