To improve customer and employee experience, convenience retailers are becoming increasingly dependent on high-volume, real-time data transmission for a growing range of essential applications.
Payment processing, digital menu boards, retail media, fuel tank monitoring, and video surveillance are among the more popular technology applications being deployed by c-store operators.
However, disruptions in network performance can undermine these technology investments, leading to operational inefficiencies, unnecessary downtime, customer dissatisfaction, and potential revenue loss, creating an urgent need for a comprehensive solution.
Recently, a leading Texas-based convenience store chain with ~50 stores began deploying a variety of new technology solutions to improve customer and employee experience. However, after rolling out a series of technology improvements to their stores, network performance actually began to degrade.
With so many new technologies in play, the root cause of the network performance issues was not immediately clear. Many of the standard petroleum retail Managed Network Service Provider (MNSP) solutions are built on older edge networking devices, with CPU and processing limitations that create substantial throughput bottlenecks.
Edge devices, which transmit data between the local network and the cloud, include such equipment as security gateways (commonly referred to as “firewalls”), VPN concentrators, access points and managed switches.
Sometimes, a different approach to restore and enhance performance is required; one that involves advanced edge devices and implementing innovative SD-WAN architecture.
Exploding Bandwidth Demand
Rapidly increasing bandwidth demand is straining many convenience store networks to their limits. Both the number of network applications and the bandwidth needs of each application have exploded.
In a short time span, the aforementioned retailer added digital signage, self-service kiosks, retail media, CCTV, and guest Wi-Fi to their network. The high data volume of something like video surveillance can quickly saturate available bandwidth, crowding out other applications. As the strain on its network grew, the retailer started to see many issues including media lagging and slower and poorer Wi-Fi performance.
The most apparent solution to not having enough bandwidth is to buy more bandwidth. In fact, the retailer paid their internet service provider to upgrade a test location’s broadband data plan from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps. However, the site’s network performance remained the same. Then they tried shutting off one application at a time to see if one or two greedy applications were to blame.
Even with twice the bandwidth, only a few applications could run without causing network issues. It seemed like something was throttling the bandwidth, stopping them from enjoying full data plan speeds. Looking for fresh ideas, the retailer called Mako Networks to investigate.
Mako Networks is a network vendor with deep experience in the petroleum space. Mako’s engineers knew to explore two critical potential bottlenecks: edge device limitations and network architecture.
Limited Edge Devices
Doubling available bandwidth will not help if outdated networking equipment with limited processing capacity is the limiting factor. Typical edge devices deployed throughout the convenience and petroleum industry only a few years ago can have a 20 Mbps throughput limit, which is far too low for the latest bandwidth-intensive applications.
This retailer was using a very common edge device model (from a major oil brand’s approved MNSP) with this sort of limitation at its test location, which was preventing the full speeds of the broadband data plan from being realized.
Inefficient Architecture
Networks built with these limited edge devices also suffer from poorly designed network architecture that routes all data through the equipment vendor’s central data center before it reaches application providers. This introduces unnecessary overhead and latency, especially during peak usage times. The added complexity of this inefficient, indirect routing not only slows down application performance but also creates a potential single point of failure for the entire network.
A Different Approach
Once an advanced security gateway was installed as the edge device at the retailer’s test location, the full data plan speeds immediately became available, and the network disruptions disappeared. Within two months, the retailer’s entire network had converted to advanced edge devices, and all network applications at each store were working together flawlessly.
Advanced Edge Devices
Advanced security gateways have significantly higher throughput capabilities than older edge devices, far exceeding the requirements of even the most advanced convenience stores. This robust equipment enables the network to efficiently manage bandwidth-heavy applications, while its advanced capabilities future-proof convenience stores against obsolescence risk.
By providing ample access to bandwidth, these edge devices enable immediate data availability, which is critical for maintaining operational efficiency and enhancing overall performance in a fast-paced retail environment. Even during peak usage times, the network remains responsive and reliable, improving customer and employee experience.
Innovative SD-WAN Architecture
Implementation of SD-WAN architecture ensures that every connected application routes directly to its host, significantly improving data transmission efficiency and eliminating the potential single point of failure found in more typical designs that route all traffic through a central data center.
This direct connection allows for fast processing of payment transactions and uninterrupted video feeds, enhancing customer experience and operational reliability.
Convenience stores adopting this architecture benefit from reduced latency and increased bandwidth utilization, ensuring that critical applications perform optimally, even while transmitting bandwidth-intensive video data.
Conclusion
This retailer’s experience illustrates a common and often overlooked issue facing convenience and petroleum industry retailers and other distributed businesses: network slowdowns that persist even after upgrading bandwidth.
While it is natural to assume that adding bandwidth will solve performance problems, the real culprits are often outdated edge hardware and inefficient network designs that cannot handle the demands of modern, data-intensive applications.
As convenience stores and similar businesses continue to adopt technologies like digital signage, self-checkout, remote monitoring, and high-definition video, the pressure on network infrastructure will only increase. Legacy equipment, particularly older edge devices with limited throughput and unnecessary overhead, can become hidden bottlenecks that mask the true potential of available bandwidth.
In contrast, advanced edge appliance capabilities and innovative SD-WAN implementation provide a robust solution that enhances bandwidth utilization and minimizes latency. Understanding how these underlying architectural limitations impact performance is essential. Investing in modern edge infrastructure and streamlined network routing—not just faster data plans—can ensure a smoother, more reliable digital experience across locations.
For organizations embarking on digital transformation, a thorough review of network design and hardware capacity may be the most effective first step toward long-term performance and scalability.
Contact Mako Networks to learn more.
