For UK restaurant chains and multi-site hospitality, a single broadband outage can stall POS terminals, card payments, order apps and kitchen printers. This guide shows how to deploy 4G/5G SIM backup with instant failover, SD-WAN, PCI-aware firewalls, VLANs that separate POS vs guest Wi-Fi, and centralised reporting across all venues — whether you run FTTP, SOGEA or a Leased Line at each site.
Key takeaways
- Automatic 4G/5G failover for POS & order apps with policy-based routing or SD-WAN.
- Traffic segmentation: dedicated VLAN/SSID for POS, separate guest Wi-Fi with content filtering.
- PCI DSS-aware firewall rules, safe DNS and least-privilege east-west access.
- Real-time analytics: uptime, SIM data usage, and alerts if failover runs too long.
- Works with FTTP, SOGEA or Leased Line primary circuits; add QoS to protect voice.
Architecture that survives line outages
We prioritise your primary broadband (FTTP/SOGEA/Leased Line) and enable instant 4G/5G SIM failover. Policy routing ensures POS and payments switch first; guest traffic is rate-limited to conserve data during failover. With SD-WAN, you can monitor health, set per-app priorities and roll out templates to every branch.
POS, kitchen printers & order apps — without interruptions
- POS VLAN with higher priority and QoS to keep card authorisations fast.
- Kitchen printers wired where possible; Wi-Fi printers isolated on a staff SSID.
- Order apps & tablets get roaming-friendly Wi-Fi and bandwidth shaping to avoid spikes.
Guest Wi-Fi that’s safe, branded and ring-fenced
- Separate guest SSID/VLAN with client isolation and content filtering.
- Branded splash pages and sensible AUP; band steering and channel planning for peak times.
- Protect PCI scope by blocking lateral movement to POS networks.
Central reporting & alerts across all sites
Head office dashboards show uptime, WAN health, SIM usage and failover events. Thresholds trigger alerts (email/SMS) so managers know if a venue has been on backup for too long. Monthly reports help with capacity planning.
Related guides
Recently asked questions
Will 4G/5G failover slow down card payments or order apps?
No — the POS VLAN is prioritised with QoS. Guest Wi-Fi is rate-limited during failover and heavy services are paused to protect SIM data.
How do we cap SIM data and avoid bill shock?
We set usage thresholds, alerts and optional service policies (e.g. throttling guest VLAN) while on backup. Dashboards show per-site usage in real time.
Does this work with FTTP, SOGEA or a Leased Line?
Yes. The failover design is access-agnostic. For flagship sites, a Leased Line adds SLAs and symmetrical bandwidth.
Is the setup PCI DSS friendly?
We enforce least-privilege firewall rules, segment POS from guest/staff networks, use safe DNS and maintain logs for audits.