Fixed Wireless vs. LTE

We often get asked “What’s the difference between WIRUlink’s Fixed Wireless and LTE?”. While both services make use of wireless technologies, there is a fairly large difference between the two. Let’s explore some pros and cons of each.

Fixed Wireless does not use LTE GSM technologies. A radio is installed on your roof, directly pointed at one of the towers servicing your area.

See a short explainer video about WIRUlink Fixed Wireless at https://youtu.be/RQbOZ2lNI3c.

Mobile / LTE Pros:

• It’s mobile. You are able to take your router along with you on your travels.
• Because it works with a mobile router and SIM card, you normally do not require any costly specialist onsite installation to get connected.
• The mobile operators have thousands of towers throughout South Africa to offer coverage in and around most cities, towns and major roads.

Mobile / LTE Cons:

• You are not guaranteed a certain minimum speed.
• Speed varies from area to area and time of the day, week or year because of shifting usage patterns and users moving around on the network.
• Services are shaped at all times or during peak times (18:00 PM to 23:00 PM) causing certain services to not work optimally.
• Your services are capped or throttled. Once you reach your cap, you are normally completely disconnected and need to fork out more money to buy data.
• Data packages have become increasingly more expensive.
• When you are experiencing problems, it is almost impossible to get proper personalised technical support, or even get through to a technical support desk person at all, thus troubleshooting will need to be done yourself via Google search.

WIRUlink Fixed Wireless Pros:

• Fixed wireless guarantees a certain speed on the package that you select. If you do not get the promised speed, there is a technical problem that needs to be fixed by our team.
• Services do not get capped, shaped or throttled, even during peak hours.
• Fixed Wireless has a very low contention ratio, meaning that you do not share your service and bandwidth with countless other users.
• Fixed wireless is available in many rural areas where there is no other fast and reliable uncapped internet infrastructure.
• Fixed Wireless offer a constant, very low latency, making it perfect for real-time applications and online gaming.
• Towers are already powered with backup power solutions to stay online during load shedding or power outages.
• Our towers are not susceptible to theft vandalism as we have 24/7/365 monitoring and armed response at all towers. Our telephonic, remote and onsite support are matched by no other network provider. When signing up for our Fixed Wireless, you can be assured that you will be taken care of.

WIRUlink Fixed Wireless Cons:

• This solution is unfortunately not a mobile solution and is a fixed installation at a specific address.
• The hardware and service can only be installed onsite by one of our Authorised Installers, but gives our peace of mind for the quality and reliability of the service for many years to come.
• The service requires a clear LOS (line of sight) to the tower you are connecting to. Therefore trees and buildings between you and one of our towers could prevent you from having the outdoor radio installed at the visually desired location on your roof.

Fixed wireless services are an ideal solution for both home and business users. It offers high bandwidth and low latency, making it an appropriate choice for activities such as online gaming, video streaming, online meetings and more.

Mobile / LTE networks, however, keep you connected on the go for more simple tasks such as using mobile applications and surfing the web. Just be sure to keep track of how much data you are using each month, as additional data can be expensive.

Many people opt for both fixed wireless and mobile / LTE services. Fixed wireless has them covered while they are at home or work, during which they do their heavy bandwidth activities. They then use a mobile / LTE service to keep their mobile devices connected when on the move.

If fast internet connection with no data cap sounds good to you, consider using a fixed wireless connection from WIRUlink at https://www.wiru.co.za/wireless.