Broadband for cafes, pubs and restaurants

What a hospitality business needs from broadband

Walk through a busy service and count what depends on the connection:

• Customer Wi-Fi, which many guests now treat as part of the welcome.
• Card payments at the table or the bar, often on handheld terminals that use Wi-Fi.
• Ordering systems: EPOS tills, kitchen screens and printers, and online or app orders arriving from delivery platforms.
• Bookings, through online reservation systems that need to stay in sync.
• Phones for bookings and takeaway orders, now running over the internet.
• Background systems such as cameras, music services and stock or rota apps.

Two lessons follow. First, guest traffic should not crowd out the tills and kitchen screens, and guests should not be on the same network. Second, if the connection drops on a Friday night, you need a way to keep orders flowing until it is fixed.

Guest Wi-Fi that keeps customers off your business network

BT Guest Wi-Fi is included with every BT Business Broadband plan and is designed for exactly this job.

• Separate network. BT runs Guest Wi-Fi as a public network, kept apart from the private network your tills and kitchen screens use.
• No password to hand out. Guests connect in one step, so staff are not reading a password off the back of the hub.
• Your business keeps priority. BT keeps 80% of the available speed for the business, however many guests are online.
• Filtering as standard. BT says Guest Wi-Fi content controls block inappropriate, illegal or malicious material.
• Turnover built in. Up to 13 guests can be online at a time, and BT disconnects anyone idle for 10 to 15 minutes so the next table can join.

BT also makes a point about liability: its guide says that because Guest Wi-Fi is a public network, you are not liable if guests come across anything illegal on it, unlike on your own private network. That is BT's statement about its service; if it matters to your business, take your own advice.

Thirteen users at a time may be enough for a small cafe or pub. If you run a larger venue where more guests will be online at once, tell us when you enquire. BT Ultra Broadband runs corporate and guest Wi-Fi on Cisco Meraki access points, and we can talk through whether that or another approach fits.

Ordering, booking and takeaway systems

The PSTN, the UK's traditional phone network, closes on 31 January 2027, and BT no longer sells traditional phone lines. Hospitality businesses should check their systems early, because some were built around phone numbers.

BT is specific about two points:

• EPOS. BT says you can only use an EPOS system with its digital line if it runs over the internet and does not depend on a phone number.
• Takeaway and restaurant systems. BT says its digital phone line is not compatible with restaurant and takeaway systems that remember customers' details or previous orders based on their telephone numbers.

If your takeaway phone recognises regular customers by caller number, or your till takes orders through a phone-line connection, ask your system supplier what they recommend before your line changes. Card machines need the same check: BT says many run over the internet or a mobile network but some still need a traditional line. Our page on the PSTN switch-off and your broadband lists the devices to check, and our sister site covers card terminals and the switch-off.

Remember too that digital phone lines do not work in a power cut. Keep a charged mobile available for emergencies.

Staying open when the line drops

Hospitality trades evenings and weekends, which is when a fault does the most damage. Two BT features help.

Hybrid Backup. A Hybrid Connect device switches your broadband connection to 4G automatically if the fixed line fails. Devices that use the internet through your BT hub, including Wi-Fi card terminals, EPOS and online ordering, can keep working at mobile speeds while the fault is fixed, and BT says IP voice services keep working too. It is included with Enhanced and Pro and is an add-on for Essential. Mobile speeds vary with location, coverage and demand, so treat it as cover while the line is fixed rather than a second full-speed line.

Prompt Care. BT's Prompt Care targets a fix by the end of the next working day for faults reported before 9pm Monday to Saturday, and counts Saturdays as working days. It is included with Pro and Ultra and is an add-on for Essential and Enhanced. Standard Care, on Essential and Enhanced, targets the end of the second working day. If BT misses its target, BT's Customer Service Compensation Scheme pays rental credit under the scheme's terms.

Contact us if you would like Hybrid Backup added to an existing BT Business Broadband line.

Wi-Fi in seating areas, gardens and function rooms

Hospitality premises are hard on Wi-Fi: thick old walls, kitchens full of metal, cellars, upstairs function rooms and outdoor seating. Plan for the space you have.

• Complete Wi-Fi Plus. Complete Wi-Fi Plus adds discs that work with Smart Hub 3 to make one network. It is included with Pro and, where you have Smart Hub 3, is an add-on for Essential and Enhanced.
• What BT's guarantee covers. BT's Complete Wi-Fi Plus guarantee covers the main building for the first six months. Outbuildings and extra sites are not covered, so a separate function room or garden bar needs its own plan.
• Placement. BT advises discs about halfway between the hub and the weak spot, in the open, away from large metal objects and not in cupboards. In practice, that means keeping them away from kitchen equipment, fridges and the bar back.
• Ultra for more control. BT Ultra Broadband uses up to three Cisco Meraki Wi-Fi 6 access points, which BT says cover roughly a 10 to 15 metre radius each. BT flags several floors or several buildings as a reason to check carefully that Ultra can cover the space.

Our business Wi-Fi guide has more on coverage planning.

Security for staff and guest devices

Every BT Business Broadband plan includes Content Controls and Web Protect, which BT leaves off by default so you can switch them on in My Account. On Pro, Wi-Fi Security Controls add device-level control from the BT Business app: you can approve tills and staff tablets before they join, put devices into groups, block access on a schedule or straight away, and see a usage dashboard. It filters websites, not apps.

On Ultra, BT's Cisco Meraki security package adds a next-generation firewall, URL filtering, malware protection and intrusion detection and prevention. If you choose Ultra, note that BT says migrating retail till systems to the new network is not the Expert Setup engineer's job, so your EPOS supplier will need to be involved.

Which BT plan suits a cafe, pub or restaurant?

A quick guide by venue type. We confirm the right fit once we know the premises and the systems you use.

How we help hospitality businesses

We check what your venue's address can get, go through your EPOS, ordering and payment systems with you before the switch-off, recommend a plan and add-ons, quote, place the order and help you through to installation day.

For booking lines and phones, see BT Cloud Voice for retail and hospitality on our sister site. Pricing is confirmed at quote. Contact us and tell us about your venue.