The three real options
- Fibre: highest consistency and lowest latency, where infrastructure already exists
- Terrestrial wireless: faster to deploy than new fibre, dependent on line of sight to a tower or access point
- Satellite (Starlink): works almost anywhere with sky visibility, at the cost of higher latency than fibre
Installation speed compared
Satellite is typically fastest to get running, self-install, no infrastructure dependency. Terrestrial wireless comes next, depending on line-of-sight availability to an existing tower. New fibre construction takes the longest where it does not already reach.
Reliability factors specific to Kenya
Power reliability affects all three equally, regardless of which connection type you choose backup power for your networking gear matters just as much.
- Fibre: vulnerable to construction and road-work cable cuts
- Terrestrial wireless: vulnerable to line-of-sight obstruction and severe weather
- Satellite: vulnerable to rain fade and sky obstruction
A simple decision checklist by location type
| Your situation | Best starting point |
|---|---|
| Fibre already reaches your building | Fibre, almost always |
| No fibre, but line of sight to a wireless tower | Terrestrial wireless |
| No fibre, no line-of-sight option, or a remote/temporary site | Satellite |
| Mission-critical uptime needs | Consider two connection types as primary plus failover |
How Eca Networks helps you match equipment to the right connection
Whichever connection type fits your location, the equipment behind it, routers, cabling, backup power, needs to be sized correctly to work reliably together. Request a quote scoped to your specific connection type and site.