Fixed wireless access (FWA) provides broadband to fixed premises using cellular or dedicated radio links. It reduces deployment time and cost compared with laying fiber or copper, offers redundancy and temporary connectivity for businesses, and competes with satellite and legacy leased lines in many scenarios. Performance varies by spectrum, distance, and network load; modern FWA commonly delivers tens to hundreds of megabits per second and can be a reliable option where wired infrastructure is limited.
What is fixed wireless access (FWA)?
Fixed wireless access (FWA) delivers broadband to a fixed location - a home, office, or other premise - using wireless radio links instead of copper or fiber last-mile wiring. FWA can use cellular technologies (4G LTE, 5G) or point-to-point/point-to-multipoint radios in licensed and unlicensed bands.
Why businesses and communities use FWA
FWA removes the need to trench fiber or extend copper lines for every customer. That makes it faster and less costly to deploy broadband in suburbs, small towns, and rural areas where wired infrastructure is sparse. Providers can turn up service by mounting a small outdoor customer premises device (CPE) with a clear or partially clear path to a local base station.
For businesses, FWA serves several roles:
- Primary connection where fiber is unavailable.
- Redundant link to improve resilience when wired circuits fail.
- Temporary or event connectivity when short-term capacity is needed.
How it compares to older alternatives
Older leased-line options such as T1 and T3 offered predictable performance but low capacity by today's standards (T1 ≈ 1.5 Mbps; T3 ≈ 45 Mbps). Satellite internet has long provided coverage where terrestrial networks can't reach; modern low-Earth-orbit (LEO) constellations reduced latency and raised throughput compared with legacy geostationary services. Today, 4G/5G FWA commonly delivers tens to several hundred megabits per second; in some urban or well-provisioned sites, gigabit-class service is available.
Performance, limitations, and reliability
FWA performance depends on spectrum, distance, line-of-sight, and local network load. Millimeter-wave 5G can provide very high throughput but requires dense coverage and favorable propagation. Lower-frequency bands travel farther and penetrate buildings better but offer lower peak speeds. When designed and managed correctly, FWA can provide highly reliable service and fast provisioning compared with laying new wired circuits.
Use cases and deployment trends
Service providers increasingly use FWA to expand broadband quickly, meet rural connectivity needs, and offer business continuity solutions. Municipal and private providers use a mix of fiber backhaul plus wireless last-mile links to balance cost and speed. FWA also plays a role in disaster recovery, temporary sites, and as an interim solution while fiber is installed.
Choosing FWA
Evaluate advertised speeds, contention ratios, latency, service-level agreements (SLAs) for business plans, and the provider's local backhaul capacity. Check whether the installation requires an unobstructed path to a tower and whether indoor routing or external antennas are needed.
FWA is not a one-size-fits-all replacement for fiber but is a practical, modern alternative that extends broadband access where wiring would be slow or prohibitively expensive.