What is “fixed wireless” internet?

It’s a revolution in internet service. Everyone’s been talking about it for several years, and it looks like it’s finally happening.

“Fixed wireless” means that your home or business gets internet over the air like a cell phone, through a permanently installed antenna on the roof. Unlike using your cell phone, the expectation is that you’ll get speeds that are fast enough for everyone in the home or business to stream. This is possible though the use of new 5G network equipment and also through the larger antenna placed on the roof.

For many internet and cellular providers, it’s the holy grail. Let’s take a look at why.

How we used to do it (and might still do it)

If you got on the internet at all in the 20th century, you dialed up. You chose a provider who had a local dial-in number and all internet traffic went through plain old phone lines at a miserably slow .0056Mbps (back then we called it 56kbps, it’s the same thing) or slower. This was great for the local phone companies who got a lot of money for those local dial-up numbers, and also because people actually got a second line in their homes so that they could also talk on the phone. Big cash for those guys at that time.

By 2000, the new hotness was DSL. DSL was a true digital solution that gave speeds up to about 3Mbps but still did so over regular phone lines. Unlike dialup you could make a call anytime you wanted to and not lose internet service. But, that speed didn’t really keep people happy for very long.

In the mid-2000s, though, things started to get interesting. Cable companies started leveraging their existing coax and fiber builds to provide internet to the home. This meant it was possible to get speeds of up to 20Mbps and more importantly people had a choice. Phone companies fought to catch up and by 2010 a lot of people could decide between two internet service providers without losing the ability to connect at high speed.

Interestingly, the internet market was quiet for most of the 2010s with the exception of speed increases. Competition for customers meant that it was possible to get 100Mbps speed at a reasonable price, and with the improvements in cell phones, some people were able to simply give up on a land-based internet system altogether and just use cellular.

How we’re going to do it

Now, things are poised to jump ahead in a whole new way. By implementing fixed wireless 5G, you may have 6 different choices for home internet. Today, there are already several great options for fixed wireless internet. When you look those options, then look at what you get from the phone company and the cable company, there’s never been more of a selection of internet providers. Not only that, but fixed wireless looks to bring true high speed service to rural areas that have never had it before.

Which is better, fixed wireless or Starlink?

By now you’ve heard of Starlink. It’s the satellite internet service that’s disrupting the way people think about internet. It’s technically a fixed wireless service itself, although the signal comes from low earth orbit instead of local cell towers. When we say fixed wireless, we usually mean cellular, not Starlink.

Both Starlink and traditional fixed wireless solutions have their place. You’ll generally find that cellular solutions are less expensive than Starlink. In some cases, cellular fixed wireless equipment can be had for free. You’ll have to pay for Starlink… sometimes you’ll pay a lot depending on how you use it.

It’s not possible to say whether fixed wireless will be faster than Starlink for you individually. It depends on the cell tower situation in your area. All I can say is that fixed wireless does generally give faster speeds and lower latency for most people.

Want to know more?

Signal Connect has great solutions from T-Mobile, AT&T, and others. We can help you figure out if a fixed wireless solution is right for you. Do your own research, then call the experts! We’ll do a free, no-cost evaluation comparing what you have now and what’s available. From there we’ll give you a recommendation that makes sense, whether it’s fixed wireless, satellite internet, or traditional fiber. We can even arrange everything for you!

Call us at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below. We’ll get right back to you!

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.