
How 5G & SD-WAN Makes Branch Connectivity More Powerful
Things have changed a lot since the first generation of mobile technology. Globally, 5G is becoming widely available, with Malaysia moving towards that direction. As the fifth generation of cellular networks, 5G is up to 100 times faster than 4G, with a lower latency equivalent to fixed-lines, therefore, 5G will be able to create never-before-seen opportunities for people and businesses. One such opportunity is in Software-Defined Wide-Area-Network (SD-WAN) for businesses. SD-WAN is fast becoming a staple in organisations as it enables them to intelligently steer traffic over multiple WAN links including cellular public networks. This allows enterprises to have more options to connect their WAN and route their transactions to the cloud or central servers thus improving their network performance with higher bandwidth and lower costs. Many organizations already use 4G LTE at branch locations (e.g., retail stores and restaurants) but with limited appliactions due to lower bandwidth and slow latency. With 5G, real-world speeds can now go over 100 MB and latency dropping to below 1 milliseconds as compared to over 50 milliseconds with 4G. 5G radio deployments are also expected to drive bandwidth capabilities well beyond 1 GB over the next few years. This will provide plenty of