Innoptus Solar Team Stays Connected with Peplink on the Way to a Historic Win

The Challenge

Staying Connected Across a Changing Route

Across a route this long and varied, different parts of the journey called for different connectivity options. 5G delivered fast connectivity wherever cellular coverage reached, while Starlink added a high-speed satellite path well suited to the open, remote areas in between.

But neither path was available all of the time. Cellular coverage thinned out for long stretches, and Starlink could be interrupted by obstructions such as tree cover and terrain while the vehicles were moving.

Having two Internet connections was only part of the solution. The hard part was getting them to work as one network that never dropped, without anyone in the convoy managing the switch by hand.

That mattered because the one thing Innoptus needed most was real-time tracking it could count on throughout the race. The team relied on live data to adjust how it ran the car, such as conserving energy ahead of lower solar irradiance or adapting speed to changing wind conditions.

The convoy therefore needed a network that could draw on both connectivity paths while keeping live tracking and critical communications consistently available.

The Solution

Building a Resilient Network with 5G and Starlink

Each of Innoptus Solar Team's eight convoy vehicles was equipped with a BR1 Pro 5G and Starlink Mini, integrated into a weatherproof Antenna MAX S setup. That gave every vehicle two independent WAN paths: 5G and Starlink.

FusionHub was deployed as the team's central endpoint. It let all eight vehicles establish SpeedFusion tunnels back to the home team, so every vehicle sat on the same managed network no matter where it was.

With those tunnels in place, SpeedFusion could tie the two onboard paths together across the convoy. Both connections stayed active throughout the race, and when either one dropped, Hot Failover moved traffic to the other automatically. No manual switching, no dropped sessions.

All eight vehicle networks were remotely managed through InControl, giving the team centralized visibility and control over the whole fleet. InControl also provided visibility into Starlink status and diagnostics, allowing the team to monitor both connectivity paths from a single interface.

The Result

Uninterrupted Tracking. Timely Decisions. A Historic Win.

SpeedFusion kept 5G and Starlink working as one connection for eight straight days. Zero connectivity downtime, from the start line to the finish.

With continuous connectivity, the team could combine real-time data from the car with satellite imagery and weather forecasts to build a clearer picture of conditions ahead. This was critical. The team used it to make timely, accurate calls on energy consumption and speed. In a race spanning thousands of miles, small margins decide the result.

Selected race data was also synchronized to a public dashboard. Together with livestreaming, this gave fans around the world a real-time view of the car and its progress throughout the race.

When a device on the convoy needed support mid-race, Venn Telecom handled it remotely through InControl without requiring on-site intervention. With connectivity running behind the scenes, the team could focus entirely on the race.

From the busy start in Minneapolis to the most remote stretches of the route, Peplink gave Innoptus the reliability and visibility to keep moving. The team crossed the finish line as the first European winner of the American Solar Challenge.