Telecom companies across the world are now focussing on Fixed Wireless Access which will enable ultra-high-speed data transfer without the use of wires. You can think of it as a high-speed broadband connection without the need for an optic fiber cable. As per a report in “Mobility Report” by Ericsson, FWA connections are likely to grow to 300 million by 2028 and the majority of them will be based on 5g mmwave. With more and more deployment of FWA broadband, people want to know more about it, especially how it differs from traditional mobile wireless broadband. This article is a sincere attempt to explain the key differences in both of them.

Range

There are parts of the world where connectivity by fiber, or even through copper is a capital-intensive task that often requires permission from the local administration. FWA eliminates this problem by providing a point-to-point connection that provides speed at par with the wired broadband connection. With the use of 4G and 5G spectrum, the speeds can even compete with fiber broadband. Rural areas and difficult terrains can immensely benefit from FWA as wire laying is often challenging in those areas.

Reliability and location Access

The FWA broadband is great for providing high-speed internet and reliability but its main disadvantage is in being location-specific, unlike mobile broadband where users can get decent speeds while moving around a city. It has also to be noted that any obstruction in the line of sight in FWA can potentially hamper the speeds of the signal which is usually not the case in mobile broadband. The weather conditions can also have a brief impact on the FWA speeds.

Cost-effectiveness

FWA plans have the potential to be more cost-effective for the provider and the subscriber as the need to lay down wires is eliminated.

Speed

FWA broadband was introduced in the market as an alternative to wireline broadband and therefore, its speeds are almost similar to it, which usually means superior download speeds as opposed to mobile data download. You can replace your wireline broadband connection with FWA without compromising on download speeds and latency.

Bandwidth Upgrade

In the case of mobile internet, you are always dependent on the telecom provider for bandwidth, however, in the case of FWA, you can always upgrade the bandwidth depending on the usage. Usually, data caps are extremely high in FWA as compared to mobile wireless Internet.