Maximizing network bandwidth: Understanding WAN bonding and its benefits

Network technology does its best to keep pace with necessity. For businesses, the necessity has become ever-greater volumes of network throughput. As advanced technologies, including AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and high-quality video conferencing and data sharing, have become critical ingredients for business success, the throughput demands on the networks that support these technologies have also grown. To stay ahead of the curve and the competition, businesses need more throughput than what a single connection can handle.

Wide Area Network Bonding (WAN Bonding) is a transformative technology that blends multiple WAN connections from various sources, including satellite, DSL, and 5G/LTE, and broadband into one robust connection. The combined connection exceeds the capacity and speed of all individual connections to deliver robust, reliable, high-speed internet connectivity. Rather than traffic having to travel individual WAN connections, all traffic uses the combined throughput of the bonded connections.

With WAN Bonding, businesses can create more powerful, robust business networks that provide several crucial benefits, often more cost-effectively than a single connection.

Faster, more reliable connectivity

By merging multiple connections with WAN Bonding, organizations can take advantage of much greater available bandwidth, ensuring that bandwidth-hungry activities such as video conferencing and large data transfers operate seamlessly.

This approach offers more redundancy and failover capabilities during network outages. Should one connection in the combined WAN pipeline fail, traffic simply continues sharing the remaining capacity, rather than having to be manually moved over and compete for space on a single dedicated connection.

Load balancing is also more efficient with WAN Bonding. Rather than traffic having to be constantly rerouted to the best available connection, all traffic always uses all connections, ensuring all available capacity is used effectively. This prevents congestion on any single link, reduces latency, minimizes packet loss, and enhances overall network performance.

WAN Bonding also tends to be a more cost-effective option for network connectivity. Instead of investing in a single, extremely high-performance connection, businesses can simply bundle their existing connections to get even greater value from them. Because additional WAN connections can be added as needed, this approach is highly scalable as well, avoiding the expensive rip-and-replace process that would be required to upgrade one high-performance connection.

It’s also worth noting that combining connectivity from multiple sources and often multiple ISPs reduces the risk posed by having a single point of failure that can compromise an entire business network. Businesses can take advantage of different security protocols and methodologies used by different service providers. The use of multiple ISPs and diverse paths adds a layer of security that makes it harder for potential attackers to intercept or disrupt network traffic. This distributed approach to traffic management complements existing security measures such as VPNs and firewalls, and creates a more resilient network environment.

WAN Bonding supports a variety of use cases

This combination of attributes makes WAN Bonding ideal for a variety of applications.

For example, remote office locations often face connectivity challenges because DSL, Ethernet, or broadband options are limited or non-existent, and satellite connections may be a less reliable choice. Businesses can ensure robust, uninterrupted connectivity by combining multiple internet connections, especially cellular WAN, to enable seamless communication and data exchange.

Branch offices and retail locations, both urban and rural, require constant and reliable connectivity to support daily operations, including transaction processing, inventory management, and customer engagement systems. WAN Bonding can provide multiple redundant connections to ensure continuity of service even if one link fails.

The increasing use of IoT devices can also benefit from WAN Bonding. Devices that support smart city infrastructure, industrial automation, and remote monitoring systems need large bandwidth connectivity and highly reliable failover to move massive volumes of data. WAN Bonding supports these devices by delivering stable, high-bandwidth network connections at all times.

In the transportation industry, fleet management and logistics companies need reliable network connectivity to support real-time tracking, route optimization, and communication. WAN Bonding allows for the aggregation of multiple cellular connections to provide seamless coverage and connectivity, regardless of location.

Data centers and cloud service providers need high-speed, low-latency connections to transfer enormous volumes of data. WAN Bonding can combine multiple high-speed connections to deliver the bandwidth and reliability needed to support seamless data handling and ensure business continuity.

Even event venues and temporary installations, such as trade shows or construction sites, can leverage WAN Bonding to establish reliable, high-speed, high-bandwidth connectivity. WAN Bonding enables the use of multiple connections to deliver high-speed internet quickly, ensuring all digital services and communications operate smoothly without the need for permanent infrastructure.

Effectively implementing WAN Bonding requires planning

Strategic planning and the right hardware and software are crucial to effectively implementing WAN Bonding. Cellular routers are needed to handle the traffic itself, while software is needed to route traffic between multiple WAN connections.

Carefully designing your network topology is essential, including assessing the number of WAN connections required, determining the strategic location of the WAN Bonding devices, and planning the routing of traffic between different connections. Configuration and setup entails specifying the WAN connections and configuring routing and load balancing settings to optimize data flow. Additionally, setting up failover protection is crucial to guarantee continuous connectivity if one connection fails.

Ongoing maintenance and performance monitoring are also vital to ensure that your WAN Bonding solution remains effective and functional. Regularly monitoring your network’s performance allows for early detection and resolution of potential issues, minimizing downtime. When an issue is identified, having a plan for swift troubleshooting is critical.

Inseego offers industry-leading support for WAN Bonding

Inseego has powerful solutions for every element of effective WAN Bonding. Inseego 5G SD EDGE software provides automatic traffic routing throughout your network, optimizing network performance and providing flexibility. Our indoor cellular routers ensure your network has a reliable backbone of high-quality connections. All of Inseego’s cellular routers and outdoor CPEs are equipped with advanced tools that facilitate seamless configuration and effective load balancing, streamlining the setup process significantly.

Inseego’s fixed wireless access offerings make it easier to design an optimized network architecture tailored to your specific needs, ensuring robust and resilient connectivity. Our cloud monitoring software offers real-time monitoring and diagnostic capabilities, providing a comprehensive overview of network health and enabling quick resolutions to maintain smooth operations.

Say goodbye to downtime and embrace a future of seamless, high-speed connectivity. Contact us today to get started with WAN Bonding and redefine your network connectivity.