IT Support for Pubs, Restaurants, Cafes and Hotels

EPOS, kitchen printers and card terminals

Hospitality runs on the network. EPOS terminals send orders to kitchen printers or kitchen display screens, handheld ordering devices roam the floor, and card terminals need a constant connection. When a printer drops off the network at 7pm on a Saturday, the whole kitchen stops.

We look at what is really happening: printers on DHCP addresses that change, Wi-Fi channels shared with neighbours, access points that cannot reach the garden, or a broadband router that cannot handle the number of devices. We give printers fixed addresses, put EPOS and payment devices on their own network, and plan Wi-Fi coverage for every room you trade in. Systems such as Lightspeed, Square, Zonal and Tevalis each publish network requirements, and we follow them.

Handheld ordering devices are the most demanding part. They roam between access points as staff walk from bar to garden, so the Wi-Fi must hand them over cleanly. Mixed brands of access points and extenders with different network names cause devices to cling to a weak signal. A single managed Wi-Fi system with one network name for staff devices, and wired access points rather than repeaters, fixes most of these problems.

Guest Wi-Fi that does not hurt the business

Customers expect free Wi-Fi, but it should never share a network with your tills, office PC or CCTV. We set up a separate guest network with its own password, isolate guest devices from one another, limit bandwidth per device so one person streaming does not slow everyone else, and apply content filtering suitable for a family venue.

Old pubs and converted buildings are hard for Wi-Fi: thick stone walls, fire doors and long corridors. We plan access point positions and wired backhaul rather than adding cheap extenders that halve the speed. See Wi-Fi support.

Bookings, websites and online presence

Most bookings now start online. Table booking systems such as ResDiary, OpenTable and SevenRooms, and hotel systems such as Mews or Guestline, embed widgets in your website. When a WordPress update breaks the widget or a cookie banner blocks it, bookings quietly stop. We test bookings after every update and fix script conflicts.

Menus should be text on the page, not only a PDF, so they load quickly on phones and can be read by search engines. Your opening hours, phone number and address should match across the website and your Google Business Profile. See Google Business Profile support.

Card security and staff turnover

Venues taking card payments are expected to comply with PCI DSS, usually by completing a short self-assessment for their payment provider. Pay-at-table terminals and separate payment networks keep that scope small. High staff turnover adds risk: shared EPOS manager PINs, Wi-Fi passwords and social media logins that never change.

We help you give each staff member their own EPOS login where your system supports it, change the business Wi-Fi password on a schedule, and keep shared accounts in a password manager. See online payments support.

Office, email and the back room

Behind the bar there is usually an office PC that handles rotas, supplier invoices, payroll and email. It is often the oldest machine in the building and the one most exposed to fake invoice emails from suppliers. We keep it updated, secure email with MFA and DMARC, and back up rotas and accounts so a failed hard drive is not a disaster.

Groups with more than one site benefit from the same set-up everywhere: the same router model, the same Wi-Fi names and the same printer settings. That makes problems quicker to diagnose remotely and new sites faster to open.

If you use Microsoft 365, the managers' mailboxes should each have MFA, and the general enquiries address should be a shared mailbox rather than one password everyone knows.

Plans and prices for hospitality

Venues that mainly need the website and bookings looked after can use Essential at £25 a month + VAT or Business at £50 a month + VAT. Hotels and multi-site groups with office staff often choose Complete at £99 a month + VAT, which includes an IT and Microsoft 365 helpdesk and 3 hours of fixes each month.

One-off jobs are £45 an hour + VAT. Wi-Fi surveys, cabling and new site installs are quoted. See pricing.

What it costs

Support plans from £25 a month + VAT, or £45 an hour + VAT for one-off fixes. Pick a plan if you want it looked after every month, or pay by the hour for a one-off job.

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