The New WAN

The new WAN is agile, reliable, and cost-effective. It delivers these benefits by enabling businesses to safely and securely use broadband Internet connections, instead of more expensive private data services such as MPLS.

The new WAN promotes agility by using an overlay across all underlying transport services

  • Multiple network circuits can all work together, whether they are MPLS, broadband Internet, LTE or Metro-Ethernet
  • It’s easy to add new locations quickly, using LTE or Internet access–e.g. while waiting for the installation of an MPLS circuit, should you need one.

The new WAN improves uptime and reliability by providing resiliency at a price point untouched by MPLS

  • Traffic travels over the optimal route
    • Built-in monitoring software provides visibility into network traffic at a granular level that makes managing the network much easier. You can easily create rules that:
      • Send high-priority traffic travels over the best links, from a cost/performance perspective
      • Re-route traffic to a different circuit when performance drops below configured thresholds
    • Resource use is more efficient. The high cost of MPLS bandwidth and routing complexities meant that only one connection could be fully utilized at a time.
  • The new WAN enables businesses to connect locations using affordable redundant networks
    • It can connect locations to multiple Internet providers (and MPLS) using a variety of access technologies such as Ethernet, DSL and LTE
    • While dual-homing locations is possible with MPLS, those locations still use a single carrier network. Sites may have achieved local loop and POP redundancy, but a brownout or blackout within the carrier’s MPLS network would still impact both connections.
    • And, many companies cannot afford the cost of redundant MPLS local loops.

The New WAN can involve only broadband connections with an SD-WAN or a combination of broadband and MPLS with a Hybrid network.

Learn more:

Why Hybrid?
Why SD-WAN?