7 Reasons to Not Use MPLS and 4 Better Alternatives

Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is a network technology for routing and packet forwarding in private, wide-area network (WAN) connections. It is a switching mechanism that uses labels to decide the shortest possible path instead of the usual network address.

In general, these labels are more effective for directing data through paths than traditional internet protocols — which use long, less efficient network addresses when moving data from one internet node to another.

MPLS was designed for yesterday’s enterprise

MPLS has some good aspects, but it actually falls short when it comes to fulfilling today’s dynamic network needs.

Originally, MPLS arose from the need to resolve internet routing issues by creating standards that improved quality of service (QoS). This was ultimately meant to boost efficiency across networks due to better data packet performance.

When MPLS showed up, it was attractive because of its protocol independence and scalability. It offered both flexibility and the capacity to grow.

Additionally, because of its unique architecture, MPLS was able to provide high-performance data transmission faster and more reliably, even across large enterprise networks.

Nevertheless, despite how MPLS is still in use today, it has become an outdated legacy system.

Below are seven reasons why MPLS has fallen out of favor.

1. MPLS is expensive

As a good manager or network administrator, you must take several considerations into account when choosing your preferred technology. One of the biggest factors you have to consider is cost. As a private network, MPLS may be more secure and reliable, but it’s also expensive to implement.

Compared to run-of-the-mill broadband internet connections, MPLS pricing is on another planet.

Estimates on MPLS monthly costs can vary greatly depending on local costs to access fiber, so it isn’t easy to provide a reliable estimate. Still, suffice it to say that you can expect savings of at least 15% and 40% when you switch to internet VPN connections instead.

The average cost of MPLS is between $300 and $600 per Mbps each month. In comparison, broadband connectivity will only set you back between $1.50 and $15 per Mbps each month, with internet services costing between $25 and $200 per month.

Bear in mind the actual costs for MPLS can vary significantly based on location, service provider, and the volume of traffic purchased. Large enterprises negotiating bulk deals often receive lower rates.

Setting up MPLS by yourself isn’t advisable because of the relative complexity of the manual configuration involved. Therefore, MPLS configuration is typically outsourced to managed service providers who set up and operate the infrastructure, which increases the price.

Remember that MPLS’s advantages, like prioritizing traffic for different packet types, come from its ability to route real-time packets, such as video data, through a lower network latency path. To make this possible, MPLS requires specialized equipment like label switch routers to read the MPLS labels. Once again, these add to the overall cost of MPLS infrastructure.

As a result, MPLS is feasible for highly specific use cases, but not ideal for your entire network.

2. Manual deployment and configuration

One of the most prominent use cases for MPLS is managing more extensive networks while offering an enhanced quality of service (QoS).

However, MPLS is generally difficult to deploy because its manual configuration poses a considerable challenge — which can also increase exponentially when compounded by the complexity of setting up multiple locations and branch offices that are often required by MPLS systems.

As a result, your MPLS installation could also take months to complete if your offices are geographically dispersed across vast areas, such as in different countries.

To complicate the scenario even further, the type of deployment and upgrades demanded by MPLS are usually resource-intensive processes to carry out on private network connections. This means MPLS can take several months to deploy, which is extraneous work that can start to wear on you and your engineers pretty fast.

3. Security issues

MPLS has some built-in advantages when it comes to cybersecurity. One of these is its status as a private network, which gives it a narrower attack surface than its public counterparts.

While it’s good for users to have some level of control over their security, MPLS completely hands security to the user. For example, you can leverage its labeling mechanism to mark sensitive data so it can be routed through a secure VPN.

However, the drawback to this level of control is that malicious actors can manipulate data packets to fool MPLS routers into assigning labels, therefore allowing malware to slip past it and spread through the network. Of course, firewalls and antivirus systems may mitigate this, but they add yet another headache to an already challenging manual configuration process.

Much like any other network, following MPLS security best practices is an ongoing battle.

4. Incompatible with the cloud

MPLS systems need their own dedicated infrastructure, and their hub-and-spoke architecture makes them incompatible with the cloud. Therefore, they are a poor fit for businesses that already use the cloud or are considering transitioning to it.

Similarly, MPLS is built for point-to-point connectivity, and this rigidity presents a disadvantage for the cloud. Since MPLS doesn’t support edge cases and endpoint applications, it doesn’t align with SaaS (software as a service) applications, which is a dominant model in today’s market.

SEE: Learn more about computer networking fundamentals like point-to-point networks.

5. Limited control

First of all, yes, an argument about limited control would apparently be contradictory to our statements about security issues.

Theoretically speaking, MPLS does provide the user with control.

However, because of the difficulty of its practical implementation, it is almost exclusively deployed and configured by ISPs, leaving you with little practical control over it.

Thus, this compels you to work in lockstep with your service provider to tailor specifications to your needs, especially wherever you think extra security is required.

6. Static connections and inflexible route changes

MPLS connections are like dedicated railroad tracks, meaning their routes cannot change very easily. In addition, these dedicated connections are static, making them less nimble and less useful at times than dynamic ones.

7. Limited scalability

MPLS’s dedicated infrastructure is the root of the many evils that have plagued it and driven organizations away from embracing it. All things considered, it’s what creates its high costs and discourages its scalability — especially when you take its manual deployment into account.

Therefore, MPLS doesn’t empower organizations to grow their bandwidth quickly when the occasion demands it.

Four alternatives to MPLS

In the not-too-distant past, the only technology that allowed users to work efficiently with applications was the MPLS. However, as noted, MPLS is costly and riddled with shortcomings that no longer make it an attractive or viable option.

Instead, the following alternatives have supplanted MPLS.

1. VPN

A Virtual Private Network is a technology used to protect user data and privacy when they are online. It does this by creating an encrypted connection between a user’s device and the remote server it accesses.

In so doing, a VPN hides your IP address to provide privacy and anonymity to your online activities. VPN technology also allows users to sidestep website blocks to circumvent firewalls and access censored, forbidden, or geo-blocked content.

Common VPN business use cases and capabilities:

• VPNs allow employees, staff, and partners to access the company’s resources securely.
• Empowers users and organizations to avoid bandwidth throttling that degrades their online experience by deliberately slowing down their internet speed.
• VPNs can spoof locations to bypass geographical restrictions for certain content.
• Provides and protects a user’s privacy as they surf the web.
• VPNs fortify cybersecurity by making Wi-Fi use safer.

Advantages of VPNs over MPLS:

• VPNs facilitate remote access, and MPLS doesn’t provide the secure site-to-site connections that VPN affords.
• VPNs are much cheaper and more cost-effective for the average business or user to implement.
• VPNs are more secure, providing encryption as a basic standard.

2. SD-WAN

The dominance and spread of cloud computing led to the emergence of a new set of technologies that departed from hardware infrastructure. This decoupling from hardware enabled them to function as virtual systems and services.

SD-WAN is the acronym for Software-Defined Wide Area Network and is a prime example of one of those solutions. It is a type of technology that uses software-defined networking (SDN) principles and techniques to optimize the pragmatic use of WAN.

Common SD-WAN business use cases and capabilities:

• Businesses can use SD-WAN to connect their headquarters, major offices, and data centers more cost-effectively. It is also ideal for remote workforce connectivity.
• SD-WAN fully supports cloud systems, both private and public, and can be used for SaaS applications. Unlike MPLS, which isn’t compatible with cloud-based computing, SD-WAN aligns with remotely hosted data processing centers.
• SD-WAN allows organizations to implement policy-driven centralized management. As a result, it remedies some of MPLS’s major flaws by providing wide area networks with a centralized operations center, making system-wide deployment much easier.
• By virtue of its WAN virtualization and network abstraction, SD-WAN makes elastic traffic management possible.
• SD-WAN gives you more control over your network through increased application-level visibility, allowing you to optimize network traffic based on your app’s bandwidth and data requirements.
• SD-WAN offers increased cybersecurity with features like firewall protection, end-to-end Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) security and encryption, and intrusion data protection.

Advantages of SD-WAN over MPLS:

• SD-WAN is more secure than MPLS while also being less costly.
• Its software-based routing provides flexibility that leads to efficient routing, allowing factors to be determined by prioritization-driven policy and quality of service (QoS) settings.
• Its direct-to-network connectivity allows organizations to augment MPLS with affordable broadband in a hybrid format.
• SD-WAN provides organizations with an efficient and effective alternative to traditional WAN, which is especially vital as they transition to the cloud from on-premises data centers.
• It provides more connectivity options to implement networking rules over various types of connections.
• While traditional WAN leverages symmetric optimization techniques, SD-WAN operates via asymmetric methods that offer users internet connections and MPLS link services.
• It’s better at enforcing consistent network and security policies across company branches.

3. Hybrid SD-WAN

As the name suggests, hybrid SD-WAN is a deployment that combines SD-WAN with traditional MPLS. This model allows organizations to use network links such as broadband, 4G/5G, and MPLS.

Common Hybrid SD-WAN business use cases and capabilities: 

• Organizations can use hybrid SD-WAN to connect or bridge two geographically dispersed WANs to send traffic over different connection types.
• Has the ability to have one connection use MPLS to link to the data center while another uses broadband or a VPN connection for the internet. Funneling traffic through the internet reduces latency and eliminates the extra hops that happen when routed through a data center.
• It permits traffic to flow seamlessly between links without degradation. For instance, if one line goes down, is hampered by latency, or experiences a loss of packets, it can be switched with another line to meet service level agreements (SLA).
• Hybrid SD-WAN is cost-effective for businesses since it allows them to route traffic through the internet, which is cheaper than doing it through MPLS.

Advantages of Hybrid SD-WAN over MPLS:

• Hybrid SD-WAN allows you to get the best of both worlds. This is an immense advantage for corporate enterprises that have a substantial network footprint due to multiple branches and large remote workforces.
• Hybrid SD-WAN offers optimized user path selection. Based on real-time monitoring factors such as identified latency and the number of errors over a link, it allows the network administrators to decide which route represents the best path to reach the data center at a given instance.
• Hybrid SD-WAN allows the implementation of policies so that users can have control over path selection and configuration. This makes it easier for organizations to reconfigure branches.
• Hybrid SD-WAN offers better WAN services, such as better security and unified visibility for traffic monitoring. It also offers simplified and enhanced management of mobile devices and WAN traffic, which can lead to reduced WAN costs.

4. SASE

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a modern way to combine networking and security into one simple system, delivered through the cloud. Instead of using expensive, dedicated lines like MPLS, SASE works over regular internet connections to link users directly to the cloud, reducing delays and saving money. It also includes built-in security, so businesses don’t need to buy extra tools.

Since it’s cloud-based, it’s simple to expand and adjust as a business grows or changes by integrating networking and security services into one platform. Some of the most common services unified include:

• Firewall as a Service (FWaaS). One of the shortcomings of VPNs and firewalls is that they were designed for the traditional network security perimeter. However, by relocating firewall protection to the cloud, FWaaS enables organizations to connect their remote and mobile workforce to the corporate network securely. Learn more about FWaaS.
• Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB). As an intermediary between cloud-hosted services and the consumer, CASB enforces security and compliance policies. Read about the top CASB solutions.
• Secure Web Gateway (SWG). SWG allows networks to filter out unwanted traffic, data, and entities using DNS information to protect connected devices. Learn more about SWG.
• Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). This is a set of technological approaches that emphasize granular access control via micro-segmentation, with a philosophy of granting only necessary permissions. Learn more about ZTNA.

Thus, if you are looking for massive scalability to boost your network’s ability to handle increased traffic, it makes sense to check out the top SASE platforms.

Common SASE business use cases and capabilities: 

• SASE allows you to build a unified cloud security model by combining your security solutions with an architecture of different network functions.
• SASE can be delivered as a service, so it can be integrated into your existing architecture both quickly and cost-effectively.

Advantages of SASE over MPLS:

• Unifies network security tools by providing them in a single management console.
• Better scalability and flexibility for an increasingly remote access workforce.
• Allows you to offer secure zero-trust network access.
• Potentially faster and more reliable connection.