Many companies host events for brand promotion and increased visibility. While this is a common marketing practice, enterprises set themselves apart by incorporating unique aspects. One such aspect is choosing an unusual location for the event. A music streaming service planned to host its five-hour-long event in an extraordinary location in England, inviting students to attend and share about the function on their social media platforms.
Challenge
The intended venue for the music event was an underground bunker that had previously served as a wartime factory. This unique location boasted tunnels that spanned 5 km long, adding an intriguing element to the function being held below ground.
Compounding the situation, the bunker was designed to block electromagnetic fields, further diminishing the chances of obtaining cellular reception. As a result, none of the guests attending the music streaming service’s event would have access to data services during the function.
Solution
Discovering they needed to establish their own network for the event, the music streaming service reached out to a Peplink partner. At street level just outside the bunker, a trailer was equipped with HD4 MBX 5G routers, linked back to an established FusionHub.
They were then connected to SDX Pros set up in high availability mode. To deliver connectivity to the bunker, SFP+ fiber cables were run inside to battery-powered 8-port SD Switches. These subsequently provided AP One AXs, installed in different areas where the event was held, with supercharged connectivity.
Result
This network combination of devices, both above and below ground, made the use of cellular connectivity possible within the bunker. The MBX 5G routers were configured to enable SpeedFusion’s Smoothing, allowing attendees of the event to deliver high-quality streams and clips of the function. The SDX Pros were primarily used for load balancing, ensuring that the network’s load was distributed evenly, maximizing the CPU resources of the MBX 5G routers. This also simplified network management, as all devices came out on the same IP address.
Since the event was to be for five hours at most, the devices in the bunker were able to rely on 12V batteries for power. The availability of custom captive portals with the AP One AXs allowed the music streaming service to collect demographic details, which they then used later on for targeted marketing campaigns. With all these factors combined, from seamless and supercharged connectivity for content sharing to successful data collection, the event achieved its goals.
Deployment
- Installed in trailer outside of the bunker
- Each using up to 4 cellular connections for redundancy
- Enables Smoothing for reduced latency and high quality streams
- Connected to the MBX 5G and set up in high availability mode
- Load balances network to ensure speed and bandwidth
- Enables efficient utilization of CPU resources
- Deployed to different areas of the bunker where event was held
- Attached to the SDX Pro via fiber cables
- Delivers connectivity to the AP One AXs
- Linked to the SD Switches and powered by batteries
- Delivers Wi-Fi 6 connectivity to event attendees
- Custom captive portals to collect demographic