A National Pet Store Chain Uses WiLine for Smarter Multi-Location Networking

A national pet store chain, partnered with WiLine to standardize its network architecture, reduce downtime, and ensure consistent performance across its 70+ locations.

WiLine Services Used:

• Proprietary Private 5G FWA Based Internet Rollout to Each Location

• UCaaS Deployment Including In-Store Wireless Phone Handsets

• Provider and Billing Consolidation and Cost Savings

Operational and Network Hurdles

This national pet store chain faced multiple operational and network hurdles. Their existing infrastructure, built on traditional cable connections, suffered from unreliable internet, leading to intermittent outages, latency spikes, and inconsistent throughput. This instability directly impacted critical systems, including point-of-sale, VoIP, and inventory management, which in turn affected staff productivity and the overall customer experience.

Adding to these issues was a fragmented vendor landscape. Each of the 70+ locations utilized different ISPs and service providers, creating a complex and difficult-to-manage network environment. Troubleshooting and monitoring required coordinating across multiple providers, significantly increasing the mean time to resolution (MTTR) for any issues that arose.

Finally, the company's expansion plans were hampered by scaling complexity. With 2–5 new stores opening annually, the process of onboarding new sites was inefficient. It involved negotiating with multiple providers, configuring diverse network setups, and integrating them with existing systems. This variability in infrastructure increased both operational risk and the workload for the IT staff, diverting their attention from more strategic projects.

A Standardized, Phased Approach

WiLine implemented a standardized, phased approach to address the challenges faced by the pet store chain. The solution was designed to deliver reliable, high-performance connectivity across all locations while simplifying management and reducing operational overhead.

• Private 5G FWA Internet Rollout: WiLine's proprietary Private 5G FWA connectivity solution was deployed at all locations. This provided high-speed bandwidth with low latency, ensuring the reliable performance of phone, POS, inventory, and other operational applications. The Private 5G FWA solution combines multiple Private 5G FWA links with highly specialized directional rooftop antennae, in an active/active deployment architecture, eliminating the risk of dropped phone calls and internet downtime caused by traditional cable outages.

• UCaaS Deployment: The voice and collaboration infrastructure was standardized across key locations, providing wireless phones to staff moving throughout the stores and stock rooms. This not only provided consistent VoIP performance but also streamlined internal workflows and established a baseline for further network improvements.

• Provider and Billing Consolidation: Multiple service providers and contracts were consolidated into a single managed system. This centralization of services, combined with centralized monitoring, enabled the IT team to track performance more effectively, respond to issues faster, and reduce administrative overhead.

Comprehensive, Standardized, and Centralized Network Infrastructure

WiLine continues to deliver a comprehensive, standardized, and highly reliable network infrastructure that underpins both operational consistency and ongoing business expansion for the pet store chain. By integrating multiple, advanced, antenna-based Private 5G FWA links at each location the network ensures high-speed, low-latency, and highly resilient connectivity across all store locations. This robust foundation enables predictable and reliable performance for critical operational systems, including point-of-sale systems, inventory management platforms, and phone communications, while eliminating the risk of downtime during peak operational hours and high-traffic periods.

The deployment strategy is built around scalability and repeatability, allowing new store locations to be provisioned efficiently using pre-defined network profiles, standardized antenna configurations, and uniform monitoring setups. This approach minimizes the potential for configuration drift, maintains consistent service levels, and simplifies both troubleshooting and ongoing maintenance, ensuring that every location operates within the same high standard of connectivity and reliability, to better serve customers

Centralized monitoring systems and standardized performance baselines provide complete visibility into network health across all sites. This enables proactive issue detection, rapid incident response, and more effective capacity planning, ensuring that any potential problems are addressed before they impact operations. Furthermore, the network architecture incorporates active/active redundancy, guaranteeing continuity of critical business functions in the event of localized service interruptions or technical failures.

Overall, this structured, repeatable, and scalable network approach ensures that the pet store chain can continue to expand its store footprint and serve more customers without compromising on connectivity standards, operational stability, or technical robustness. The infrastructure is designed to accommodate future technology upgrades, additional digital services, and evolving business requirements, providing a strong foundation for long-term growth and innovation.