Broadband Trader

Fixed Wireless

Fixed wireless is the one access type where the qualifying question is not how far the fiber runs but whether a provider can see your roof. That changes the economics completely: no trenching, no construction charge, and an install measured in days.

Bidsnot one quote

Term & NRCwhere rates move

Directyou sign with the carrier

No feethe channel pays, not you

What moves the price

What actually sets your fixed wireless rate

Line of sight is the price

A clear path to a tower means you are buying a port off a rate card. No path means you cannot be served at any price. That is why the free site survey comes before the quote, not after it.

No lateral, no build charge

There is nothing to trench, so the install charge is equipment and labour rather than construction. This is the structural reason fixed wireless often undercuts a fiber build rather than merely matching it.

Committed or best effort

Tower sector capacity is shared. A quote with a committed rate and a credit schedule is a different product from one selling a peak number, and the difference is what you are really comparing.

Running the bid

Putting your fixed wireless out to bid

1Post the requirement once. Address, bandwidth, sites, and the date you need it live. That is enough for carriers to price.
2Carriers that reach you bid against each other. They know they are in a competitive bid, which is the single biggest reason a first number comes in lower.
3Compare the spread, then counter. Line the offers up on rate, term, install, and SLA. The gap between high and low bid is your negotiating room.

Reading the offers

Where the room usually is

✓ Levers worth pushing

Equipment and install folded into the monthly, a committed rate rather than a peak figure, credits that issue automatically, and a short term. With no buried plant to amortize, providers have far less reason to demand five years, so do not accept one by default.

● What a padded quote looks like

A peak speed quoted with no committed floor, a fade margin nobody will put in writing, and equipment rental that continues indefinitely after the hardware is paid for. Ask what the link is engineered to deliver at its worst hour.

Pricing questions

Fixed Wireless pricing, straight answers

What does fixed wireless cost?

It varies by bandwidth and by whether your roof has line of sight to a tower. Because no construction is involved, the install side is usually far below a comparable fiber build, which is often the whole argument.

Is it genuinely business grade?

A licensed, well-engineered link with a committed rate and a credit schedule is. An unlicensed link sold on peak speed with no remedy is not. Ask which one you are being quoted.

Why would I choose it over fiber?

Speed and cost of delivery. If a fiber quote comes back with a construction charge and a months-long timeline, fixed wireless is frequently live before the fiber survey is even finished.

Does weather affect it?

Licensed links are engineered with a fade margin for local conditions. Ask what availability the provider designs to and what the credit is when they miss it, then treat the answer as part of the price.

Run the numbers →