Though FWA is a relatively new technology, with the rapid growth of 5G in recent years, its deployments have reached new heights. We are living in a digital era where each of us is connected via the internet. Today, access to reliable and high-speed internet is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
With the rise of fixed wireless access, the world has witnessed a drastic shift from traditional wired internet solutions to a blend of flexibility and performance. This shift has also affected the rural landscape of the internet, where traditional broadband infrastructure is limited or missing.
Traditional internet solutions fail to prove their efficiency in rural areas due to their high cost and difficulty of installation. Fixed wireless internet is an ideal solution for rural connectivity needs. Now, before moving ahead, we’ll quickly review the challenges rural areas are facing in the context of internet connectivity.
A stable and high-speed internet connection has been a dream for rural residents. For decades, DSL and fiber internet connections have been the most common rural internet options. Over time, cellular data has also gained popularity due to 4G and 5G technology. However, there are certain scenarios where these technologies fail to bridge the digital gap. These include:
Lack of infrastructure, such as cables or fiber-optic lines
The unaffordable cost of broadband infrastructure in these areas.
The difficulty of connecting remote or hard-to-reach locations.
Low population density and geographical features of rural areas also hinder the deployment of wired connections in rural areas, resulting in slow speeds, frequent outages, and limited online access. Altogether, these factors create a digital desert that limits the residents from taking advantage of the benefits that come with high-speed connectivity.
To make it simple, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is a type of internet connection that relies on radio signals to deliver high-speed broadband internet access to homes and businesses.
Fixed wireless access eliminates the need of cables to transmit data. It is a very useful way that connect your homes or business with fast, secure, and wireless internet connectivity, even in remote areas.
So, how does it work?
FWA has a base station that’s connected to a fixed network and is typically equipped with powerful transmitters and receivers. This station is like a hub, and it’s connected to many smaller units spread out over a wide area. These smaller units are called subscriber units. They’re like little receivers that pick up the radio waves from the big station.
Now, the base station sends out radio waves, that are carrying data to these smaller units. The smaller units catch these messages and use them to connect to the internet. In this way, FWA allows users to access high-speed internet via radio signals between a base station and subscriber units.
ISPs install an outdoor antenna called customer premise antenna (CPA) on your building. This antenna receives radio signals from the nearest wireless base station. It connects an indoor customer premise equipment (internal router) via a standard ethernet cable, and you can connect any device to the router to access the internet. That’s how the FWA system works!
As discussed earlier, living in rural areas brings its own set of challenges, particularly in accessing reliable internet connectivity. Traditional broadband connections are often missing or limited in these areas. With the evolution of 5G or 4G-LTE, fixed wireless access is now bridging the digital divide between rural and urban areas. Let’s quickly walk through some major benefits of Fixed wireless internet access for rural areas.
Fixed wireless technology is all about speed and simplicity. Instead of digging trenches and burying cables in rural terrains, it is a challenging and time-consuming job. FWA can be employed quite swiftly by installing base stations within a range of homes and businesses. From there, anyone within a reasonable distance can connect to the internet. Even if providers want to extend their reach, it’s much quicker, cheaper, and simpler compared to other internet options. This rapid and pocket-friendly deployment allows rural areas to benefit from high-speed wireless internet.
Fixed wireless access is an innovative spectrum of 4G and 5G connectivity. It provides a broad coverage range compared to DSL or fiber internet. To make things simple, think of a 4G mobile phone network that commonly uses macrocells to serve its users. Each cell can send signals to a maximum distance of, e.g., 500 meters in dense urban environments, but in rural areas, it reaches all the way up to 10-15 km. Similarly, 4G or 5G FWA works in rural areas. The base station emits strong radioactive signals that can quickly reach a large number of users within several miles, providing extended coverage of fast wireless rural internet access.
Fixed wireless access is an innovative spectrum of 4G and 5G connectivity. It provides a broad coverage range compared to DSL or fiber internet.
To make things simple, think of a 4G mobile phone network that commonly uses macrocells to serve its users. Each cell can send signals to a maximum distance of, e.g., 500 meters in dense urban environments, but in rural areas, it reaches all the way up to 10-15 km. Similarly, 4G or 5G FWA works in rural areas. The base station emits strong radioactive signals that can quickly reach a large number of users within several miles, providing extended coverage of fast wireless internet access in rural areas.
Fixed wireless access is fast, affordable, and performs really well in rural regions. When we compare FWA with satellite and mobile broadband connections, fixed wireless access remains at the top. It even beats fiber internet with its high speeds of up to 1000Mbps. This super-fast speed makes it the perfect choice for education, entertainment, and businesses, even in extremely remote places. The best thing is that it does not need any wired structures, so the beauty of rural areas will stay alive.
With the evolution of 5G and 4G-LTE technology, fixed wireless access (FWA)is now the best choice for rural areas. It is a valuable tool that can help ISPs extend broadband coverage to remote areas without any fear of harsh weather or geographical features.
With its high speeds and low latency features, fixed wireless access is ready to go head-to-head with satellite and fiber connections. As 97% of the world population now falls within the range of a mobile cellular signal, 5G FWA is the future of connectivity. It’s all about connectivity at high speed!
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