The Complete Guide to 4G WAN

The Complete Guide to 4G WAN

Introduction

4G WAN technology provides a wireless means of linking buildings and locations together for Internet connectivity and as a private network, this technology enables businesses to ensure stable connection, even in areas with poor infrastructure or during emergency situations.

Most IT teams know the challenge of keeping colleagues joined-up and information flowing during changes to their business, their buildings, or their connectivity.

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Sometimes you need to roll out connectivity in places where there's little or no existing infrastructure. Sometimes you may need to restore connectivity in disaster situations. Occasionally you may need to join networks after a corporate merger.

What’s most important is that you do this quickly, reliably and with minimal fuss. Operations cannot afford to be compromised as the impact could be enormous, placing great pressure on you and your team.

4G WAN technology ensures this never happens. Think of it as an enterprise-class connectivity-in-a-box, offering your workforce instant access to your corporate network and the internet from the moment it’s turned on—wherever, whenever. It’s robust, high-quality, and doesn't require lengthy lead times.

As a result, you can get reliable, short-term connectivity before a fixed line is set up, respond to seasonal or temporary events, connect vehicles, and tackle disaster situations.

In this guide, we’ll introduce you to this technology, helping you understand how it works, the problems it solves, and the questions you should ask before implementing it.

What is 4G WAN?

4G WAN utilizes the mobile data network to provide a reliable, high-speed connection through multiple 4G SIM cards from a mix of carriers. The technology bonds these SIMs together into a single data connection and connects to your corporate network, the internet, or both.

This means you can:

• Provide interim connectivity until permanent circuits are installed
• Provide connections for temporary or seasonal events
• Provide connectivity to mobile sites such as cars, buses, trains, and boats
• Achieve high-performance backup for your network that is diversely routed in the last mile
• Connect sites that are prohibitively expensive to connect with fixed lines

The technology offers a flexible, robust, and cost-effective alternative to fixed line circuits. It can be implemented very quickly. Services such as FTTC can take weeks to implement, and Fibre Ethernet can take months, often suffering from unplanned delays related to digging roads and pavements to lay fibre.

Ultimately, 4G WAN keeps businesses digitally agile with infrastructure that allows them to stay connected and respond quickly to arising scenarios.

Problems Solved by 4G WAN

Because it can provide high-speed, reliable connectivity extremely quickly, 4G WAN is versatile and helps businesses in various scenarios:

• Operating in locations with no existing infrastructure, such as in the construction industry
• Moving office, merging networks, or making planned changes to their infrastructure
• Seeking a continuity solution to protect them in disaster situations
• Looking for a backup solution that is diversely routed (i.e., won't be destroyed by the same road digger that takes out the main circuit)
• Using popup stands at events such as festivals, conferences, and exhibitions
• Looking for in-vehicle connectivity that can turn their fleet into mobile offices

Delayed circuits

When ordering fixed network connectivity, you are at the mercy of lead times, often lengthy ones. When a site opens at short notice, the lead time to provision, install, and make a circuit live can impact the site opening date. This is worsened if circuits are unexpectedly delayed due to wayleave, traffic disruption, or unexpected construction.

Implementing 4G WAN allows you to bypass these delays. The technology doesn’t require any fixed connectivity at a new site, which lets you set up a reliable, high-speed connection into your network in days, with no operational impact as a fixed line circuit is being installed.

Temporary locations

If you operate in temporary locations or frequently relocate sites, you’ll face the same issues and delays. This is especially true for construction sites, festivals, or exhibits at shows and events. Some companies will only be at a location for days, making fixed line connectivity impractical, while others will be on-site for months or years and must endure the lead times associated with fixed line connectivity.

In both scenarios, 4G WAN can remove these challenges, maintaining reliable, high-speed connectivity for temporary and movable sites, simplifying administration.

Remote or costly circuits

If you have a remote site with challenging circuit construction requirements, the cost of installing a fixed circuit can be prohibitive. This is often the case for remote site monitoring, security, entry systems, roadside sites, and CCTV. 4G WAN provides the necessary connectivity without needing heavy investment in construction costs.

Backup circuits and Disaster Recovery

With applications increasingly utilizing the cloud, having a business continuity solution to keep users connected during a disaster is imperative. Some IT departments combat this by installing backup fixed connections, but these don’t protect against provider network outages, or fire and flood disruptions to primary and secondary fixed circuits.

4G WAN provides a high-performance backup solution, especially when connecting via a different route to improve resilience and a different network in case of a provider outage. This technology can provide:

• On-site cold standby for rapid, low-cost failover in the event of a main circuit outage
• On-site hot standby for instant failover
• Off-site standby, delivering a preconfigured router at short notice

Mobile deployments

Connecting a fleet of vehicles to your network allows the transfer of vital information between them and your business. By deploying 4G WAN 'in vehicle', you effectively turn your fleet into mobile offices connected to your network, similar to a standard office. This connectivity enables video and CCTV streaming, GPS telematics, and more through wireless hotspots. 4G WAN is also suitable for rail, emergency vehicles, bus, and marine installations.

Key questions you should be asking yourself

• Do you ever need new sites to be set up more quickly than fixed network circuits can be delivered?
• How important is it to get these sites connected before they go live?
• Are new sites ever delayed by wayleave or traffic management?
• Do Excess Construction Charges (ECCs) ever impact your decision on a new circuit?
• How are you providing resilience and diverse site connectivity currently?
• Do you use mobile sites such as vehicles or boats? How do you connect these to your corporate network?
• What’s the cost to your business of slow, unreliable connectivity?

How Does It Work?

For best performance, use multiple SIMs

• Within a multi-SIM 4G router at your remote site

From multiple carriers

• This delivers maximum performance in demanding environments
• Provides additional resilience and diversity

To the internet or your corporate network

• Set up a secure tunnel to a hub router
• With onward connection to your WAN

If your priority is a stable, reliable, lossless connection, you would bond multiple 4G connections together into a single connection linking into your corporate network or the internet. This solution starts with a hub router installed in your Data Centre (or your Managed Service Provider’s Data Centre for hosted service). The hub allows multiple 4G connections to be bonded into a single, reliable, high-performance connection with minimal latency.

Next, a business-grade multi-SIM 4G router is installed at each remote site. If using 4G WAN as a continuity solution, routers are housed on-site for hot and cold standby, or off-site and ready for dispatch for an off-site standby setup. Once set up, create a secure tunnel to your Data Centre, with onward connection to your WAN or the internet.

It’s good practice to use multiple SIM cards from different mobile carriers, mitigating the risk of any one carrier having a poor signal or a congested cell.

If time is a constraint, or if your applications are not latency-sensitive, you may choose to load balance multiple SIMs instead of bonding. Here, the router intelligently decides which channel to use for each conversation based on algorithms such as lowest-latency.

Sourcing SIMs yourself is not necessary. It can be preferable to source them through a service provider to avoid managing SIMs and performance issues. Some service providers can provide a single bill for all hardware, SIMs, and usage, simplifying management.

High-speed, reliable connectivity can theoretically be delivered within days using this technology. This is valuable in connectivity disasters, where temporary site connections are needed. Some service providers offer such turnaround (though check when the clock starts, and whether they can rent you a shared hub for fast installation).

Commonly Required Options

People frequently have these requirements when implementing 4G WAN:

• Wireless LAN access
• Guest internet access
• Internet breakout for corporate traffic (split tunnelling)

Components Needed for 4G WAN Setup

A 4G WAN solution comprises four main components. Once set up and configured, your connection will be available immediately:

• Site routers
• 4G SIMs from multiple carriers
• An optional central hub if bonding (sited in your data center or hosted)
• A management service

Your hub will be set up in your data centre (or your MSP may offer to host it). Site routers need to be sent to site with the SIMs for set-up, configuration, and tuning (best done by an engineer working with a Network Operations Centre).

A central hub

The central hub bonds the traffic from the SIMs at your sites. It supports multiple sites and can be installed at multiple data centres or hosted on your behalf.

A 4G router

A 4G router is delivered to site along with your SIMs. The router provides a secure connection back to your central hub. We generally specify 4G routers from industry-leading Peplink.

4G SIMs

Multiple 4G SIMs are bonded to provide a single, high-speed connection. For added resilience and complete coverage, you can bond SIMs from multiple mobile networks. However, avoid mixing 3G and 4G SIMs, as the network's maximum performance will be determined by the slower 3G connection.

Monitoring

This allows your department and chosen supplier to monitor your solution's performance 24/7, providing complete confidence and peace of mind.

All in one box

4G WAN is often required quickly, so experienced suppliers hold pre-configured routers with SIMs and aerials ready to go. They’re boxed in appropriate containers for common environments. The best providers can have an engineer bring it to the site and set it up within a couple of working days.

Understanding 4G WAN Concepts

Bonding and Load Balancing

You can combine traffic from multiple SIMs by bonding or load balancing. Bonding involves combining all connections into one. Load balancing distributes traffic across multiple connections but keeps them separate.

Bonding provides reliability because dropped packets can be immediately retransmitted. It also ensures great performance when connecting to your corporate network, using all channels for the VPN and offering instant failover when one channel has a problem.

Load balancing helps prioritize local internet breakout performance and monitor quality of service parameters together.

We usually recommend bonding, but load balancing works in certain scenarios.

You can read more in our posts about Bonding vs Load Balancing >> and 4G WAN: Design Considerations >>.

The Importance of Latency

Latency refers to the delay in getting data to its destination across the network, usually measured as a round trip delay in milliseconds (ms). This has a key impact on network performance, as a computer using a TCP/IP network sends a limited amount of data, waits for acknowledgement, and then sends more.

Why is latency important for a 4G WAN?

The latency of a 4G cellular data connection can be around 60ms, greater than the best fixed line networks (like an Ethernet VPN with as little as 10ms latency). Thus, be mindful of latency-sensitive applications over a 4G connection.

Additionally, when bonding multiple connections, the overall latency tends towards the connection with the greatest latency in the bond. If one SIM only manages a 3G connection, it affects performance.

You can find more information in this post: What is network latency? >>

Managing 4G Cost and Usage

It's important to measure data usage and control costs from the outset. This doesn't need to be difficult but can become so if not proactively managed. There are a couple of different approaches to paying for your usage:

• Bundles and packages are useful if you know your usage and expect little variation, but beware of excess usage charges.
• Pay as you use offers a true reflection of what you use, billing you accurately, but watch the resolution used to measure amounts.

A service provider should help evaluate your usage, make recommendations, and set you up with accurate usage reporting and alerts to control costs and reduce bill shock.

Obtaining SIM cards yourself can lead to problems; for instance, a breach of fair usage policies might stop the connection without notice, leaving you to troubleshoot outside your provider’s capability. Problems are fewer when SIMs are part of a service package from a provider.

Ask these questions before engaging a service provider:

• Can you pool usage across all SIMs from a carrier?
• What’s the minimum term? Watch out for longer contracts!
• Does the provider access all UK and international carriers?
• What are the overage charges for exceeding bundled usage?

For more information, read: 4G WAN: Design Considerations >>

How to Choose a 4G Router

Many 4G routers vary in features. Ask these questions when comparing 4G routers for your business:

• Does it support Multiple SIMs?
• What is the SIM Capacity?
• Does it support Bonding?
• Does it support Load Balancing?
• Does it support SIM Failover?
• Can it prioritize by traffic type?
• Does it support Caching?
• Can it include other WAN interfaces?
• Does it offer WiFi access?
• Can it act as a WiFi controller for larger installations with multiple WiFi access points?
• Does it have a Modular Design (do you need one)?
• Does it support Power over Ethernet (POE)?
• Does it offer reporting?

How to Choose a 4G Service Provider

4G WAN setup can be complicated, so many prefer a service provider. Here's a list of features and service questions you should consider when selecting a provider:

• Can they connect into your Corporate WAN?
• Do they offer bonded multi-SIM, multi-carrier solutions?
• Can they provide customer references and demonstrate experience?
• How quickly can they deploy? When does their timing clock start?
• Can they migrate your 4G circuit to a fixed circuit once available?
• Do they support specialist aerials for remote sites, portakabins, etc.?
• Do they provide on-site cabling and WiFi if needed?

Check out our blog for more questions: 30 Questions to Ask a Prospective 4G WAN Provider >>

Rapid Site Deployment from SAS

Rapid Site Deployment (RSD) is SAS's innovative 4G WAN service, offering business-grade performance and resilience for demanding applications via a bonded multi-SIM, multi-carrier solution. RSD solutions can be provisioned, on-site, and active within as little as two days, accommodating the outlined scenarios.

A Different Approach

Unlike other MSPs, SAS bonds multiple SIMs from multiple mobile operators, ensuring reliable, high-speed connections for critical applications. The service is fully managed, providing peace of mind and flexibility.

The solution is designed to address key business challenges:

• Temporary site deployment
• Mobile and remote site connectivity
• Resilience and diverse site connectivity

How We Work

Consult: We consult on the best design for each situation, using expertise from hundreds of deployments.

Design: We design a solution to match your needs, combining the best hardware, network operators, and data packages.

Install & Configure: We install and configure each site to ensure optimal performance.

Support: We provide year-round support, monitoring, and usage management tailored to your sites and applications' business-critical needs.

Contact us to discuss your requirements at

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