What is Fixed Wireless Broadband?

Airband’s network is based on Fixed Wireless broadband, and whilst we eat, sleep and breathe this technology, we thought that you might want to find out a little bit more about what it is and how it works. Read on for our short guide…

In short, Fixed Wireless Broadband, also known as Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), is a type of high-speed internet access where connections use radio signals rather than cables. Fixed Wireless Broadband utilises transmission masts or poles which house radios that communicate to smaller radio receivers at customers’ premises.

Fixed Wireless Broadband uses specific radio frequencies to transmit signals through the air (radio waves) without any wires or cables – much the same method that mobile phone networks use.

As the Airband network specialises in remote and rural areas, it uses point-to-point, radio wave, wireless technology that is specifically designed to avoid interference from natural obstructions such as trees, hills and buildings.

What is the difference between Fixed Wireless and Satellite Broadband?

Whilst some elements of the technology are similar, the main difference is the distance between radio communication. Satellite broadband communicates to a satellite in orbit around the Earth, whilst Fixed Wireless radios only communicate via ground-based stations.

Satellite Broadband is subject to a higher level of latency (the speed it takes to send a signal over the connection), around 20 times slower than that of Fixed Wireless. Satellite Broadband is also well known for having the strictest data allowance and high over-usage charges. Further to this, Fixed Wireless receivers on properties are notably more discreet and smaller than those use by Satellite Broadband providers, often down to the distance the signal has to travel – satellite being thousands of miles!