Free is rolling out a new update aimed at reducing the electricity consumption of your Freebox through two methods, one of which… surprisingly hasn’t been exploited yet.
Free announced on February 9 the deployment of a new update to Freebox Server (4.7.4) mainly aimed at reducing the consumption of Freebox Revolution, Mini and Pop. In the absence of a drastic reduction in their consumption, the access provider is committed to a slightly improved energy sobriety by taking advantage of two methods, one of which affects only fiber subscribers: the total deactivation of the ADSL module, useless when a fiber optic connection is active.
As MacGeneration points out, we don’t know why this disablement wasn’t already in place. It is possible that an error is at the origin of this maintenance, or that Free has arbitrated to leave it activated for any software or hardware reason.
An Ethernet standard activated… for reduced consumption
The other focus of Free is to enable the IEEE 802.3az Ethernet standard, which you may already know aslow power ethernet (EEE). This solution allows you to disable an Ethernet port when it is not sending or receiving any data. The consumption of electrical energy is then reduced since, without the activation of this standard, the Ethernet ports are permanently powered.
However, it is difficult to accurately measure the impact of this measure on the total consumption of a box, especially since not all users will be able to benefit from it. Because if Free activates it for the majority of its subscribers, this IEEE standard can only be used if all your devices connected by Ethernet are compatible: be it your computer or any intermediate device (Ethernet switch, for example), emphasizes MacG. Then it will be necessary to verify if your devices can take advantage of it… and, if necessary, manually activate this function in the products in question.
However, be careful, these new features do not affect the Freebox Delta, which is, however, the most premium box currently in the Free catalog… and also the one that consumes the most energy, with a consumption close to that of a refrigerator, note our colleagues. A surprising decision when the Freebox Revolution, launched more than twelve years ago, is itself eligible.
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