Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesIndustrial IoT

MarketScale Industrial IoT 02/15/19: Connecting Daytona

Brown Pelican Wifi provides secure and reliable wifi services for major events, including the Daytona 500. The company equips event locations with secure networks, ensuring safe communication for teams. The podcast episode also discusses the impact and challenges of implementing 5G technology.

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Industrial IoT teams put it to work with AI Visibility (GEO).

By Industrial Iot · Jon Baer PodcastKern PodcastMarybeth Hall Podcast
Share
MarketScale Industrial IoT 02/15/19: Connecting Daytona

Key takeaways

01

Brown Pelican Wifi supplies secure wifi networks at large events, including Daytona International Speedway.

02

The implementation of 5G requires extensive infrastructure, such as dense networks of transmitters.

03

Secure wifi networks allow race teams to have untampered communications during events.

Free workspace

Turn your Industrial IoT expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI in a free MarketScale workspace. Qualifying companies also get one professional video edit a month. No credit card.

Start free

When a sporting event is taking place, very few people stop to consider everything going on behind the scenes to allow the event to go off without a hitch. On today’s episode of the Industrial IoT Podcast, we talk to a company that is responsible for providing wifi for some of the largest events in the world. Brown Pelican Wifi joined us from Daytona International Speedway ahead of the Daytona 500 to explain how they do it and why it’s so important.

How Brown Pelican is Connecting Drivers at Daytona

In our increasingly connected world, having reliable wifi is becoming more of necessity and less of a luxury every day. Brown Pelican has the opportunity to provide WiFi to some of the world’s biggest events and most remote locations.

This week they’re joining the MarketScale IoT podcast from Daytona International Speedway where they’re providing wifi for Brennan Poole’s team. The network is also extremely secure, giving race teams peace of mind that their communications won’t be tampered with. “The networks are 100% secure because everyone has their own dynamic BLAN,” says Ken Knotek, VP of Technology for Brown Pelican.

CEO Marybeth Hall explains how Brown Pelican provides wifi for events at locations that range from convention centers to remote deserts to one of the most famous race tracks in the world.

What’s All This Buzz About 5G?

What’s all the buzz about 5G? Joining the IoT podcast to discuss why the technology would be so revolutionary is MarketScale contributor Jon Baer. He explains how 5G would change the world, for better and worse, and discusses the major barriers to its full implementation.

“In order to be able to enable 5G we’re talking about installing tons of last mile fiberoptic cables,” says Baer. “We’re talking about installing transmitters in such a dense network that every dozen yards or so we could have other transmitters to deliver this connectivity.”

This isn’t a quick or cheap task to undergo. The companies that are investing in the infrastructure to enact 5G are just as interesting as the technology itself. Hear how Jon breaks the situation down in this episode of the IoT podcast.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the IoT Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @IOTMKSL

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Industrial IoT starts with a company putting its controls engineers, plant-floor specialists, and integration partners on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Plant and controls buyers research deep before contact, and your engineers get to shape that research.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

About the author

II
Industrial Iot
B2B Weekly

The week in Industrial IoT, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Industrial IoT: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Industrial IoT buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free plan

You just read one Industrial IoT expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your controls engineers, plant-floor specialists, and integration partners into the articles, video, and social content Industrial IoT buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale workspace, up to 10 people
One professional video edit a month for qualifying companies
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
$0. No credit card. Company confirmation required.

More Industrial IoT Insights

Toyota estimates up to 1 trillion yen a year for factory automation from 2028

Toyota estimates up to 1 trillion yen a year for factory automation from 2028

Toyota told investors factory automation could cost about 1 trillion yen ($6.4 billion) a year from 2028 across Toyota, group companies and major suppliers, CNBC reported. Toyota also said it could take roughly 400,000 robots. The company has not committed to the spending or said how long it would run, CNBC reported.

  • 011 trillion yen ($6.4 billion) per year estimated spending on factory automation starting 2028
  • 02About 400,000 robots needed across Toyota, group companies and major suppliers including replacements and new installations
  • 03Automation scope covers industrial robots, automated material handling, and future human-robot collaboration on factory floors

Sep 23, 2026

Flexxbotics claims 125% capacity gains by turning factory data into governed actions

Flexxbotics claims 125% capacity gains by turning factory data into governed actions

Flexxbotics says its platform turns production signals into authorized actions. It cited a 125% capacity increase at PMI and an 89% downtime reduction at EIS. For multi-site operators, the question is which actions can run autonomously and which require human approval.

  • 01The most concrete benchmark in Flexxbotics’ IMTS release is outcome-based: PMI’s reported 125% capacity increase and EIS’s 89% downtime reduction set a high bar for any closed-loop automation business case (Design News).
  • 02Flexxbotics is selling governance as much as analytics: teams predefine where the platform may act, which responses are authorized, and when human-in-the-loop approval is required (WhatTheyThink).
  • 03Protocol-level connectivity is central to deployment scope, with “Transformers” described as supporting bi-directional communication across more than 1,000 makes and models, a practical proxy for how much brownfield equipment can be brought into a closed loop without rip-and-replace (WhatTheyThink).

Sep 23, 2026

In-machine CNC fire suppression: Stat-X vs Firetrace

In-machine CNC fire suppression: Stat-X vs Firetrace

Modern Machine Shop describes Fireaway’s Stat-X as an electrically actuated, potassium-based aerosol generator mounted inside a CNC enclosure and triggered by a separate electronic sensor. A 2025 trade article describes the same two detection approaches—electronic point detection and heat-sensitive tubing—while widening the spec to include mist extraction, fire dampers and pressure relief. For shops running oil coolant, Schwarzenbach writes that many corporate insurance policies mandate installed and regularly maintained suppression.

  • 01A system designed to extinguish a fire inside the machine costs a small percentage of a CNC’s price, per Modern Machine Shop, so the comparison is against major fire damage or rebuilding—not the option’s sticker price.
  • 02Detection inside a machine tool comes down to two methods, heat-rupturing pressurized tubing or electronic heat and flame sensors, and Modern Machine Shop described a version of each in its 2009 and 2011 articles; what 2025 guidance adds is mist extraction, fire dampers and pressure-relief flaps in the same specification.
  • 03For shops running CNC machines on oil coolant, many corporate insurers require suppression to be installed and maintained, which turns a purchasing option into a policy condition and a maintenance audit item.

Sep 18, 2026

Explore More Industrial IoT Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Industrial IoT.

Browse Industrial IoT Hub

About the Experts

II
Industrial Iot
KK
Ken Knotek

VP of Technology

Brown Pelican Wifi

Ken Knotek is the Vice President of Technology at Brown Pelican Wifi. He is responsible for overseeing technology implementations that provide secure, reliable wifi solutions for large events. His work ensures that communications remain untampered, offering peace of mind to clients.

MH
Marybeth Hall

CEO

Brown Pelican Wifi

Marybeth Hall is the CEO of Brown Pelican Wifi. She manages operations that deliver wifi for events ranging from convention centers to remote areas like deserts and race tracks.

JB
Jon Baer

Contributor

MarketScale

Jon Baer is a MarketScale contributor who focuses on industry advancements. He provides insights into the implementation and impacts of new technologies like 5G.

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Industrial IoT and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512