Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) has been popular for a number of years now and is very good at providing robust and reliable connectivity as well as ensuring critical business information continues to flow, but it’s flexibility has also become a limiting factor. It's important to be aware of what the differences between MPLS vs SD-WAN are in order to make the best choice for your business needs.

What is a Wide Area Network (WAN)?

A single geographically distributed private telecommunications network that is made up of Local Area Networks (LAN) in the form of private lines, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), virtual private networks (VPNs), wireless (cellular) and the Internet. Its architecture, protocols and technologies have evolved to become SD-WAN.

What is a Local Area Network (LAN)?

LAN covers a limited geographical area and provides networks within a single office building or campus. A LAN comprises cables, access points, switches, routers, and other components that enable devices to connect to internal servers. Two of the most common LANs are Ethernet and Wi-Fi.

Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) is one of the many types of WAN technology available. Find out more on what is an IP-VPN and the business benefits that could help your organisation.

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Managed Wide Area Networking (WAN) services

Wide Area Networking (WAN) has the capability to truly optimise your network providing complete visibility, control and flexibility.

Download SD-WAN brochure

Download IP-VPN brochure

As technology and connectivity evolves, managed WAN has become a vital component in every IT leader’s armoury. Despite IP-VPN being an ideal solution for many businesses for years, a trend to SD-WAN is evolving. The transition between platforms is often motivated by evolving demands, a change in cloud strategy or the need to gain more visibility of the underlying network.

We take a consultative approach with both IP-VPN and SD-WAN, ensuring implementation of a WAN solution is driven by your business requirements. With digitisation continuing to define the way we do business, the need for reliable, flexible, high-performance networks will only grow. The right WAN could be the key to thriving in this digital age.

Our dedicated IP-VPN services give businesses the ability to adjust the network performance to meet business needs, pushing certain traffic to the front of the queue as required.

Our WAN service options

IP-VPN

SD-WAN

An IP-VPN connects multiple Local Area Networks (LANs) to one another through routers and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). It’s commonly used for connecting organisations with multiple sites or offices and has long been the go-to technology for IT, voice and data networking infrastructure. IP-VPNs mostly rely on Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), which provides resilient and efficient network traffic flow.

Our IP-VPN service offers implementation, monitoring and management. This means your WAN will be managed by a single, reliable and secure provider, enabling:

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Traffic management

Secure traffic management across multiple sites

Security

A secure private network, without the cost of building one

Partnership

Collaboration capability

Agility

Bandwidth and transport flexibility

SD-WAN combines different traditional WAN technologies, like MPLS and broadband connections. This creates a single, seamless view of the network no matter what transport type is used, empowering organisations to implement real time changes to bandwidth allocation and create cost efficiencies. It also allows organisations to connect all of their offices to a central network in the cloud, increasing control and flexibility.

Our SD-WAN service helps to optimise traffic flows to improve performance and cost at branch sites, enabling businesses to dynamically route traffic across a hybrid-WAN based on the current network status by utilising multiple connections. SD-WAN enables:

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Cloud adoption

With digital transformation taking place, organisations are moving applications to the cloud

Application performance

With applications having different priorities and bandwidth requirements, the network needs to be completely scalable and manageable

Network optimisation

Having visibility of all types of connectivity, across different providers enables businesses to efficiently manage network performance

Faster and easier deployment

SD-WAN allows quick and easy deployment of a new site easily and faster without having to pull in valuable technical resources

Benefits of our IP-VPN service

Control how traffic is routed as well as managing capacity, prioritising service traffic and preventing congestion.
We provide a managed MPLS Layer3 service via our high capacity, resilient core network.
We provide a range of high availability Cisco routers offering best in class security.
Our IP-VPN supports a variety of bandwidth and transport options.
Prioritise eight separate classes of traffic according to its importance.
Considering SD-WAN in the future? Our IP-VPN solution has been designed to enable an easy transition to SD-WAN.

Benefits of our SD-WAN service

Enjoy an easy to scale network - easily add or consolidate.
Business continuity with central control for proactive maintenance and easy troubleshooting.
As a transport-agnostic solution, SD-WAN enables service agility.
With a complete view of the estate, network mangers can take advantage of real-time information to optimise the network.
Central management and visibility to proactively maintain and optimise the IT estate.
Near zero-touch-provisioning: Our SD-WAN solution provides plug-and-play deployment model.

"Neos Networks has been our managed network provider for many years, thanks to the partnership our teams are now better equipped to do their jobs and collaborate with their peers, from anywhere in the country."

– Chris Barnicott, CTO, SSE Group
Read full case study

"We began working with Neos Networks in 2015, when they deployed a robust core connectivity platform to help us expand our reach and meet ambitious growth plans. We’ve since taken advantage of the expansion of Neos Networks’ UK network to deliver more critical services to our customers."

– Mark Holden, Head of Data Networks, NatWest Group

"We took the decision to redesign our entire network to ensure we could operate no matter what the circumstances and Neos Networks became a fundamental piece in that puzzle. Our network demands have soared as the business has grown and, with new headquarters in Knightsbridge, we needed connectivity that could support the level of trading activity we’re engaged in now and in the future."

– Blair Wright, CIO, London Capital Group
Read full case study

WAN FAQs

Take a look at our FAQs for our WAN services

MPLS vs SD-WAN

Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) has been popular for a number of years now and is very good at providing robust and reliable connectivity as well as ensuring critical business information continues to flow, but it’s flexibility has also become a limiting factor. It's important to be aware of what the differences between MPLS vs SD-WAN are in order to make the best choice for your business needs.
What is a Wide Area Network (WAN)?

A single geographically distributed private telecommunications network that is made up of Local Area Networks (LAN) in the form of private lines, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), virtual private networks (VPNs), wireless (cellular) and the Internet. Its architecture, protocols and technologies have evolved to become SD-WAN.
What is SD-WAN?

Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) is a specific application of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technology applied to WAN connections, which are used to connect networks – including branch offices, headquarters, cloud platforms and data centres – over large geographic distances. SD-WAN distributes network traffic across the WAN which automatically determines the most effective way to route traffic to and from site locations and data centre sites.
What is a Local Area Network (LAN)?

LAN covers a limited geographical area and provides networks within a single office building or campus. A LAN comprises cables, access points, switches, routers, and other components that enable devices to connect to internal servers. Two of the most common LANs are Ethernet and Wi-Fi.
What is IP-VPN?

Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP-VPN) is one of the many types of WAN technology available. Find out more on what is an IP-VPN and the business benefits that could help your organisation.
What are the benefits of SD-WAN?

An SD-WAN service can optimise traffic flows to improve performance and cost at branch sites. This enables businesses to dynamically route traffic across a hybrid-WAN based on the current network status by utilising multiple connections. Learn more about the benefits of SD-WAN.
What are the benefits of IP-VPN?

Aside from the security benefits of using an IP-VPN, this system has various other advantages for organisations. Since it’s based on MPLS, the network traffic can be monitored and managed for quality and efficiency, as well as usage.

What’s more, IP-VPNs give businesses the ability to adjust the network performance to meet business needs, pushing certain traffic to the front of the queue as required. It’s also possible to access – and learn from – historical reports on usage and bandwidth statistics. Find out more here.
The importance of managed WAN services

With a managed wide area network, your network will be monitored and managed from an operations centre. Your provider will ensure secure traffic management across multiple sites, making certain that your network is performing at its best. Some providers allow you to view your network’s performance in real time. You’ll be alerted when there’s an issue, and kept in the loop while the problem is fixed. Managed WAN services also let you choose between different bandwidth and transport options, keeping your business agile.
What is hybrid WAN and what are the benefits?

Simply put, a hybrid WAN uses two different WAN circuits to transmit traffic between an organisation’s sites and data centres. These circuits can be used in a variety of combinations: a broadband and an MPLS circuit, a broadband and a cellular circuit, an internet and MPLS circuit, and so on.

The secondary circuit can be used to provide backup in case the primary circuit fails or is performing badly due to congestion. Or the secondary circuit can play a more active part in a network strategy, supplying additional resiliency and reliability. Hybrid WANs do, however, need managing if they are to use the secondary as anything other than a failsafe. Find out more here.