A VLAN splits one physical network into separate lanes that cannot see each other. Restaurants use at least three: one for the POS and payment devices, one for other devices such as printers and kitchen screens, and one for guests. Separating them protects payments and keeps guest traffic from slowing orders.
The problem it solves
Picture a single Wi-Fi network in your restaurant. The POS, the kitchen printers, the staff phones and the guests' phones are all on it. A guest streams video and orders slow down. A guest's infected laptop sits on the same network as your card terminals. A staff member plugs a personal device into the printer's switch. None of these is unusual.
What a VLAN is
A VLAN is a virtual local area network. You build one physical network of cables and access points, then tell the router to treat traffic as belonging to separate lanes. Devices in one lane cannot talk to devices in another unless you allow it. It is like having separate hallways in one building.
The lanes most restaurants need
POS and payments. Terminals, handhelds and card readers. This lane is the most protected. Only these devices join it.
Back-of-house devices. Printers, kitchen screens, kiosks and the router's own management. They must talk to the POS lane in a limited way, for example a printer receiving tickets.
Guest Wi-Fi. Open or password-protected, with a speed limit if you like. It reaches the internet and nothing else.
Staff. Optional, for personal phones, so that they do not use the POS lane.
What good looks like
The POS lane is not reachable from guest Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi password for staff devices is not shared with guests. Printers have fixed addresses so they do not change in the middle of service. The router and access points are named and documented. There is a spare router configuration saved.
A checklist for your installer
- Which lanes will you build and what is on each?
- Can guest devices see any other lane?
- Are printers and kitchen screens on fixed addresses?
- How will the router be managed, and by whom?
- What happens if the main internet line drops?
- Where is the configuration saved?
Where Zorveta One stands
A managed network that sets up these lanes and monitors them is part of managed technology, with a satellite or mobile internet backup as an option. Read about the managed network and the VLAN glossary entry.
Whoever builds it, ask for the lane diagram in writing, and keep a copy in the office.