Ask FirstNet about Connectivity
Unbreakable Connectivity. Powered by Peplink
Bond fibre, LTE/5G, satellite and microwave into one stable virtual link that rides through load-shedding, fibre cuts and tower failures without dropping live calls.
Quick answers
Does bonding double our speed?
Not always. Bonding adds resilience and aggregate throughput up to the sum of the links, but per-flow protocol behaviour, SpeedFusion mode and encryption overhead all affect the result. We size on your real peak application needs.
How is this different from 4G failover?
Traditional failover is cold standby: fibre drops, 4G takes over, and live calls redial. Peplink runs fibre and LTE in parallel, so failover simply shifts more traffic to LTE without breaking the session.
Do we need InControl 2?
For a managed service, yes. Devices can run locally without it, but InControl 2 provides the single-pane operations, alerting, firmware control and per-link visibility our day-2 service relies on.
FusionHub or SpeedFusion Cloud?
FusionHub is a virtual appliance on your own data centre or cloud (VMware, Hyper-V, AWS, Azure or GCP). SpeedFusion Cloud uses Peplink-hosted points of presence, ideal for vehicles and rural sites. Mixed designs are common.
How bonding works
Many links. One connection.
Packet-level bonding
One flow rides multiple links at the same time, not one link per session.
Sub-second hot failover
Active TCP and UDP sessions, including SIP, RTP and RDP, survive a link cut.
Forward Error Correction
Recovers lost packets without retransmission, keeping voice and video clean on noisy links.
WAN Smoothing
Sends duplicate packets across bonded links for ultra-low-loss real-time traffic.
Hardware
The right device for every site
Balance series
Branch and head-office routers for fibre plus LTE bonding and multi-WAN failover.
MAX series
Rugged cellular routers for vehicles, broadcast, fleet, mining and pop-up sites.
BR1 / BR2 Mini
Compact cellular routers for small branches, ATMs, IoT gateways and retail POS.
EPX
Enterprise core router for head office or data centre hubs aggregating many branches.
SD Switch
Managed switching with single-pane LAN and WAN visibility.
FusionHub or SpeedFusion Cloud
Terminate tunnels on your own virtual appliance, or on Peplink-hosted points of presence.
Explore the details
Hardware becomes a managed serviceFirstNet is a Peplink Certified Engineer (PCE) partner with multi-year deployment experience across South…
The FirstNet wrap
Hardware becomes a managed service
FirstNet is a Peplink Certified Engineer (PCE) partner with multi-year deployment experience across South African enterprise, retail, mining and mobile fleets.
- Per-site survey: signal mapping, fibre availability, power and UPS sizing
- Link selection for carrier and technology diversity at each site
- Hardware sizing by throughput, ports, cellular modems and environment
- InControl 2 cloud management run by FirstNet on your behalf
- Day-2 monitoring and ticketing through the FirstNet NOC
- Hardware warranty and swap-out coordinated by FirstNet
Built for South African conditionsLoad-shedding mitigation · Multi-site retail and QSR · Mining and construction · Broadcast and media…
Use cases
Built for South African conditions
Load-shedding mitigation
UPS-backed router with fibre plus LTE/5G, so users rarely notice when power or fibre drops.
Multi-site retail and QSR
Centralised policy and consistent posture across hundreds of sites, keeping POS and payments alive.
Mining and construction
Rugged hardware bonding cellular, microwave and satellite for site operations, comms and CCTV.
Broadcast and media
Four to eight bonded cellular modems streaming live feeds, even while moving between towers.
Healthcare
Patient records, telehealth and pharmacy systems stay live at fixed and mobile clinics.
Rural and remote sites
Satellite and LTE/5G bonded into a resilient, remotely managed connection.
Structured rolloutWe survey, select links, size hardware, onboard InControl 2, design tunnel termination, then ship…
Delivery
Structured rollout
We survey, select links, size hardware, onboard InControl 2, design tunnel termination, then ship pre-staged kit for install and acceptance testing. A single site typically takes four to six weeks; a 50-site rollout typically runs four to six months in phased waves.
Can we trial it first?
Yes. We can scope a single-site pilot, usually at your worst-performing branch, and use InControl 2 data at a 30-day review to show how often the bonded edge prevented an outage.
Does Peplink replace our firewall?
No. Peplink is the SD-WAN edge. We pair it with FirstNet firewall-as-a-service for perimeter security.
Can Peplink keep our business online during load-shedding?
Yes, when designed for it. A UPS-backed Peplink router bonding fibre with LTE/5G keeps voice, video, payments and ERP running when power or fibre drops, because the LTE share of traffic simply grows while fibre is down, and users typically don't notice the switch. FirstNet sizes the LTE data pool against expected failover hours and sets InControl 2 alerts, so you can see when failover was active and for how long.
Can Peplink provide internet in vehicles?
Yes. Peplink MAX series routers are built for in-vehicle and harsh environments, rated for vibration, temperature and dust, and can bond multiple cellular modems so sessions survive hand-offs between towers. SpeedFusion Cloud means no fixed central site is needed to terminate the bonded tunnel. Typical uses include logistics fleets, broadcast vans, mining vehicles, mobile clinics and emergency services.
Does FirstNet supply the internet links that Peplink bonds?
Yes. Peplink bonds the circuits but does not provide them. FirstNet supplies the fibre, Dedicated Internet Access, LTE/5G and LEO satellite links under its Connectivity services, and Peplink bonds them into one resilient connection. You can also bond links you already have. Either way, circuits, bonding hardware and day-to-day management sit with one accountable provider.
What happens if a Peplink router fails?
FirstNet coordinates the hardware warranty and swap-out process on your behalf, including Peplink advanced replacement where your support bundle provides it. As a Peplink Certified Engineer partner, FirstNet can also escalate complex platform issues directly to Peplink engineering. Day-to-day alerts from InControl 2 feed the FirstNet NOC, so faults are ticketed and managed through one support desk.
Does Peplink lock us into one carrier?
No. Peplink uses standard SIM cards and standard fibre handoffs and supports any carrier, so you can mix fibre, LTE/5G, microwave and satellite from different providers at each site. FirstNet's site survey picks the carrier and technology mix that bonds best at each location, based on carrier diversity, mobile coverage, fibre availability and satellite line of sight.
From the Knowledge Hub
In-depth answers about Bonded Connectivity with Peplink
- Does Peplink bonded connectivity from FirstNet lock us into one carrier?
- What happens if a Peplink router supplied by FirstNet fails?
- Does FirstNet supply the internet links that Peplink bonds?
- Can FirstNet provide Peplink internet in vehicles and fleets?
- Can FirstNet Peplink bonding keep our business online during load-shedding?
- Does a Peplink router from FirstNet replace our firewall?
Your place in the stack
Connectivity is layer 1 of 5.
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