Connectivity
February 2025 · All Articles
Why restaurants need backup internet failover. Card machines going down, VoIP phones offline, booking systems inaccessible — and how Assure X prevents all of it.
Modern restaurants are completely internet-dependent: EPOS and card machines, booking system access, music streaming services, kitchen display systems, VoIP phones and staff communications. When the broadband goes down, most of these stop within minutes.
The most immediate and visible impact of internet downtime in hospitality is card terminal failure. Most restaurant EPOS systems and standalone card terminals require a live internet connection. When it drops, payments can't be processed. Some restaurants carry a 4G router as a workaround — but switching manually takes time, causes service disruption and relies on staff remembering the procedure during a busy service.
Assure X eliminates this problem entirely. The switchover is automatic — no staff action required. Card machines keep working. Customers keep paying. The service continues without interruption.
Restaurants that have switched to VoIP (which should be all of them, given the 2027 PSTN switch-off) depend on internet for calls. During a broadband outage, calls to your booking line ring unanswered. Every missed call during a Friday evening is a lost table.
Online booking systems — OpenTable, ResDiary, Resy — require internet access for staff to view and manage reservations. Without failover, front-of-house staff are working blind during an outage.
A restaurant with 50 covers doing 2 sittings at £40/head loses £4,000 in a single evening if they can't process card payments. Even a 2-hour outage from 7–9pm on a Friday night costs the equivalent of several months of Assure X failover subscriptions.
Within 60 seconds of detecting a primary connection fault. Card machines, EPOS, VoIP and all connected systems continue working throughout.
No — card and contactless payments work identically on 4G failover as they do on broadband. Customers experience no difference.
Yes — Assure X works alongside any existing broadband. No changes to your current provider or contract are needed.
A typical restaurant failover event (2–6 hours) consumes around 2–5GB for EPOS, VoIP and booking system use. A 10GB Assure X plan provides comfortable headroom.