What Is Fixed Wireless Internet?

Fixed wireless internet is a rural internet option that connects one location, like a farm or a house, to the internet via radio waves. That means you don’t need a phone or cable line for fixed wireless internet, but you will need an antenna.

But compared to other rural internet options like satellite internet and DSL, how does fixed wireless work? Let’s take a look.

Guide to fixed wireless internet:

• What equipment do I need?
• What is 5G fixed wireless internet?
• How does weather affect fixed wireless internet?
• Does fixed wireless internet have a lot of latency?
• Compare internet providers

You will need an antenna for fixed wireless internet. This is placed at your home and acts as a receiver which communicates to a base station–usually a fixed wireless hub attached to a radio tower a few miles away from your home.

In the case of 5G home internet, a type of fixed wireless internet, you are given a gateway device with a built-in antenna that connects to a 5G cellular tower.

Although the antenna may look like a satellite dish, it actually uses radio frequencies that beam your internet signal from your computer to the radio tower. Whereas for satellite internet, you will need a satellite dish at your property that receives signals from a satellite that orbits from 342 miles to 22,000 miles above the earth.

You’ll want to make sure your antenna has a clear line of sight to the tower. Any hills, trees, buildings, or other objects can cause problems with your signal.

Fixed wireless internet antennas can be a lot cheaper than the cables other types of internet use. Especially in rural areas, where a company would need to build the infrastructure for a DSL or cable service from scratch.

A 5G fixed wireless internet connection is a type of fixed wireless internet. It works in a similar way to other fixed wireless plans, but instead of an antenna secured to your roof, you are given a gateway device that you place within your home which connects wirelessly to a 5G cellular tower in your area.

While you can also connect additional antennas to get a better connection, it’s not necessary if you can place the gateway device near a window where you can ideally get a clear line of sight to a cell tower.

T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T all offer 5G home internet services. These 5G fixed wireless internet plans can actually offer higher speeds, lower latency and more affordable rates than regular fixed wireless networks.

The towers that fixed wireless antennas are attached to are land-based—you might even confuse one with a cell tower. And because they’re much closer to the ground than a satellite, fixed wireless users experience fewer issues with weather than satellite internet users might.

That said, rain and fog can still play havoc on a fixed wireless connection. But don’t worry if there’s a storm in the next county over. Because the fixed wireless signal is short-ranged, there’s a smaller area that could be affected by bad weather.

Because fixed wireless internet antennas are attached to land-based towers that are typically about 10 miles from your home, you’ll get a lot less lag, or latency, with this kind of connection than with satellite internet.

That short distance between your fixed wireless antenna and the tower means you’ll probably see latency that matches what you’d get with DSL internet.

You see, a satellite internet signal has to travel thousands of miles between your computer and the satellite hanging out in Earth’s orbit. That massive distance causes your online games to lag and your videos to buffer while your computer waits for a signal.

Fixed wireless internet is a great option for people who can’t get cable or fiber, but want something more affordable than satellite. Enter your zip code in our handy availability checker below to see if you can sign up with a fixed wireless internet provider.