5G: what it does and doesn't solve
If mobile internet is fast enough, does a building still need good cabling? The short answer is yes.
Why the question comes up
Mobile networks have become considerably faster in recent years. That raises a logical question for owners facing an investment: if everyone has a phone with a fast connection anyway, why still invest in cabling and WiFi?
The comparison doesn't hold up, because mobile and fixed don't solve the same problem. Mobile gives one user a connection, somewhere. A building network gives all users a connection at once, everywhere, predictably.
Two different things
Where mobile is strong
- Connection without infrastructure work
- Reach outdoors and on the move
- Quick to deploy in a temporary location
- A fallback if the fixed line fails
Where a building network is strong
- Many users at once, served predictably
- Coverage indoors, where concrete and steel actually dampen the mobile signal
- Fixed equipment and building systems that don't run on a SIM card
- Capacity you manage yourself instead of sharing with the street
The point that's often forgotten: indoors
The very properties that make a building solid, concrete, steel, coated glass, dampen the mobile signal. That's why mobile reception in a parking garage or the core of a building falls short, regardless of which generation of network is overhead.
Where mobile does contribute
As a supplement, mobile is valuable. It can serve as a fallback connection when the fixed line fails, it serves equipment in places where cabling is impractical, and it's useful during a building's start-up phase.
What it doesn't do is replace the fixed infrastructure. The IT-Label therefore assesses the complete digital foundation: type of connection, capacity, redundancy, cabling and WiFi coverage, with mobile as a possible supplement, not a substitute.
Poor reception indoors? Read what causes it and which solutions are available.
How does your building measure up?
The audit assesses the complete digital foundation of the building.
Related information
Knowledge base
Background on the components the IT-Label assesses: from fibre optic and WiFi coverage to Smart Building, cybersecurity and the impact of AI on real estate.
WiFi coverage
Coverage and capacity are two different things, and both determine whether WiFi is actually usable. How the IT-Label assesses WiFi.
Smart Building technology
Climate control, access control and booking systems don't make a building smart on their own. Integration does, and that's what the IT-Label assesses.
Future-proof building
Nobody knows what the load will be in five years. Future-proofing is therefore not about predicting, but about keeping room to move.