{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T15:50:28Z","timestamp":1778860228202,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,28]],"date-time":"2024-04-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1714262400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Computers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Due to limited infrastructure and remote locations, rural areas often need help providing reliable and high-quality network connectivity. We propose an innovative approach that leverages Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) architecture to enhance reliability in such challenging rural scenarios. Our study focuses on cases in which network resources are limited to network solutions such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and a Low-Earth-Orbit satellite connection. The SD-WAN implementation compares three tunnel selection algorithms that leverage real-time network performance monitoring: Deterministic, Random, and Deep Q-learning. The results offer valuable insights into the practical implementation of SD-WAN for rural connectivity scenarios, showing its potential to bridge the digital divide in underserved areas.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/computers13050113","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,29]],"date-time":"2024-04-29T04:26:16Z","timestamp":1714364776000},"page":"113","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Enhancing Reliability in Rural Networks Using a Software-Defined Wide Area Network"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-1097-0421","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Borgianni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Via G. Caruso 16, 56122 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3007-1400","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Davide","family":"Adami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNIT\u2014Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Via G. Caruso 16, 56122 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1408-7528","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Giordano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Via G. Caruso 16, 56122 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1706-4994","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michele","family":"Pagano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Via G. 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