Forward error correction, or, FEC, is a key feature of SD-WAN that improves application performance by minimizing packet loss.
How does it work? Have you ever been on a video conference with a choppy connection? That’s a result of packet loss. Forward error correction provides recovery of lost packets on the receiving branch, by generating an FEC packet which is used to recover the lost packet. If a packet is missing, you already have the forward error correction packet.
So when would a customer use forward error correction? It’s great for voice, conference calling or video conferencing. FEC is recommended for the customer sites that are experiencing loss of clarity in VoIP calls and can be turned on automatically when links carrying the VoIP traffic violates the pre-configured SLA metrics. Forward error correction, along with packet replication, can help to provide maximum protection and correction to improve user experience.
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