MPLS VPN vs SD WAN : The Big Mix-Up

SD-WAN the MPLS Killer ?

Marketed the wrong way as the “MPLS Killer,” SD-WAN has become the leading choice for provider solutions, driven by business demand. But this position is, in fact, largely the result of clever marketing.

MPLS has traditionally been associated with guaranteed bandwidth and high-level services, such as SDSL and FTTO fiber. These types of links are, unsurprisingly, more expensive than unguaranteed, asymmetrical bandwidth links with lower service levels.
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Repenser le MPLS VS le SD WAN ?

Considering SD-WAN the “MPLS killer” is, in fact, a basic mistake. MPLS is a transport protocol, so it can work with virtually any type of link: FTTO or FTTH, microwave radio links, 4G or 5G, and even satellite.
MPLS is based on a technology that has been massively deployed across operator backbones and is no more expensive than any other standard network in 2026.
Yet MPLS still carries the misleading perception of being a more expensive solution, with heavier operations and lower efficiency than SD-WAN—a technology based on an overlay, generally IPsec, running on top of basic access links such as Internet connections.
  • BUT being based on standard access links with an overlay used to recreate private networks brings its own set of challenges for SD-WAN, such as:
  • Providing QoS over links that do not support QoS is basically impossible. It’s more a way of working around the problem than actually solving it.
  • SLA (Service Level Agreement) responsibility becomes complex and diluted.
  • Latency, jitter, and packet loss are not deterministic and can fluctuate from one day to the next, depending on variations in the underlying access connections.

Mountain Men Vision

We chose not to discard the MPLS solution too quickly and instead decided to offer it natively as a free option across all our access links: FTTO or FTTH, 4G or 5G, and satellite.
This allows us to decouple the transport offering from the quality of service, providing our customers with a simple, efficient, low-cost, and highly scalable solution—without the constraints of SD-WAN-compatible equipment that can limit the scalability of their infrastructure.
But that doesn’t mean we’re closing the door on SD-WAN. Far from it.
We use it extensively to connect remote sites in other countries, with service commitments aligned with the type of connectivity involved.
And if you don’t believe us, we’re ready to prove it!
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