Trade fair for the electrical sector, 87 stands spread across four halls, totaling over 5,000 m².

The challenge lay not only in the distances and the environment—concrete ceilings, hard floors, metal racks. At a trade fair, three types of users with opposing needs are on the same network. Exhibitors demonstrate devices that need to be online and cannot tolerate any interruptions. The crew must be able to keep working, even at the busiest moment. Visitors simply hang on the screen in unpredictable numbers. On top of that, the payment terminals are running, and under no circumstances must they depend on visitor traffic.

As the backbone, we deployed our NetBeam. This is a mobile mast that we developed ourselves for exactly this type of project: one tall, central point that bundles multiple internet connections, from which sector-specific access points cover an entire site. Four connections simultaneously in this case—2x 5G and 2x Starlink via multi-WAN bonding—so that the loss of one line does not halt the event.

We deploy the NetBeam just as effectively outdoors as indoors. On a festival field or a town square, it stands in the open air; here, it was in an exhibition hall. The principle remains the same: bringing connectivity to places where there is no fixed infrastructure, and doing so within a setup time that fits into an event schedule.

The four halls were interconnected via fiber optics, each hall with its own L2 switch hosting the access points and wired stand connections. A total of 18 access points. The network was split into protected zones for exhibitors, crew, payment terminals, and visitors, the latter via a captive portal.

One choice was up for discussion. In the largest hall, we did not mount access points along the walls, but instead placed everything on a single central mast with sector-specific APs. The advantage is practical: fewer mounting points, less cable pulling over long distances, and significantly less setup time.

Not a single interruption on the uplinks during opening hours. The network was monitored remotely, with a live dashboard per network and an export of the measurement data afterwards. The latter is standard practice for us: the client can watch along during the event.

Do you have an event, trade show, or venue where the network needs to be just right? Feel free to contact us – we operate throughout Belgium.