With the arrival of 5G, will enterprise-level networks disappear?

Reader Question:

Although I am also in the IT industry, I have been away from network technology for a long time and I don’t know where the latest technology is. Today, I suddenly thought that if 5G is popularized, the tariff will drop significantly, and VPN technology will be more secure, will it be possible to use 5G+VPN+cloud services to replace part of the enterprise network (at least the access layer) in the next 10-30 years? Will most of Cisco, Huawei, and Juniper’s enterprise network businesses be replaced by communication network businesses?

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5G will only erode the market share of wired access networks, but will not have much impact on enterprise networks.

Enterprise network mainly solves the following traffic models:

• Internal traffic of enterprise network sites
• Traffic between enterprise sites
• Traffic of company employees accessing the company's intranet from outside the company
• Traffic of corporate network company employees accessing the Internet
• Traffic volume of Internet users accessing enterprise network servers

Next, we will analyze the above traffic models one by one and see what impact the emergence of 5G will have.

• Internal traffic of enterprise network sites

This part is actually LAN traffic. The traffic does not need to flow out of the company at all. If the traffic is transmitted through the 5G network, it will be a waste of 5G network resources.

In addition, the private IP addresses allocated by the 5G network cannot realize direct P2P communication, and many software cannot communicate normally at all.

The boundary between external and internal users in an enterprise has become blurred, and enterprise data security cannot be guaranteed.

• Traffic between enterprise sites

This part is WAN traffic. Traffic can be transmitted through 5G network. At most, a layer of VPN protection can be added on the basis of 5G transmission to ensure data security.

But what is the difference between using 5G and traditional wired access? They are both pipes, just one visible pipe and the other invisible pipe.

The router has ports that support wired access as well as ports that support 3G/4G/5G. To upgrade to 5G, you only need to upgrade the router at the exit!

• Traffic of company employees accessing the company's intranet from outside the company

This part corresponds to remote access traffic. What is the difference between this and the current use of wired, wireless, and 4G to dial the company VPN? The only difference is that the transmission rate is faster!

• Traffic of corporate network company employees accessing the Internet

This part corresponds to outward Internet access, which does not require a corporate network. As long as the user's computer is inserted with a 5G card, they can access the Internet.

The problem is that a company needs as many 5G cards as it has employees and hosts that need to access the Internet, which is not very convenient.

If the company still has an enterprise network, wouldn't it be very convenient to insert a 5G card into the router at the exit and share it with employees within the company?

If this is the case, don’t we still need an enterprise network?

• Traffic volume of Internet users accessing enterprise network servers

This part represents the inbound Internet traffic. Whether the enterprise network server is in the company intranet or in the cloud, 5G only provides a network pipeline. The difference from traditional wired is just invisible to the naked eye!

If enterprise servers no longer use wired access but use 5G access, it is just a matter of upgrading the router so that the router has a 5G port!

In addition, it should be pointed out that the IP addresses assigned to terminals by 5G networks are private. If you want Internet users to have access to them, you must either use static address mapping or global IP, which requires additional fees.

The original intention of mobile 5G technology was to solve the last mile problem of mobile terminals. The characteristic of mobile terminals is that they can freely access servers on the Internet without the need for servers or other terminals to actively access themselves.

This is like a otaku watching a female anchor on the internet on his mobile phone. Before giving a tip, the anchor won't even know where the otaku is! After giving a tip, the anchor will be able to find you.

It is also necessary to add that, except for the last mile of 5G network, which is wireless technology, the rest is all wired technology. Ask yourself a question, why does 5G network not use all wireless technology, but wired technology?

• The wireless transmission distance is shorter than the wired distance and requires continuous relay.
• Wireless bands seem infinite but are actually limited
• Wireless is more susceptible to interference. Once strong interference (intentional or unintentional by the enemy) is received, the network will be unavailable.

However, wired networks still require traditional data communication equipment such as routers and switches, so there is still market demand for these companies' products!