Rapid, Reliable Broadband Without Fiber
Fixed Wireless delivers high-speed broadband over point-to-point (PTP) and point-to-multipoint (PTMP) radio links—no trenching, no waiting for fiber builds. It’s ideal for hard-to-reach sites, fast turn-ups, construction trailers, pop-up/temporary operations, rural last-mile, and as a diverse underlay for SD-WAN or dual-path failover.
In the SolveForce Codex, Fixed Wireless lives in 🌐 Connectivity = Grammar, and composes cleanly with 🖧 Networks & Data Centers, ☁️ Cloud, 🔒 Cybersecurity, and 🤖 SolveForce AI.
🎯 Why Fixed Wireless (and When)
- Speed to service — days to weeks, not months. Perfect when you can’t wait for fiber.
- Diverse underlay — path diversity for dual-path SD-WAN (fiber + wireless) to raise availability. → SD-WAN
- Reach — service where fiber/coax/DSL don’t exist (rural, industrial, remote).
- Scalable throughput — from 100 Mb/s to multi-Gb/s depending on spectrum and link budget.
- Portable or semi-permanent — move radios or retarget a sector as needs change.
Choose Fixed Wireless when you need fast, deterministic links without construction—and keep it alongside fiber for resilience.
Compare with: Fiber Internet • Wavelength • Satellite Internet • MPLS
🧭 Service Options & Spectrum
We design Fixed Wireless using the right spectrum and topology for your site mix:
Topologies
- PTP (Point-to-Point) — dedicated shot (building↔data center, tower↔site) for low latency and high throughput.
- PTMP (Point-to-Multipoint) — hub-and-spoke sectors radiating to many Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) for cost-efficient multi-site access.
- 5G FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) — carrier 5G radios to the premise for rapid broadband (great as secondary/tertiary underlay).
Spectrum Classes
- Licensed (e.g., 6–42 GHz microwave; 70/80 GHz E-band) — predictable, protected channels; high capacity and low interference.
- Lightly-Licensed (CBRS 3.5 GHz) — Citizens Broadband Radio Service; PAL/GAA options balance performance with agility. → CBRS
- Unlicensed (5 GHz/6 GHz; 60 GHz V-band) — fast deployment; best for shorter LOS hops or dense campus backhaul.
- 5G/LTE — carrier FWA where licensed microwave isn’t feasible or as backup path. → Mobile Connectivity • Private LTE / 5G
👁️ LOS, NLOS & Fresnel Zones (What Matters in Reality)
- LOS (Line-of-Sight) — ideal for mmWave/E-band/V-band; minimal latency and high spectral efficiency.
- nLOS (near-Line-of-Sight) — works at mid-bands (e.g., 3.5 GHz CBRS) with some obstruction tolerance.
- Fresnel Zone clearance — ensure sufficient radius clearance to reduce diffraction and fades; more critical as distance increases.
- Rain fade — plan fade margin for mmWave (60/70/80 GHz) in high-rain regions; route diversity or lower-band backup mitigates.
Good survey → good link. We run predictive RF design and on-site surveys to validate LOS, heights, structural load, grounding, and MPE safety limits.
📈 Throughput, Latency & SLAs
Typical engineered results (actual depends on path length, spectrum, antennas, and local noise):
- Throughput tiers — 100–500 Mb/s (mid-band PTMP), 1–3 Gb/s (E-band PTP), with scalable channel widths/MCS levels.
- Latency — often ~1–5 ms PTP; PTMP adds sector scheduling; 5G FWA latency varies by carrier and load.
- Jitter/loss — engineered to <15% of one-way latency for jitter; loss <0.1% sustained.
- SLA — up to 99.9–99.99% availability depending on path diversity and protection.
We publish SLOs per transport class and monitor continuously via NOC.
🧱 Design Patterns
A) Primary Access (Where Fiber Can’t Reach)
- Licensed microwave (6–18 GHz) PTP for town↔plant or hub↔remote office; PTMP for farms, logistics yards, or municipal assets.
- CBRS PTMP (3.5 GHz) for broad coverage; scale sectors as subscriber density grows.
B) Dual-Path SD-WAN (Resilience First)
- Fiber + Fixed Wireless underlays; SD-WAN steers apps by loss/latency/jitter, and fails over instantly.
- Add 5G FWA as third path for tertiary resilience. → SD-WAN
C) Campus & Event Backhaul
- 60/70/80 GHz short PTP “patch cords” between buildings/tents/trailers; set up in hours; tear-down cleanly when done.
D) Edge & DC Interconnect (Short-Haul)
- Short E-band PTP for 1–3 Gb/s building↔colo runs where leased fiber is unavailable.
- For metro DCI beyond mmWave reach, jump to Wavelength or Lit Fiber.
🔐 Security Model (Built-In, Layered)
- On-radio encryption — typical AES-128/256 at L1/L2; optional MACsec where supported; overlay with IPsec as required. → Encryption
- Segmentation — 802.1Q VLANs, VRFs, and access-control lists; pair with Zero Trust at the edge. → Zero Trust • ZTNA
- Identity & posture — 802.1X/NAC for LAN ingress; device certificates via PKI; log/alert to SIEM/SOAR. → NAC • PKI • SIEM / SOAR
⚡ Power, Mounts & Facilities
- CPE power — PoE/PoE+ injectors or DC plants; surge suppression and proper bonding/grounding are non-negotiable.
- Mounting — rooftops, masts, wall mounts, or towers; validate wind load, pole deflection, and line-of-sight.
- Cabling — outdoor-rated, shielded Cat6A or fiber drops; drip loops, weatherproof glands, correct bend radius.
- Lightning & ESD — inline protectors near entry; NEC bond to ground bus; follow local code and structural sign-off.
🧪 Survey → Turn-Up: How We Deliver
- Desk RF study — path prediction, Fresnel clearance, heights, modulation targets, fade margin.
- On-site survey — LOS verification, azimuths, structure, grounding, access logistics.
- Design — spectrum plan, antenna gains, channel width, QoS profiles, security policy.
- Permits/Rights — rooftop rights, landlord approvals, local permits.
- Install — mounts, alignment (RSSI/SNR), weatherproofing, power, labeling.
- Acceptance — RFC-2544/Y.1564 tests; packet loss/jitter/latency baselines; photo docs and as-builts.
- Monitor — NOC onboarding, thresholds, SLA/SLO dashboards and alerts. → NOC
🧮 Link Budget & Fade Margin (Plain-English)
- Budget = Tx Power + Antenna Gains − Path Loss − Misc Losses (cables, connectors).
- Fade Margin = how much extra signal you have above the required threshold; helps ride out rain, snow, or foliage changes.
- Rule of thumb — target >20–30 dB margin for metro mmWave; scale with climate and distance.
🔗 Integrations & Overlays
- SD-WAN — app-aware steering across fiber/wireless; dynamic path control. → SD-WAN
- VPN — IPsec tunnels for branch backhaul; per-app ZTNA for users. → VPN Services • ZTNA
- Cloud on-ramps — combine Fixed Wireless with Direct Connect/ExpressRoute/Interconnect for stable cloud paths. → Direct Connect
- Edge DCs — short PTPs into edge data centers for local processing. → Edge Data Centers
💵 Commercials
- MRC/NRC — Monthly Recurring Charge for service; Non-Recurring Charges for install (mounts, cabling, cross-connects).
- Terms — 12–60 months typical; equipment rental vs. purchase.
- SLA tiers — availability targets by spectrum/topology; protected vs. unprotected options.
✅ Pre-Order Checklist
- 📍 Locations & heights (roof/tower/pole), LOS/nLOS expectations.
- 📡 Use case (primary access, SD-WAN diverse path, event/backhaul).
- 🚦 Throughput target (e.g., 500 Mb/s, 1 Gb/s, 2 Gb/s) and latency/jitter SLOs.
- 🧭 Spectrum preference (licensed, CBRS, unlicensed) and regulatory constraints.
- 🧱 Protection (unprotected vs. ring/1+1); path diversity (laterals/POPs).
- 🔐 Security posture (on-radio encryption, MACsec/IPsec, ZT/ZTNA).
- ⚡ Power & grounding (PoE, surge, bonding), structural sign-off.
- 🧪 Test requirements (RFC-2544/Y.1564, OTDR if fiber drop is used to radio).
- 📊 Monitoring (thresholds, alerts, dashboards, reports).
🔄 Where Fixed Wireless Fits (Recursive View)
1) Grammar — adds a fast, diverse transport to Connectivity.
2) Syntax — feeds Cloud migrations, DRaaS, and edge workloads.
3) Semantics — carries security controls and encrypted payloads; logs to SIEM/SOAR.
4) Pragmatics — gives SolveForce AI stable signals for app-aware routing and prediction.
5) Foundation — consistent naming and policy under Primacy of Language.
Explore the map → 📚 SolveForce Codex
📞 Order a Fixed Wireless Design
Related pages:
Connectivity • Networks & Data Centers • Direct Connect • CBRS • Mobile Connectivity • SD-WAN • NOC
