Swedish startup TERASi has unveiled RU1, a palm-size millimeter-wave radio built to deliver gigabit backhaul in places where traditional networks lag—and where reliance on commercial satellite networks like Starlink raises connection risks.

The company touts RU1 as a field-deployable, user-owned link that can’t be throttled or shut down by a third party. In an era when a single satellite provider can be unpredictable—as when Elon Musk turned off Starlink access during a Ukrainian offensive against Russian forces in 2022—that message may find interest.

As TERASi CEO James Campion put it, RU1 is meant to be “the GoPro of backhaul radios”—portable and fast to deploy.

Yet RU1 has its limitations. Satellite constellations like Starlink excel at wide-area coverage and connecting dispersed, low-data endpoints. RU1 is the opposite: short-to-medium backhaul with very high throughput and very low latency. The two are more complementary than competitive. A field team might transmit data across an RU1 network locally, then send it to the satellite for further distribution. This hybrid model aligns with how teams in many situations stitch together communications.

User control is a strength: RU1 networks are owned and run by the operator on site. TERASi’s pitch is that a sovereign, user-operated backbone removes that dependency.

And that pitch is directed at both business and military uses. TERASi could be used for disaster response and off-grid industries like mining and energy. These users need quickly erected backbones that don’t require towers, trenching, or grid power. A small team carrying batteries and tripods can set up a network, reposition nodes as tasks change, then tear it down when the work ends.

For centralized AI workflows—think multi-camera security analytics or multi-sensor environmental monitoring—the ability to move large data volumes without relying on fragile backhaul is a real advantage.

RU1 can be mounted on a tripod or a drone and form point-to-point or point-to-multipoint connections. TERASi says current systems support data rates up to 10 Gbps and latency at sub-5 millisecond, with a 20 Gbps version in the future. The company promotes RU1’s value in crucial missions that can’t work with slow links, like live drone video, sensor fusion, and autonomous systems.

The unit’s security is partially about physics. RU1 operates above 60 GHz, producing very narrow signal beams with a small ground footprint measured in kilometers, not hundreds of kilometers. That tight focus reduces the chance of interception or broad-area jamming. While no radio is beyond disruption, the approach shrinks the attack surface compared with lower-frequency links. The units provide enough bandwidth for modern integrated services router workflows without revealing a user’s presence to an entire region.

The company is a spinout from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and credits a proprietary Aircore architecture for RU1’s size and power profile. By using lightweight waveguide structures (a waveguide is a hollow metal tube that channels electromagnetic waves), TERASi says its product is up to 40 times smaller and 100 times lighter than comparable gear. For users, it’s akin to operating a camera.

The company’s near-term challenge will be proving durability and performance across real situations, facing rain, dust, heat, and contested wavelength. If TERASi can show reliable links at the stated specs, it will have carved out a useful niche: a fast, quiet, user-controlled backbone you can carry in a backpack.