Boost Your Connectivity Strategy with Wireless WAN Technology: A Guide to Optimizing Your Network Performance

Cellular is a valuable component of a robust enterprise network. Either for primary or failover connectivity, cellular excels due to its ease of deployment, affordable pricing, and flexibility. This blog post will cover wireless WAN use cases and value as well as details regarding the evolution of 5G.

What is Wireless WAN?

A wireless WAN utilizes cellular broadband as an essential component of WAN infrastructure connecting offices, stores, vehicles, and/or IoT devices at the network’s edge. Wireless WAN is advantageous because cellular broadband is highly reliable and cost-effective. Cellular networks are quick and easy to deploy and are also quite flexible, providing the ability to relocate routers when needed. 

Use Cases

Primary Connectivity

Cable and fiber broadband are great business internet options, they’re just not always available. Or, in order to get the service installed, a hefty construction fee may be required. It’s also possible your business does not need a long-term wireline solution, but rather something temporary. Enter cellular, the answer to your connectivity needs when either wireline is not available, or you just don’t need it. It is truly the ideal solution for –

• Remote locations lacking wireline options.
•  Seasonal or other short-term needs for connectivity.
• Temporary connectivity while awaiting wireline internet service delivery.

You may be wondering, what about unpredictable and/or high overage fees? The carriers offer unlimited or high data usage plans for primary use cases, so overage fees are not a concern.

Failover Connectivity

Internet is an imperative for business, we just can’t operate without it. And outages can result in significant loss to the bottom line. It is always worth deploying dual, redundant connectivity to protect your business, and cellular is a great option for failover. It is easy to deploy, truly diverse to the primary wireline, and cost-effective. The carriers offer usage-based plans and pricing, making cellular the best insurance policy you can invest in for your business connectivity.

Value

Day-1 Connectivity

Because physical lines are not required, cellular can be turned up like the flip of a switch. It’s as simple as shipping an activated cellular router to the site, installing it in the network, and voila it’s live.

Diverse High Availability

Again, because physical lines are not a variable, cellular is a truly diverse connection to the primary wireline. Cellular connectivity is very stable as it is not susceptible to the physical plant issues that impact wireline connectivity.

Zero Risk Investment

Unlike wireline internet, cellular is offered month to month without a required service term. This makes it ideal for primary or failover because there is zero financial risk to the business. If you no longer need it at a location, you can relocate it to another location or shut it down entirely without early termination fees. 

The 5G Evolution

The carriers have spent the past several years building out their 5G networks. The 5G that is currently available for business is not what you’ve seen in the commercials where thousands of people are streaming video at a concert. That flavor of 5G is referred to as mmWave or High-Band, and is currently available only in stadiums and parks. In general, the 5G that is available for business is considered non-standalone (5G NSA) which means there is a 5G radio on a tower that is connected to the carrier’s 4G LTE core. Depending on the area, performance is comparable between LTE and 5G NSA, with 5G NSA outperforming LTE in certain areas. That said, one of the three major US carriers does offer a mid-band 5G service which is great for primary connectivity. As the carriers continue to develop their 5G networks, cellular will become an even more compelling option for business. If you’ve not already, it would be a good idea to align yourself with a Managed Service Provider (MSP), like s2s, who remains abreast on carrier developments and can guide you appropriately as the 5G networks evolve. 

How can s2s Help you Manage your Wireless WAN?

s2s is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) that specializes in ISP aggregation and managed network services. As an ISP aggregator s2s serves as your business’s single point of contact for internet service, both wireline and wireless. s2s is ISP agnostic and always offers the best options that are available for your business. For wireless WAN solutions s2s provides the cellular plans, routers, installation and trouble resolution support. Contact us today if you’d like to chat about optimizing your network with a wireless WAN solution.