Sound Waves Sweep the Grasslands, Stable Network Provides Full Support! AINOPOL Ensures the Successful Conclusion of 2026 Hohhot Strawberry Music Festival

In the height of summer, the green city is swept by rolling grass waves and surging sound waves. The 2026 Hohhot Strawberry Music Festival grandly landed on the Chilechuan Grassland. As an influential annual grassland-exclusive music event, this festival gathered more than 40 groups of powerful musicians, with four themed stages presenting diverse music styles in rotation. Integrating grassland characteristic culture with trendy music, it created an immersive outdoor music carnival, attracting tens of thousands of music fans to the venue to embrace the romance and passion of summer.

The smooth operation of a large-scale outdoor event for tens of thousands of people relies on stable, efficient and full-coverage network support. The site covers multiple scenarios including ticket checking and verification, merchant payment collection, stage live directing, artist office work, live streaming and photography, as well as visitor interaction. Featuring massive device connections, high requirements for data transmission and complex on-site environments, the construction, deployment and operation maintenance of the entire network system faced tremendous challenges.

I. Sound Waves Roar Across Grasslands, Network Bears the Brunt First

A successful outdoor music festival hinges not only on brilliant stage performances but also on a robust communication network capable of withstanding heavy loads. Open grassland venues, massive clustered terminals, non-interruptible business operations and extremely tight setup timelines combined to pose severe tests for on-site networks:

High-Density Access with Tens of Thousands of Terminals Online Simultaneously

The music festival venue is a typical high-density scenario: tens of thousands of visitors complete admission verification each day, hundreds of POS payment terminals, surveillance cameras and broadcasting devices across the venue run online concurrently. The sheer volume of terminals and massive access concurrency far exceeds the bearing capacity of ordinary commercial networks.

Real-Time Data Transmission with Zero Tolerance for Lags

Ticket verification demands millisecond-level response; a one-second delay will trigger long queues at checkpoints. Payment transactions are highly sensitive to stability, and any stutter may cause economic losses for vendors. Live stage directing signals require uninterrupted transmission with absolutely no downtime allowed.

Harsh Environmental Adaptation: Dual Challenges of Temperature Difference and Sandstorm

The sprawling outdoor venue features scattered functional zones in east, west, south and north directions, accompanied by severe wireless signal interference in crowded areas. The site was originally a horse ranch with drastic day-night temperature swings and frequent sandstorms. In addition, power supply conditions are limited in open outdoor spaces, lacking readily accessible power sockets and pre-laid cable trays and conduits inside buildings. Network coverage and stability were challenged by both harsh natural conditions and power constraints.

Rapid Deployment & Flexible Scaling for Short Festival Cycle

The music festival lasts only a short period, with setup and teardown windows measured in hours. The network system had to be commissioned and dismantled swiftly without delaying stage construction. Meanwhile, it required flexible regional capacity expansion to reinforce network coverage wherever crowds gathered.

II. AINOPOL Builds a Highly Stable Infrastructure with Four-Directional Networking

Targeting network pain points of crowded crowds, massive concurrency and complicated environments at large outdoor venues, AINOPOL rolled out a customized networking solution. Four core strategies including zoned networking, bandwidth optimization, environmental adaptation and ultra-fast deployment resolved network congestion, disconnection and signal interference, guaranteeing stable and efficient operation of the entire venue network.

1. Four-Directional Independent Networking + High-Density AP Deployment to Support Tens of Thousands of Concurrent Users

Distributed Traffic via Four Independent Subnets

The network was divided into four isolated subnets corresponding to the east, west, south and north zones, each equipped with independent gateway routers, core switches, access switches and APs. Terminal traffic originally converging on a single core was evenly distributed across four subnets, drastically reducing single-point pressure. Even if traffic spiked in one zone, the surge was confined within the local subnet without impacting other areas, eliminating full-site paralysis caused by partial congestion.

Boost Device Capacity via High-Density AP Layout

In densely populated commercial zones such as east-west marketplaces and catering streets, AINOPOL increased AP quantities, narrowed individual AP coverage radius and optimized channel planning to lift terminal access density per unit area.
ZH-F4225W was deployed at ticket checking gates, while POE-powered ZH-AP18006S-M was installed under the canopies of food markets. Both AP models deliver robust client capacity to handle peak-hour concurrency effortlessly.

Three-Tier Architecture for Powerful Forwarding Performance

Each subnet adopted a three-layer framework: Core Layer – Aggregation/Access Layer – Wireless Layer.
The ZH-AC200S gateway undertook egress management and bandwidth control; core switches provided high-capacity backbone transmission; ZH-CS2010-PWR POE switches realized fiber uplink, terminal downlink and remote power supply, ensuring efficient data forwarding for mass terminals without aggregation layer bottlenecks.

2. Bandwidth Grading + Dual-Band Separation + Wired Backup to Secure Operational Bottom Line

Dedicated Bandwidth for Critical Nodes (VLAN + QoS)

Independent VLANs were configured for core areas including ticket verification, wristband redemption and stage photography. Minimum guaranteed bandwidth and speed limits were set on gateways and core switches to prevent these priority services from being squeezed by general traffic during peak loads. This guaranteed millisecond-level ticket checking response and interruption-free payment and live streaming.

Dual-Band Dedicated WiFi Network

IoT devices such as POS machines, access control and smart cards were locked to the 2.4GHz band with fixed channels, limited transmission rates and optimized transmit power to avoid bandwidth competition from high-traffic mobile phones. Mobile phones, laptops and photography signal backhaul used the 5GHz band for wider bandwidth and lower latency.

Wired Cable Redundancy as Fallback

Hardwired network cables were laid synchronously at key positions including ticket gates, wristband counters and stage shooting areas. The system can switch to wired transmission within seconds once wireless links fail, forming a primary-wireless, backup-wired redundant structure to deliver zero downtime for payment transactions and live stage broadcast.

3. Industrial-Grade Outdoor Hardware + Long-Distance Fiber Transmission to Adapt to Unique Grassland Conditions

Outdoor-Grade Equipment with Anti-Interference Design

Outdoor APs and protective accessories including waterproof enclosures and lightning arresters were deployed to withstand drastic temperature fluctuations and sandstorms on the grassland. Frequency offset and power tuning were applied in high-interference crowded zones to mitigate co-channel interference and sustain stable signal coverage.

Ethernet & Fiber Connectivity for Sprawling Cross-Zone Transmission

Given the scattered layout of functional zones across the vast grassland, core switches and access switches were interconnected over long distances via SFP-GE-LX-SM1310-D Gigabit single-mode optical modules. Fiber links overcame long transmission distances and electromagnetic interference, turning the dispersed venue layout into a network advantage rather than a burden.

Local Power Supply + POE Power Solve Power Access Difficulties

Without built-in power sockets and cable pipelines in buildings, the solution adopted flexible power supply schemes for APs: ZH-F4225W at ticket gates used local power for flexible installation; ZH-AP18006S-M in food markets received data and power simultaneously through POE Ethernet cables, saving extra power wiring work.

4. Standardized Configuration + Parallel Zonal Construction for Blazing-Fast Setup and Teardown

Preconfigured Standardized Four-Directional Architecture

The four subnets adopted identical architecture and standardized hardware. All configurations including VLANs, SSIDs, QoS rules and AP templates were pre-set before equipment delivery. Devices could be powered on and activated immediately upon arrival without holding up stage assembly progress.

Parallel Zonal Construction

Four construction teams worked simultaneously on fiber splicing, AP mounting and power cabinet commissioning in east, west, south and north zones, converting serial workflows into parallel operations to sharply shorten the construction cycle. Post-event dismantling was also completed zone by zone efficiently.

Flexible Zonal Capacity Expansion

The isolated four-subnet design enabled clear expansion boundaries. Whenever visitor volume exceeded expectations in one zone, extra POE switches and APs could be added only to that specific subnet with zero impact on other regions, truly realizing targeted network reinforcement for crowded hotspots.

III. A Stable Network Lets Music Resound to the Fullest

With solid digital infrastructure in place, every detail of the music festival gained reliable backing.

Crowds poured in from all directions; a quick mobile scan opened turnstiles instantly, eliminating queuing delays under scorching sunlight.

Long queues formed at wristband redemption booths, yet the system ran smoothly with real-time inventory synchronization.

POS terminals beeped continuously across marketplaces and food streets, securing every single transaction for vendors.

Stage photographers roamed the venue with cameras, and 4K footage was transmitted back to the broadcast vehicle in real time over a stable network.

Artist teams processed emails and held video conferences in backstage offices, isolated from on-site noise by independent network partitions.

Beneath the surface, four independent networking zones clearly contained fault ranges, fiber links eliminated long-distance transmission bottlenecks, and POE power supply resolved power access hurdles for temporary venues. This invisible network connected ticket checking, vendor operations, stage production, live streaming and back-office administration as a whole, enabling orderly event management for organizers and uninterrupted joy for music fans.

The wireless network deployment for Hohhot Strawberry Music Festival marked another practical field test of AINOPOL in large-scale outdoor event scenarios.

From supporting high-concurrency access of hundreds of terminals and meeting stringent real-time transmission requirements for payments and live streaming, to adapting to the harsh environment of the former grassland horse ranch and enabling rapid deployment and scalable expansion via the four-directional independent architecture — every link demonstrated AINOPOL’s comprehensive capabilities in network planning, hardware selection and on-site project delivery.

What visitors remember about a music festival is the songs on stage and the wind sweeping the grasslands. What AINOPOL accomplishes is elevating the network from an invisible underlying project into a tangible experience guarantee trusted by event organizers.
When tens of thousands of guests connect to WiFi seamlessly and complete every scan and verification without perception, these four independent private networks covering 24 zones have fulfilled their quiet yet irreplaceable mission.