People love a simple solution. Mention slow or non-existent fibre in the city and someone’s bound to suggest, “Just whack in a point-to-point wireless link.” In theory, it’s good idea: beam the signal across from building to building and skip the street works. Job done? Not quite!
Line of Sight? Good Luck with That
The first problem is line of sight. Point-to-point only works if the two ends can actually see each other with enough clearance (fresnel) ie. no buildings, cranes, or trees in the way. In London, especially in the flatter, low-rise areas, that’s a rarity.
And when you do have sightlines, the buildings that could host the kit—the tall, shiny ones—aren’t usually interested. The Gherkin isn’t a bit too pointy and slippery to be kitted out with radio dishes on the roof. Most modern skyscraper archichests are too busy dreaming up vanity projects and don’t want antennas cluttering up their trophy builds, and even if they say yes, you’re in for months of paperwork.
Not Fast. Not Simple.
Getting a link up and running isn’t just about bolting some gear to the roof:
- You need site surveys and structural sign-off.
- You need permission from landlords (which is the same reason everyone’s fibre is delayed).
- You need specialist installers.
Even if all that goes smoothly, and it rarely does, you’re looking at days or weeks, not hours. Even the managed point-to-point providers can their sweet time to turn around a service. So much for “quick.”
Built-In Weak Spots
Even when it’s finally live, point-to-point is fragile:
Everything depends on the "A end". A remote connecitivity outage or power cut and you're cooked (microwaved!).
One-shot for your connectivity, with no backups, no resilience, or diversity.
Long term, you could also face line-of-sight issues from new buildings, scaffolding, or surprise rooftop gardens. And yes, weather, high winds, storms, and the occasional lightning strike can make your hair stand on end! But honestly, most people never even get that far because the initial install is such a faff.
The Bottom Line
Point-to-point wireless has its place, but in city centres, it’s rarely the quick win people imagine. Too slow to install, too many permissions needed, and too vunerable once it’s live.
If you need internet urgently, you need something built for speed and reliability without the red tape. That’s where Digital Avenue comes in. Give us a shout!
