The moment someone's phone switches from your venue WiFi to cellular — 4G, 5G, LTE — every local tally system loses them. Hardware tally stops working. Tally Arbiter goes dark. The presenter's phone shows nothing. You're back to hand signals across the room.
This is one of the most common failure modes in modern video production, and almost no one talks about it because the workarounds (ngrok tunnels, VPNs, static IPs) are complicated enough that most operators just give up on tally for off-network devices.
This guide explains why this happens, when it matters, and how to get reliable tally signals to any device on any network.
Why local tally systems fail on 5G/LTE
Every hardware tally system and most software solutions (including Tally Arbiter by default) broadcast the tally state over your local network — the same WiFi network your switcher and production gear are on. This is a local broadcast. It doesn't cross network boundaries.
When a device switches to cellular, it's on a completely different network — the carrier's network. Local broadcasts don't reach it. The device is unreachable as far as your tally system is concerned, even if the person is standing in the same room.
This affects more devices than you think: Venue WiFi is often patchy. A speaker walking backstage may lose signal. A camera operator near a concrete wall may drop to cellular. Remote guests on Zoom are always on a different network. Each one goes dark on a local tally system.
Scenarios where this breaks productions
Speaker backstage at a conference
Backstage is often outside the venue WiFi coverage area. Speaker's phone drops to cellular. Local tally goes dark right before they go on.
Second shooter at a wedding venue
Venue WiFi doesn't reach the balcony or garden. Second shooter's phone is on 5G. Can't receive tally signals from the main operator.
Remote guest joining via Zoom
Guest is in another city on their home internet. Completely separate network. Hardware and local-server tally have no path to reach them.
Multi-site church campus
Remote campus is in a different building on a different network. No amount of local tally configuration reaches a different physical location.
Cue Light over cellular
Display link opens in any browser on any network. Signal routes through Cloudflare's global edge. Cellular, 5G, LTE, or different WiFi — all work identically.
Remote guest in another country
Paste the display link in Zoom chat. Guest opens it in their browser. They see the tally state in real time — same as everyone in the room.
How cloud-native tally solves this
Instead of broadcasting over a local network, Cue Light routes tally state through Cloudflare's global edge network. When the director taps Live, the signal goes to a Cloudflare edge server — not to the local network. Every connected display device receives the update directly from the cloud, regardless of what network they're on.
How it works technically
Cue Light uses WebSockets over wss:// (encrypted WebSocket) to maintain persistent connections between the controller and all display devices. These connections route through Cloudflare Workers — not your local network. A device on 5G connects to the nearest Cloudflare edge point of presence, receives state updates in under 100ms, and stays in sync with all other devices regardless of network.
Latency on 5G vs WiFi
A common concern: is cellular tally slower than local WiFi tally? In practice, the difference is imperceptible.
- Local WiFi tally (hardware): ~5–20ms on a clean local network
- Cue Light on 5G: ~50–100ms via Cloudflare edge
- Cue Light on LTE: ~80–150ms in typical conditions
- Human perception threshold: ~200ms for visual signals
Even on LTE, the latency is well below the threshold where it becomes noticeable. A presenter cannot tell the difference between a 20ms and a 100ms tally signal update. The practical experience is instant.
The real advantage: A 100ms tally signal that reliably reaches every device on any network beats a 5ms tally signal that fails the moment someone steps outside WiFi range.
Setting up cross-network tally in 30 seconds
- Open cuelight.io/app on the director's device — any network
- Tap "Show QR Code" — share with in-person team members
- Tap "Copy Display Link" — paste in Zoom, Teams, or text for remote guests
- Every connected device — WiFi, 5G, LTE, different country — receives tally signals from the same room
No VPN. No port forwarding. No ngrok tunnel. No static IP. The cloud handles routing.
When to use a cellular hotspot as backup
If you're running a critical production at a venue with poor cellular coverage AND unreliable WiFi, carry a dedicated cellular hotspot as a backup. Connect the director's controller device to the hotspot — now the director has a reliable uplink to Cloudflare even if venue WiFi fails. Display devices can be on any network independently.
Tally that works on any network
Open Cue Light. Share the link. Works on WiFi, 5G, LTE, and anywhere with internet.
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