// brands · peplink
More than one way onto the internet, and a plan for when one fails.
Peplink builds multi WAN routers that take wired, fiber, cellular and satellite connections at once, for buildings, vehicles and the field. Varto Technologies in East Rutherford, NJ quotes the hardware and the services with it, rents Peplink connectivity kits, and can quote configuration as part of the order.
Prefer to talk? (888) 656-6233
Authorized Peplink dealer
// what happens when a link drops
Failover, load balancing and bonding do different things.
Failover and load balancing are the multi WAN behavior every Peplink router ships with. SpeedFusion bonding is the one that keeps a single live session running across both links, and what it takes to have it depends on the model.
one session a working link a link that has dropped
Failover
In the box on every model
The router notices a link has died and puts new sessions on another one. Anything already running starts again, because the public address changed underneath it.
Load balancing
In the box on every model
New sessions are spread across the links by weight, priority, least used or lowest latency. Total throughput across many sessions rises, and any one session still rides a single link.
SpeedFusion bonding
Included on some models, licensed on others, and it needs a far end
Packets from a single session are spread across both links inside an encrypted tunnel, so one session can keep running when a link drops instead of starting again.
These are illustrative comparisons, not performance figures. What a bonded session actually gets is capped by the model's SpeedFusion throughput and by what the links deliver at the site, and which models include SpeedFusion, at what peer count, is a per model check we make on the quotation.
// what bonding needs
Bonding takes two ends and an entitlement.
A bonding quotation needs the model, the entitlement that model carries, and the far end the tunnel will terminate on.
- An entitlement on that model
- On several models the bonding, hot failover and smoothing features are footnoted to a PrimeCare subscription or a feature pack. On the BR1 Mini family the feature pack also enables the wired Ethernet WAN. On the newer Pro models the features are included and only the peer count is tied to the subscription. The gating is per model, so we check the exact variant rather than assume the range.
- Something at the other end
- A tunnel has two ends. The far end is a second Peplink device you own, a FusionHub virtual appliance you host, or a SpeedFusion Connect subscription on Peplink infrastructure, which carries a data allowance and a throughput cap.
PrimeCare is complimentary for the first year on the models that carry it, so year two is a renewal. Where the features are gated, a separate feature pack license is the alternative to keeping the subscription running.
Peplink and a bonded encoder do different jobs.
A Peplink bonded link is IP transport. It spreads packets across the available connections inside a tunnel, and anything that speaks IP rides over it. A bonded video encoder such as a LiveU encodes the pictures and bonds inside its own transport, to its own servers.
They sit at different layers and routinely share a site. A camera feed can ride a Peplink tunnel, and an encoder can ride an ordinary connection; the difference is what each one is built to hold up under. Peplink is usually the network under the production, carrying comms, cloud tools, remote access, file transfer, IP cameras and crew Wi-Fi alongside whatever contribution path the show is using.
// the line
Pick the family by where the router has to go.
Form factor, temperature range and the number of cellular modems separate these families more usefully than throughput does.
Buildings
Balance, SDX and EPX
Desktop and rackmount routers for a facility. Wired multi WAN across the Balance line, a built in modem or a module slot on the wireless models, and 10G SFP+ with edge compute at the top of the range.
Vehicles and flypacks
MAX BR and Transit
Fanless ruggedized routers with one or two cellular modems and wide DC input, with ignition sensing on the Pro and Transit models. Several carry named railway and motor vehicle certifications.
Outdoors and on the move
Dome, MBX and PDX
Router and antennas together in one IP67 enclosure, vehicle mount units carrying up to four modems, and a ruggedized carry case unit for deployment.
MAX BR1 Pro 5G
One 5G modem, compact
MAX Transit Duo Pro
Two modems, ignition sensing
MBX
Up to four modems, vehicle mount
SDX Pro
Rackmount, 10G SFP+
SD Switch
PoE switching under the router
Mobility antenna
External antenna, separate order code
Antennas and mounts are their own order codes on the units that do not have them built in. SIM format differs by generation, nano on the current mobile line and mini on the older enterprise units, so a swap between an older and a newer box is worth checking. PoE output on several models is licensed or depends on the power input, which is worth settling before the cameras are ordered.
// sizing a bonded link
SpeedFusion throughput is the ceiling, not router throughput.
On a bonded workflow the encrypted SpeedFusion figure is what you actually get, and it covers the whole tunnel rather than each link. Size the job against this, not against the router specification:
| Where it sits | Models | SpeedFusion at 256-bit AES |
|---|---|---|
| Compact cellular | MAX BR1 Mini family | 20 Mbps, or 60 Mbps on the PrimeCare models |
| Small branch | Balance 20X, BR2 Micro | 60 Mbps |
| Branch | Balance Two, Balance 305 and 380 | 150 Mbps |
| Mobile and field Pro | MAX BR1 Pro 5G, BR2 Pro, Transit Duo Pro, Dome Pro LR | 200 Mbps |
| Vehicle and high end branch | MBX, MBX Mini, PDX, Balance 310X | 500 Mbps |
| Rackmount | SDX and SDX Pro | 600 Mbps |
| Data center | Balance 2500 EC, EPX | 4 Gbps |
Peplink revises models without renaming them, so we confirm the figure for the exact variant on every quotation. Published cellular rates are theoretical maxima. Smoothing buys resilience by sending duplicate packets, so it uses bandwidth by design and counts against a metered plan, and bonding cannot create capacity the carriers do not have at the site.
// hardware and services
Hardware, subscriptions and data plans.
Useful to see together when you are budgeting a site rather than a single router.
- Hardware warranty
- Peplink hardware carries a one year limited warranty, and the care plans extend that coverage period.
- Care plans
- EssentialCare and PrimeCare cover support with standard return and repair. The plus tiers, EssentialCare+ and PrimeCare+, add advance hardware replacement. PrimeCare and PrimeCare+ also carry the SpeedFusion capability and FusionHub peers. All of them include InControl 2 cloud management and firmware upgrades.
- SIM and data
- The carrier plan is yours. Peplink also sells its own eSIM data plans, and some eSIM options depend on a firmware version.
// buying through varto
One router, or the whole site.
Varto is an authorized Peplink dealer.
- Equipment
- Buy a router, with configuration available separately. The router, the antennas it needs, the care plan that covers what you are asking for, and the far end if bonding is the point.
- Rental
- Before you buy, or instead of buying. Peplink connectivity kits are part of the Varto rental range, cabled and configured. See rentals
- Configuration
- Quoted as work, when you want it. WAN priorities, failover behavior, VLANs and the SpeedFusion profile, set up before the router ships. The scope and the pre-delivery testing are agreed in the quote.
- The wider network
- Connectivity is one layer. Switching, PoE, and the NDI and Dante transport above it are the same conversation. Networking and IP
- Integration
- Built into the room. Where connectivity is part of a larger system, it gets designed, racked and commissioned with the rest of it. See integration
What has to stay up?
The site, the vehicle or the field position, what it carries, and what should keep working when one link drops. We will size the rest.
Or call (888) 656-6233