Why Microwave Fixed Wireless Internet is Better than Fiber or Cable

In today’s world, your business is only as good as your internet service provider because as a recent survey reported, the costs to enterprise organizations when it comes to internet downtime is a whopping $100,000 per hour. No matter how large a company, that’s just too much money to lose.

As a result, business decisions tied to choosing a commercial internet services provider are critical. However, from cable companies to traditional fiber connections, to cellular, satellite and microwave, it can be daunting to begin researching in order to determine which solution is best for your situation.

For many, fiber is still considered the crème de la crème of internet connectivity but as speed and reliability needs increase, more organizations are turning to microwave fixed wireless. Here’s why:

Increased reliability: Fiber networks traverse the earth either underground or overhead. Both are vulnerable to human error especially when construction happens near or inside your location. Think about summer construction season and the increase of backhoes digging where they think it’s safe, or cherry pickers and roadside tree trimmers grazing overhead fiber lines. One wrong move and if your internet services provider doesn’t have built in redundancy - the internet is down, the clock is ticking, and the dollars are adding up – fast. Wireless internet over microwave is immune to these hazards which relieves a top source of outages.

Decreased latency: In layman’s terms, latency is the time it takes from clicking a link to when you see results. The number of hops your request takes as it pings a server and returns, causes latency, which is measured in milliseconds (ms). The more hops, the higher the latency and even a small decrease in latency can make a significant impact on user experience. Wired internet services such as Cable and Fiber show latency numbers in the 40 – 70ms range. Wireless internet over microwave is gaining notoriety as a better solution because there are less hops and latency is extremely low (2 – 5ms).

Increased speed: The way we conduct business is transforming – fast. As technology evolves, every aspect of our highly connected work and personal lives follow suit. It’s a challenge to keep up when the next new SaaS platform, video, social media, and yet to be invented bits and bites are coming soon to a cloud near you. If we’re honest, the reality is; our appetite for bandwidth is insatiable and it’s not slowing down. To meet these needs, businesses have to be able to easily scale from Mbps to Gbps without losing reliability. Fixed wireless over microwave can accommodate.

Decreased deployment times: On a good day, from planning to turning up services, new fiber installations typically take months. Most businesses don’t have months to wait; they’re racing against the clock. They need reliable internet right now. Deployments of internet over microwave is a matter of surveying and with an all-clear, the equipment can be installed in a matter of days and in an emergency, technicians can turn up services in a matter of hours.

No jitter: Packet delay as information traverses the internet doesn’t typically cause issues when using it for data. However, Voice Over IP (VOIP) is another story. Most of us have experienced this first hand and those who haven’t are probably using a microwave fixed wireless internet connection where jitter is non-existent.

The benefits of wireless over microwave vs. fiber, cable, cellular and satellite are significant especially when your company can’t afford downtime. For more information about our services and capabilities, contact us.