I have been waiting for a box like this one. Before anything else, a warning, because Peplink has a habit of reusing model names: the new Balance 310 5G has nothing in common with the old Balance 310 5G or the Balance 310 Fiber 5G. Different platform, different internals, different league. Treat the older 310-name cellular routers as legacy and read on for the 2026 model.
The headline is consolidation
Instead of stacking a router, a PoE switch, a Wi-Fi access point, a 5G gateway and a small server on a shelf, you get all of that in one unit, managed from InControl 2. Fewer boxes, fewer vendors, fewer points of failure, and a much faster install. For multi-site organisations that want to standardise on one rugged platform across every site, that consolidation story is hard to argue with. It is the closest thing Peplink has made to a branch-in-a-box.
What stands out for me
5G as standard
A global 5G modem with flexible SIM support, Nano-SIM through to Peplink eSIM, bring-your-own eSIM, RemoteSIM and FusionSIM, so it works across carriers worldwide. It ships with one integrated cellular modem; if you want a second, independent cellular path you add a 5G Adapter or 5G Dongle. Built-in 5G failover from day one, no separate gateway.
Eight PoE+ ports
They are 2.5 Gig, and they power your cameras, phones and access points straight off the router. That removes the branch switch entirely. One thing to plan for: the PoE output only wakes up with a 50V or higher input, which the bundled supply provides, so do not feed it from a random 12V source and expect the ports to power anything.
10G on the wired side
One 10G Multi-Gig copper WAN port, plus a 10G SFP+ that you can flip to WAN or LAN in the web admin. For a branch box that is a lot of headroom, and the SFP+ gives you a clean fibre handoff with no media converter hanging off the back. There are also two USB-C ports that take tethered modems as extra WAN.
Dual power inputs
Two power feeds, so a single supply or feed failing does not drop the site. Pair that with dual cellular and redundant WAN and you are designing single points of failure out of both the connectivity and the power, which is the whole point on a site that cannot go dark.
FIPS 140-3 validated and TAA compliant
In the US this opens the door to federal, public safety and FirstNet work, and the 5G modem is certified on AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and FirstNet. Outside the US it is less of a hard procurement gate, but I would still take it as a signal of how seriously this platform is built, and the rest of the world should take note.
Edge compute on the box
Native Docker support and 8GB of internal storage, so monitoring agents, security services or your own automation can run on the router itself rather than on yet another appliance.
Wi-Fi 7
It is built in, on 2.4 and 5 GHz, 2x2 MIMO, running as an access point or as Wi-Fi-as-WAN. Let me head off the question I already get: no, this is not a 6 GHz Wi-Fi 7 box, and on a unit like this one it cannot be. The 6 GHz band everyone associates with Wi-Fi 7 is licence-exempt only for low-power indoor use, and both the FCC and the European rules require those radios to use fixed, integrated antennas and to stay indoors. A rugged router built around external, swappable antennas for vehicles, cabinets and outdoor sites does not meet that test, so Peplink keeps the radio on 2.4 and 5 GHz, where external antennas are allowed everywhere. Treat the onboard Wi-Fi as a convenience radio. If wireless coverage is the point of the site, hang a dedicated AP One off one of those PoE ports to do the 6 GHz work and let the 310 5G handle the routing.
SpeedFusion
This is the reason any of the above matters for mission-critical work. Bond fibre, 5G, Wi-Fi-as-WAN and even Starlink into one resilient pipe, with Hot Failover, Smoothing and Bandwidth Bonding. You are looking at up to 4 Gbps of routing and around 1 Gbps of SpeedFusion throughput, which is plenty for a branch carrying voice, video and cloud apps that have to stay up through a link going bad.
Rugged
Fanless, a -40 to 65C operating range and built-in GPS. It is as happy in a comms cabinet as it is in a vehicle or a plant room.
Where I would put it
Branch and multi-site enterprise, where you want one standard platform across every location instead of a different stack at each. Broadcast and live events, where you need bonded cellular that simply works the moment you arrive on site. Public safety, where the FIPS and TAA story earns its keep. Maritime and remote, where the rugged spec, GPS and 5G failover do real work. It is a genuine Swiss army knife, and for most branches it replaces three or four boxes on its own.
On price
This is the part I am not going to print. The list price will surprise you for everything the box does, and that is exactly why we are keeping it off the page. Register on our shop and you will see the number and can order online. There is a launch offer running to 31 July, so if this is on your radar it is worth doing now.
If you are running Peplink across sites, or weighing the 310 5G against a shelf full of separate boxes, talk to me. I deploy this kit in the field and I will give you a straight view on whether it is the right call for your setup.