3 key considerations for upgrading your business to 5G

As the deployment of 5G becomes more widespread, enterprise-oriented data plans have emerged, and commercial routers and adapters that support 5G on the market, IT decision makers around the world can take advantage of this powerful, flexible, and reliable form of wireless connectivity today.

Todd Krautkremer, CMO of Cradlepoint, explained, “Although discussions and publicity around 5G are focused on what it means to consumers, in fact, companies will benefit the most in the era of 5G connectivity. Now is the time to deploy 5G. "With the COVID-19 pandemic's emphasis on network speed and agility and high security, 5G and wireless wide area networks (Wireless WAN) based on cellular connections can not only help companies meet these growing needs, but also in the future. As the deployment of 5G becomes more widespread, enterprise-oriented data plans have emerged, and commercial routers and adapters that support 5G on the market, IT decision makers around the world can take advantage of this powerful, flexible, and reliable form of wireless connectivity today. However, some companies need guidance on how to make the right 5G investment, whether it is the Internet of Things, retail, manufacturing or automotive applications, to determine the best development path.

Embrace wireless WAN

Historically, wired wide area networks have interconnected various distributed local area networks, equipment, data, and applications. When it comes to cloud applications, the wide area network is the new LAN (Local Area Network), which requires a level of uninterrupted connectivity that only cellular networks can provide. Wireless wide area networks deploy cellular broadband, including 4G LTE and 5G technologies, as an important infrastructure that provides primary or failover cellular connections for shops, offices, vehicles and/or IoT devices at the edge of the network. Wireless WAN is becoming an important part of the journey of enterprise transformation. They extend the scope of the business to people, places, and things wherever work or customer interaction occurs. Therefore, enterprises must understand and accept wireless WAN as an integral part of 5G investment and promotion. By adopting wireless WAN, companies can unleash the true potential of 5G, enabling fast fiber optic and simple cellular connections wherever you need it. Wireless WAN enables enterprises to achieve greater business flexibility and freedom of coverage without worrying about manageability issues

5G confidence is the key

In general, 5G mobile connections are in a state of steady growth year by year. It is estimated that by 2025, the total number of connections will reach 3 billion. As in the consumer sector, 5G is becoming the new normal, and it is vital for companies to be familiar with 5G technology and the advantages it provides. Enterprises often have hundreds or even tens of thousands of locations, vehicles, remote workers, and Internet of Things devices. They need to be able to connect, protect, and manage diverse terminals on a platform without complicated operations. In view of the unique requirements of wireless wide area networks, before investing in 5G, companies must carefully evaluate the business readiness and capabilities of routers and adapters (remote modem and antenna systems) with 5G capabilities. As with any radio frequency wireless network system, your mileage will be very different.

Committed to life cycle management

Although the promotion of 5G by operators is proceeding smoothly, we are still in the dawning stage of 5G releasing its potential. It will provide or implement everything from ultra-low latency and gigabit connectivity to large-scale IoT and edge computing with extended battery life. Despite the attractive value proposition of 5G, if the routers and adapters connected to 5G cannot meet or exceed the key business requirements of security, performance, and management, it will never be adopted. Therefore, companies need to ensure that the 4G LTE and 5G wireless WAN solutions they are considering are secure, provide expected performance, and provide complete lifecycle management that meets the scale of deployment. From zero-touch deployment to group configuration, evaluation of uptime and performance, real-time monitoring of security status, application experience quality and cellular data plan consumption, to remote troubleshooting. These life cycle management capabilities are essential for managing modern wide area networks. The future is the 5G era, and making 5G an important part of your WAN infrastructure is a major decision. Embracing 5G’s unique fiber optic speed and cellular simplicity, as well as the agility and coverage that only cellular can provide, should not require sacrificing security, uptime or manageability.