SD-WAN with local internet breakout moves the security perimeter from the data centre to every branch. Each site with direct internet access needs its own threat prevention stack. BT SD-WAN addresses this through integrated NGFW capabilities on the Fortinet and Meraki appliances, with optional SASE and zero trust extensions for organisations adopting cloud-delivered security. This

Microsoft 365, Salesforce, AWS and other cloud platforms perform poorly over traditional hub-and-spoke WAN architectures. When branch traffic is backhauled to a central data centre before reaching the internet the added latency degrades application responsiveness. BT SD-WAN fixes this with local internet breakout and application-aware routing. This page covers how SD-WAN optimises cloud traffic, the

BT SD-WAN deployment timelines vary significantly depending on whether sites have existing BT circuits, the type of new connectivity being ordered and the complexity of the network design. A site with existing BT infrastructure can be live in 4 to 6 weeks. A new site requiring a leased line installation can take 12 weeks or

BT SD-WAN pricing is not published as a fixed rate card. The monthly cost per site depends on six variables: the underlay circuit type, bandwidth tier, SD-WAN vendor, licence tier, management model and contract length. Two businesses with the same number of sites can receive very different quotes depending on how these variables combine. This

BT SD-WAN is a managed service with SLA commitments that vary by circuit type, appliance model and support tier. Understanding the SLA structure is important when designing your network because the circuit you choose at each site directly determines the availability guarantee, fix time and service credits available. BT also offers two support models: fully

Migrating from BT MPLS (IP Connect or BT Connect) to BT SD-WAN is one of the most common WAN transformation projects in the UK. MPLS contracts are expensive and the hub-and-spoke architecture does not suit modern cloud-first organisations. SD-WAN provides local internet breakout, lower circuit costs, multi-path resilience and application-aware routing. However the migration requires

BT SD-WAN licence tiers control which security and networking features are active on each appliance. The tier you select affects what the device can do at the branch: basic SD-WAN overlay and routing at the lower tiers through to full NGFW, IPS, sandboxing and SASE integration at the higher tiers. Fortinet and Cisco Meraki are

BT SD-WAN runs over multiple underlay circuit types. The circuit you choose at each site determines the bandwidth, SLA targets, lead time and monthly cost. Most real-world deployments use a mix of circuit types across locations. A headquarters might run on a BTnet leased line while smaller branches use FTTP or SoGEA with 4G/5G failover.

BT offers SD-WAN through five vendor platforms: Fortinet, Cisco Meraki, Cisco vManage (Catalyst SD-WAN), VMware VeloCloud and Palo Alto Prisma. Each vendor takes a different approach to security, management and network architecture. The platform you select affects hardware at the branch, the management portal your team uses day-to-day, which security features are built in versus