Is cellular better than Starlink for event internet?

Cellular and Starlink have different strengths and weaknesses for event internet. Starlink can be affected by weather, obstructions, or satellite handoffs, while cellular networks can become congested when large numbers of people are using their phones. PopUp WiFi overcomes these limitations by bonding multiple carrier connections together and optionally adding Starlink for even greater redundancy.

Can I rely on a venue fibre connection for my event internet?

A venue fibre connection can provide excellent performance, but it is still a single point of failure. If the fibre service drops out or the venue network becomes congested, your event internet may be disrupted. PopUp WiFi bonds venue fibre with multi-carrier 5G connections in real time, providing seamless failover and improved reliability.

What happens if one internet connection fails during my event?

PopUp WiFi uses Peplink packet-level bonding technology to combine multiple internet connections, including 5G, Starlink, and venue fibre. If one connection fails, traffic automatically continues across the remaining active connections, helping to keep your event online without interruption.

Why does PopUp WiFi use Peplink routers?

All PopUp WiFi units use Peplink routers because they provide advanced connection bonding, failover, monitoring, and management capabilities. Peplink is also an official Starlink partner, ensuring seamless integration between Starlink and other internet connections.

United Against Outages

Q: Why wouldn’t you just use Starlink alone?

While Starlink is a useful tool, we do not rely on it as a standalone solution for critical connectivity because it creates a single point of failure. If Starlink experiences an outage, the entire network can be affected. PopUp WiFi integrates Starlink as one of multiple internet backhaul options, bonding it with multi-carrier 5G connections from all major carriers using Peplink technology to create a highly redundant network.

Q: Do I need backup power for my event internet?

Backup power is strongly recommended for any event where internet connectivity is critical. PopUp WiFi units support compatible battery systems, including Milwaukee M18 and DeWalt XR batteries, providing instant power failover if mains power is interrupted.

BYOB (Bring Your Own Backup)

Eliminate single points of failure with the PopUp WiFi 5G-Force

If the mantra “Two is One; One in None” is burnt into your soul, you’ll understand why we baked inter-operability into all PopUp WiFi designs.

Gold-plate your connectivity and electricity with extra layers of seamless redundancy for the most important jobs – and use the quality equipment you already have on hand.

If you have a Starlink, a house connection (or both), add them to your PopUp WiFi unit for completely seamless integration. Better than backup, it’s packet-level bonding by Peplink – totally unlimited and expertly managed 24/7 by our certified network engineers.

Electrical failures pose one of the biggest risks to your network performance. Our range is designed to let you layer up your power by adding your own Milwaukee M18 or/and DeWalt XR Li-Ion batteries.

Rent or purchase a PopUp WiFi solution for high-availability internet that works on its own or integrates with your equipment, leaving you free to concentrate on what’s in front of you.

Built For Backstage, Better Together

All-You-Can-Eat Data

Live Insights

Gold-Plate Your WAN

Take Control Over Power

Eliminate Slow-downs With All-You-Can-Eat Data

Standard “unlimited” cellular SIMs generally come with plans with “reasonable usage” limits buried in the fine-print. They allow users a certain amount of 5G bandwidth, before suddenly dropping to much-lower speeds when the limit is reached. No big deal for regular usage – disasterous for events.

All PopUp WiFi models bond any best-performing combination of all major national cellular carriers, with genuinely unlimited, unthrottled high-speed data using FusionSIM and SpeedFusion from Peplink.

No need to worry about hitting a “reasonable usage” limit on your 5G data and dropping to dial-up speed during a critical moment in your event.

Focus On the Task At Hand

Whether or not you’re a technical person, show days are busy. The last thing you want to be doing during a critical deployment is troubleshooting your internet performance. That’s why we include expert live management and support with every rental and sale.

Our turnkey tools and fast plug’n’play setup lets Peplink-certified network engineers seamlessly monitor and manage your entire network in real time. Whether you run your PopUp WiFi alone, or add a Starlink or other connection, we’ll keep a close eye on the total network performance, leaving you free to give your full attention to your clients.

Live Network Insights

Skip straight to the answers with Slipstream, free with every PopUp WiFi rental. It gives producers moment-by-moment insights into exactly what is going on with your event network, right across an entire conference or festival site.

How much bandwidth is being used in any moment;
Number of devices connected to each unit;
Live info about top users of bandwidth, unit by unit;
Alerts if someone unplugs a unit,
Fast troubleshooting if you need to work with our tech or logistics team.

BYOB (Bond Your Own Backup) Network Consolidation

When it comes to internet backhaul, “more is more”. Every time you add another connection, you add another layer of redundancy and reliability on top of:

1. Advanced packet-level bonding

PopUp WiFi solutions combine the best of any available sources of internet backhaul into one high-availability network using advanced packet-level bonding from Peplink.

2. Multiple carriers

With several types of internet running simultaneously, a drop out on any of the connections won’t bring your link down. All units connect to any combination of all major national 5G carriers simultaneously, and integrate any other connections you happen to have access to using sophisticated packet-level bonding.

3. Peplink routers

All models include enterprise-grade routers from Peplink, featuring SpeedFusion and FusionSIM technology. Our Peplink-certified engineers manage and monitor the entire network using proprietary tools that integrate your connections into our management platform for seamless total network oversight.

Integrate WAN On Hand

If you happen to have any other types of WAN on hand, add them to your PopUp WiFi network totally free:

Starlink

Seamlessly integrating with all Starlink models, our Peplink-certified engineers can manage and monitor the entire network using proprietary tools that integrate your satellite connection into our management platform for total network oversight - totally free and expertly managed.

In-house Fiber

Want our engineers to manage your whole production network? Optionally plug any available onsite hardline connection/s to WAN port on the side of your PopUp WiFi unit to create robust, consolidated managed solution with instant seamless failover, multi-carrrier 5G data & WAN-smoothing.

House WiFi

If there's WiFi at your venue, we can bond that bandwidth wirelessly with the multi-carrier 5G connections using WiFi WAN and packet-level bonding. Handy if you want to consolidate your entire network into one managed solution with seamless failover and live expert monitoring.

Take Control Over Power with Seamless Battery Integration

One of the biggest risks to your network performance is flakey electricity (and the odd unwitting attendee who starts unplugging things to charge their phone!). Outages caused by loose outlets or generator glitches can suddenly disconnect and power cycle your router over and over. Adding instant battery power with instant seamless failover means a power failure doesn’t automatically cause an internet outage.

The PopUp WiFi 5G-Force is compatible with the popular Milwaukee M18 and DeWalt XR Li-Ion battery ranges.

Instant Seamless Failover

Connect a battery to any PopUp WiFi unit for a seamless source of backup power. If there’s a sudden electricity outage, your unit will automatically run on battery power, buying you a couple of hours of run time while mains power is restored.

Hot Swappable

The Beast Mach 3 and Titan models feature dual battery plates for double the run time. Easily swap out your batteries for recharging with zero downtime during a show.

Run Times

Run times are based on the performance of a brand new Li Ion battery, fully-charged, with the PopUp WiFi unit running at maximum capacity. Run times will vary according to the health of your batteries. We’ve included minimum run time indications with all PopUp WiFi units below.

Flying With PopUp WiFi

Regulations prevent easy flying with Li Ion batteries, so we added external battery ports, integrated with the popular Milwaukee M18 and DeWalt XR ranges, available nationally. This lets you fly with just your PopUp WiFi appliance (check it in) and easily source your batteries when you land.

Minimum Run Times*

Titan

84 watts power draw

Dual Battery Port	Capacity	Wh	1 x Battery  @85% eff.	2 x Batteries  @85% eff.
Continuous power	6 Ah	108 Wh	1 h 6 min	2 h 11 min
Hot swappable	9 Ah	162 Wh	1 h 38 min	3 h 17 min
UPSH/Hot Failover	12 Ah	216 Wh	2 h 11 min	4 h 22 min

Beast Mach 3

73 watts power draw

Dual Battery Port	Capacity	Wh	1 x Battery  @85% eff.	2 x Batteries  @85% eff.
Continuous power	6 Ah	108 Wh	1 h 15 min	2 h 31 min
Hot swappable	9 Ah	162 Wh	1 h 53 min	3 h 46 min
UPSH/Hot Failover	12 Ah	216 Wh	2 h 31 min	5 h 2 min

Workhorse

72 watts power draw

Single Battery Port	Capacity	Wh	1 x Battery  @85% eff.	2 x Batteries  @85% eff.
	6 Ah	108 Wh	1 h 06 min	N/A
	9 Ah	162 Wh	1 h 38 min	N/A
UPSH/Hot Failover	12 Ah	216 Wh	2 h 11 min	N/A

*Run time = (Wh × batteries) ÷ watts. The 85% efficiency factor accounts for real-world battery losses, heat, and conversion overhead. Actual runtime will vary with load and temperature. Assumes the batteries are brand new and fully-charged.

Minimum run time* with brand new fully charged batteries

Titan

84 watts power draw

Dual Battery Port	Capacity	Wh	1 x Battery @85% eff.	2 x Batteries @ 85% eff.
← Swipe left to view all columns
Continuous power	6 Ah	108 Wh	1 h 6 min	2 h 11 min
Hot swappable	9 Ah	162 Wh	1 h 38 min	3 h 17 min
UPSH/Hot Failover	12 Ah	216 Wh	2 h 11 min	4 h 22 min

Beast Mach 3

73 watts power draw

Dual Battery Port	Capacity	Wh	1 x Battery  @85% eff.	2 x Batteries  @85% eff.
← Swipe left to view all columns
Continuous power	6 Ah	108 Wh	1 h 15 min	2 h 31 min
Hot swappable	9 Ah	162 Wh	1 h 53 min	3 h 46 min
UPSH/Hot Failover	12 Ah	216 Wh	2 h 31 min	5 h 2 min

Workhorse

72 watts power draw

Single Battery Port	Capacity	Wh	1 x Battery  @85% eff.	2 x Batteries  @85% eff.
← Swipe left to view all columns
	6 Ah	108 Wh	1 h 06 min	N/A
	9 Ah	162 Wh	1 h 38 min	N/A
UPSH/Hot Failover	12 Ah	216 Wh	2 h 11 min	N/A

*Run time = (Wh × batteries) ÷ watts. The 85% efficiency factor accounts for real-world battery losses, heat, and conversion overhead. Actual runtime will vary with load and temperature.

Action Stories From The Field

Frequently Asked Questions

Why wouldn't you just use Starlink alone?

While Starlink is a useful tool, we do not rely on it for standalone use in critical connectivity as it represents a single point of failure that could bring the whole network down if it went down. Starlink is one of many kinds of internet backhaul that integrate directly with the PopUp WiFi range.

All PopUp WiFi units utilize Peplink routers. Peplink is an official Starlink partner, ensuring compatibility between our systems and giving our engineers full oversight of all your connections for management and monitoring. When connected, the system bonds the Starlink satellite connection with multicarrier 5G connections from all major carriers.

This bonding process creates a "gold-plated" and highly redundant network. The primary advantage of this setup is that the user will not lose internet access even if one, two, or three of the individual connections fail.

Is cellular better than Starlink?

Cellular and Starlink have different failure points that apply specifically to event internet. Starlink can drop out from weather, obstructions, or satellite handoffs. Standard cellular can struggle when a venue is packed with people on their phones.

PopUp WiFi avoids both these failure points by bonding multiple SIMs across all major carriers. Add a Starlink connection to your PopUp WiFi unit, and Peplink's packet-level bonding combines it for even more redundancy.

Can I rely on venue fiber connection for my event internet?

A single fiber line is still one point of failure. If it drops, or the venue's network gets congested, your event loses internet with no backup. PopUp WiFi bonds your venue's fiber connection with multi-carrier 5G in real time, so a dropped line doesn't take your network down. Every connection is monitored live by Peplink-certified engineers for total network oversight.

Do I need backup power for my event internet?

Electrical failures pose one of the biggest risks to your network performance. Something as simple as someone unplugging your unit to charge their phone mid-event can take out your connection when you need it most.

That's why we baked interoperability into the whole PopUp WiFi range. By adding a battery, you take control over power using batteries you probably already have laying around in your shed, like the Milwaukee M18 range and DeWalt XR batteries. Clip them into the side of the unit for instant failover every time.