Revolutionising Emergency Response: LAWIFI's Success at Navshield 2024
At this year’s NSW SES Navshield—the country’s largest search and rescue training exercise—the Connectivity Innovation Network’s Large Area Wi-Fi (LAWIFI) System was put to the test in one of the most demanding real-world environments in Australia. It delivered a strong and reliable performance under pressure.
Held in the remote and rugged Ghin-Doo-Ee National Park, Navshield 2024 brought together over 650 emergency services personnel for a two-day wilderness navigation and response challenge across 100 square kilometres of terrain. For CIN, it was an ideal opportunity to trial LAWIFI’s capacity to maintain reliable communications in the absence of traditional infrastructure.
NSW SES Navshield 2024 was held in the Ghin-Doo-Ee National Park. Photo ©Rachel Grindley
A collaborative project led by the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Sydney, and industry partner Pivotel Satellite, LAWIFI is a rapidly deployable system designed to deliver internet connectivity in remote or disrupted settings. At Navshield, it did exactly that.
Filling Communication Gaps When Networks Fail
During the event, high winds caused a power outage at the nearby Cabbage Tree Mountain site, knocking out Telstra and Optus towers across the region. As terrestrial networks went down, LAWIFI stepped in—seamlessly rerouting calls from participant phones over its satellite backhaul. Critical communications remained uninterrupted until standard mobile services were restored.
Deployed 350 metres from the event base, LAWIFI provided robust coverage across the full camping area and delivered connectivity up to 1.7 kilometres in line-of-sight testing. This large-scale deployment simulated one of LAWIFI’s core use cases: serving as a communication backbone for evacuation centres and emergency hubs in disaster zones.
Photo ©Rachel Grindley
A Real-World Trial with Real Impact
Unlike previous demonstrations, Navshield 2024 offered CIN the opportunity to trial LAWiFi independently, outside of the event’s official infrastructure. The exercise confirmed the system’s ability to perform under stress—validating its role as a resilient, high-availability solution when conventional networks fail.
For NSW SES, which continues to push boundaries in emergency preparedness, Navshield provides not just a training ground—but also a proving ground for emerging technologies that could make a life-saving difference in future disaster responses.
NSW SES Navshield 2024, held in Ghin-Doo-Ee National Park. The Large Area WiFi (LAWiFi) System can be seen at the front.
What’s Next for LAWIFI?
LAWIFI’s performance at Navshield 2024 shows it’s ready for more. After proving it can deliver reliable connectivity under pressure, the focus now shifts to working with emergency services and government agencies to explore where the system can offer the most value.
As interest continues to grow, LAWIFI is well placed to support disaster response efforts—helping fill communication gaps when traditional networks go down, and keeping people connected when it matters most.
