Temporary Event and Festival Networks in Central Texas
A temporary event network is a complete network built for grounds that exist for a few days: sourced internet bandwidth, a wired and wireless plant across the site, separate segments for gates, payments, vendors, production, press and the public, and staff watching it while the event runs. Engineer Austin, based in Georgetown, designs, builds, staffs and removes these networks for festivals, fairs, races, concerts, conventions, productions, and relief and construction sites.
Bandwidth, plant, segments and staff
- Advance site survey. A walk of the grounds with your site plan: radio noise, line of sight, power and the nearest fiber, load-in constraints, where the crowds will stand.
- Bandwidth sourcing. A temporary fiber or fixed-wireless circuit ordered ahead and carried onto the grounds by wireless link where the demarc is off site; bonded LTE/5G or Starlink as the standby path.
- Backhaul and distribution. Wireless links between zones, a core on protected power, and cable to every access point and drop wherever one can be run.
- Gates, ticketing and payments. Scanners, wristband activation and cashless top-up points on their own segment, able to work offline and sync when a link returns.
- Vendor, sponsor and production networks. Unique credentials per vendor, isolated sponsor activations, a production network for stage management, intercom, stream encoders and press uploads, and separate segments for radios over IP and your security vendor's cameras.
- Public Wi-Fi with a captive portal. Terms of use, a sponsor splash page or voucher tiers, and rate limits so the crowd cannot starve the registers.
- Segmentation and priority. A VLAN per group with firewall rules between them; scanning, payments and safety communications first, media next, public traffic last.
- Masts, mounts, power and weather. Masts and truss mounts, outdoor-rated equipment, UPS at every node, surge protection, cable ramps at crossings, and wind and lightning thresholds in the run of show.
- Staffing for the duration. Spares on site, monitoring, a check before gates open each day, and our staff on the grounds for the hours agreed in writing.
- Load-out and report. Strike in the production's order, equipment reconciled, site left clean, and a usage report with what to change next time.
Survey, design, load in, strike
Survey and plan
Headcount by day, the systems that must not fail, the vendor list, power plan and site plan, then the survey itself. Fiber needs the most lead time, so this starts months out.
Design and source bandwidth
A capacity plan per zone, an RF plan on your site plan, segmentation rules, a drop list agreed with production and vendors, and the circuit order placed. Fixed-fee quotation; nothing is ordered before your written approval.
Pre-build, stage and load in
Equipment is configured, labeled and bench-tested at our office. On site we walk-test every zone, test scanners and terminals, and cut the primary link to prove the standby path before gates open.
Support, strike and report
Our staff stay on the grounds for the agreed hours. After the show we strike, reconcile the equipment and deliver the as-built and the usage report.
Plans at load-in, records at load-out
- Capacity and RF plan per zone: devices, traffic profile, access-point count, backhaul sizing and coverage maps on your site plan, assumptions stated.
- Bandwidth sourcing and redundancy plan: primary, standby and tertiary paths, order dates, spares and offline fallbacks, with the load-in test result.
- Network milestones on the run of show, from circuit delivery to strike.
- Drop list and port map: every drop with its segment, address and credential.
- As-built package at load-in, updated at load-out: topology, addressing, segments, backhaul and mounts.
- Service expectations in writing: hours on site, response during the event, and what is and is not guaranteed.
- Post-event report: bandwidth usage, peak concurrency per zone, incidents and recommendations.
How AI speeds this up for you
The run-of-show checklist, drop list and VLAN plan are generated from the site survey and your vendor list with AI assistance, then reviewed by the staff member who leads load-in. The design package reaches you sooner, and every drop, segment and milestone traces back to the survey.
Designed to the failure modes
Event networks fail in predictable ways: one backhaul path, a core on unprotected power, a mast nobody checked against the wind rating. We design to the failure modes, record the assumptions and hand you the as-built.
The network design is done on engineering principles under a licensed engineering firm; it is not sealed work. Where a mast, truss load, guy anchor or grounding detail falls under a permit or the staging contractor's structural plan, we coordinate with the engineer responsible, and a sealed detail is provided by a licensed engineer in the appropriate discipline where one is required.
Every post-event report feeds the next build: equipment trimmed where demand ran lower, cellular and satellite options re-evaluated, the load-in checklist revised. Engineer Austin is Texas Registered Engineering Firm F‑15739; our team does the work to house standards set by our licensed Professional Engineer.
Platforms we build on
MikroTik routing with multi-WAN failover across fiber, fixed wireless, LTE/5G and Starlink; Ubiquiti UniFi access points and switching on a controller we host; Ubiquiti UISP and airMAX for wireless links.
Who this is for
Festival and fair organizers, race directors, venues, convention producers, film and television productions, emergency management and relief organizations, and contractors who need a job-site network before permanent service arrives.
Event networks, answered plainly
How far ahead do we need to book, and what do you need from us?
Longer than you expect if fiber is involved: a temporary circuit can take several weeks to order and deliver, so start with us a few months out. We need the site plan, the schedule by day, expected headcount, the vendor and sponsor list, the power plan and the systems that must not fail.
How much bandwidth does an event our size need?
We build the number from your headcount by day, the devices each person carries, what they do at peak, and the systems on the network: scanners, payment terminals, stream encoders and press uploads. Each zone gets a target with upload headroom for production and media.
What if there is no fiber or cell service at our site?
That is the normal case for a field or fairground. We find the nearest point where fiber or fixed wireless can be delivered, often a building nearby, and carry it to the grounds on point-to-point wireless links. Bonded LTE/5G and Starlink serve as standby paths, or as primary service for a small or remote event.
Can one network carry ticket scanning, cashless payments, vendors, production and public Wi-Fi?
Yes, as separate segments on one plant. Each group gets its own VLAN with firewall rules between them, and priority goes to scanning, payments and safety communications. Cashless and scanning systems are set up to keep working offline and sync when the link returns, so a backhaul fault does not stop a gate.
What happens when something fails during the show?
Our staff are on the grounds for the hours agreed in writing. Backhaul has at least one standby path, core equipment has spares staged on site, and the failover was proven during load-in by cutting the primary link. Most faults are corrected on the spot.
Do you supply power, masts and cameras?
We supply the masts, mounts, UPS units and surge protection the network needs, and coordinate mast loading and grounding with the staging contractor's engineer. Power comes from the event's electrician or generators; we specify the circuits. Cameras and recorders come from your security vendor; we give them a dedicated segment.
Start with a written assessment.
Tell us what you have and what is not working. Someone from our team, not a salesperson, replies within one business day by email or phone, and brings in our engineer when your request needs one. The assessment report is yours to keep whether or not you buy anything.