A multinational corporation headquartered in Japan is building a new era of sports arena scheduled to open in the fall of 2025. To deliver a next-generation sports experience, the company plans to use digital technology for on-site live production, bringing the excitement of the game not only to the giant screen inside the venue, but also to AR and VR-equipped roadshow vans sent out to the wider community.
Fast, reliable connectivity will be key to making this plan a reality. With this in mind, the company turned to Peplink for a robust solution.
Challenge
Both the arena and mobile sites present challenges.
While large amounts of bandwidth are required for the live production and streaming, the 10,000 spectators at full capacity will overload the local cellular network. Therefore, the company can’t rely on LTE or 5G at the arena. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are good choices, but sometimes the latency and reliability can be an issue.
Roadshow vans typically can’t rely on landlines due to their mobile nature. But when it comes to mobile connectivity, signal strength always varies depending on location. No single Internet provider can guarantee consistent performance in all areas.
Solution
The Peplink solution designed for the company includes two featured models from a broad line of enterprise-grade routers, the Balance 2500 EC and BR2 Pro. Although installed in different locations, both are seamlessly integrated with Starlink.
The Balance 2500 EC is an impressively powerful router with the capabilities to handle the most demanding activities. Its 30 Gbps throughput is exactly what’s needed in the arena. Equipped with 8 GE WAN ports and 2 SFP+ WAN ports, this router can aggregate multiple connections that come through cables, in this case, combining 2 wired and 2 Starlink connections.
A SpeedFusion tunnel is created when the Balance 2500 EC connects to SpeedFusion Connect, Peplink’s virtual endpoint. Inside the tunnel, all 4 connections, though coming from different Internet sources, are bonded together by Bandwidth Bonding, one of Peplink’s patented technologies. This results in the high bandwidth and high speed required for live production and streaming.
If more redundancy is needed, the modular EPX can be an alternative. Not only does it offer the same router throughput as the Balance 2500 EC, it also allows users to customize the router with FlexModule Plus. The company can therefore combine additional cellular connections into the tunnel by inserting LTE or 5G FlexModule Plus. This leads to an ultra-fast and reliable network.
Similarly, like the arena, roadshow vans have every reason to be equipped with a powerful router, which is where the BR2 Pro comes in. Embedded with dual 5G modems, this mobile router offers built-in redundancy and twice the 5G speed. It also integrates a Starlink into the network via a cable connected to one of its WAN ports.
The BR2 Pro connects to the Balance 2500 EC in the arena, creating a tunnel that combines 2 5G and 1 Starlink together. In addition to increased speed and unparalleled reliability, this gives the company another benefit – they can secure each roadshow van with remote access and all the the features of SpeedFusion, even without a public or fixed IP.
Result
With Hot Failover, Starlink and wired or cellular connections seamlessly back up each other. The network achieves exceptionally high levels of reliability, ensuring uninterrupted live production, streaming, and AR/VR. At the same time, Bandwidth Bonding allows all of these Internet sources to be bonded together to provide the speed and bandwidth required for these intensive activities.
No single Internet service can be the answer to every connectivity problem, but Peplink devices, acting as a connectivity hub, can effectively address any connectivity challenge, no matter how complicated it is.
Deployment
- Edge Computing
- 30 Gbps Throughput
- 1 TB of Built-in Storage
- 11 WANs at Minimum
- Over 10,000 Concurrent Users
- Dual-5G
- Molex Micro-Fit Power Connector
- Ignition Sensing
- Wi-Fi 6 Capability & Wi-Fi as WAN
- USB WAN