This Wednesday, April 6th, in the early hours of the morning, Orange will present its new Livebox, the sixth. If the 5th seems new to you, it’s because time flies, the current generation was presented in the fall of 2019.
On this occasion, Orange had surprised by leaving the Wi-Fi 6 aside. This capacity was proposed a second time using an optional WiFi 6 repeater.
This wireless connection standard has since spread a bit more and the new box should offer WiFi 6E among its key new features. Orange’s Spanish and Polish subsidiaries have already tested this feature, as this feature is included in Livebox 6 and Funbox 6 in these two countries.
Thanks to indiscretions from beta testers, many details about the future French box had already leaked out at the end of last year: RJ45 port with 2.5 Gb/s (LAN, for the local network), four additional 1 Gb/s ports , return of a (touch) screen on the front, etc.
Orange: first Livebox 6 in test and first features revealed 🆕
A Livebox 6 whose design would also take a step away from the previous style and which can be summed up as “a black plastic box”. A format suitable for flat and vertical installation was mentioned, as well as sides covered with a cloth-like material.
This is confirmed by this image transmitted by Orange, which shows only part of the box. Incidentally, we suspect a button with a moon symbol in the lower part of the image, perhaps to manually interrupt the WLAN or switch to standby mode.
Orange will announce its new Livebox on April 6th at 9am. The first photo published by the operator shows a device that looks like a speaker. Find out fast! #livebox6 pic.twitter.com/mWOpui9ipk
— Nicolas Lellouche (@LelloucheNico) March 30, 2022
Update 6:30 p.m. — Without waiting for April 6th, Next Inpact released the first details – and a first visual – of the Livebox 6. It would be a box, codenamed “Safran”, intended for fiber optic customers and in which there is no xDSL module. The device would integrate 4 x 1Gb/s ports and 1 x 2.5Gb/s RJ45 port. No repeater here, Wi-Fi 6 is available on the 2.5 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands, but everything would be set to use the 6 GHz band as well, i.e. for Wi-Fi 6E.
It seems it’s coming soon and that the optics needs a tease. So good… #livebox6 #Saffron For more details ▶️ https://t.co/eVFLe1CVcM pic.twitter.com/Ai6bg3IEQb
— David Legrand ☁️ ⌛ (@davlgd) March 30, 2022
An e-ink touchscreen appears to make the box easier to use and easier to access features. On the design side, the Livebox 6 looks “small but thick”, with fabric on the sides.