When the internet goes down: running service on Brindola

All plans

Everything here applies on every plan. Paired screens need Plus or Enterprise, delivery-platform orders the Order intake add-on, and backoffice sync Enterprise.

Brindola keeps the venue’s records on the main computer in the venue, and every other screen talks to that computer over your own network. The internet is not on the path of an order, a kitchen ticket or a payment, so when the line goes down, service carries on and nothing on the order screen changes. What does need the internet waits, and catches up when the line returns.

An internet outage

1. 1The line goes down
2. 2Keep serving
3. 3Card payments on the bank terminal
4. 4The line comes back
5. 5Check what waited

Two other failures look similar and are not: losing your local network (the Wi-Fi or the cable between devices), and losing the main computer itself. Both have their own sections below.

Before you start

You need	Why
The main computer on a cable and on steady power	Every paired screen works through it. The internet does not matter to it; power and the local network do.
Every screen on the venue’s own network, not a guest network	Paired devices find the main computer on the local network. A phone that drops onto mobile data cannot reach it.
A bank card terminal with its own connection	The terminal, not Brindola, talks to the bank. See Card payments.
Someone on each shift who may manage devices, with a PIN	Only needed if the main computer fails for good and another computer has to take over.

What keeps working

With the internet down and your own network up, all of this works as before.

Part	During an internet outage
Order screens on the main computer and on paired computers and tablets	Open tables and tabs, add items with modifiers and notes, send to the kitchen.
Phones taking orders at the table	Work as long as they are on the venue’s Wi-Fi.
Kitchen screens	Tickets arrive at their station; Start, Ready and bumps work.
Kitchen, bar and receipt printers, and the cash drawer	Print and open as usual: USB printers on their computer, network printers on your network.
Guest display, pickup board and self-service kiosk	Run from the main computer over your network. Kiosk guests pay at the counter, as always.
Payments	Cash, card payments recorded from the bank terminal, tips, several payments on one order, and splitting a bill.
The register	X report — preview & print at any time, the count and Close register (Z).
Reports	Every report reads the records on the main computer.
Backups	The scheduled backups on the main computer, and an off-device copy to a USB disk or a share on your network.

There is no time limit and no reduced mode: a venue can trade on a dead line for days and close every day normally. The one thing with a date on it is the licence, below.

What waits for the line

What	During the outage	When the line returns
Delivery-platform orders	No new orders arrive. Online orders shows Cannot connect to Order Bridge — no orders are arriving. Your listing stays open on the platforms, and orders nobody accepts are cancelled by the platform.	The terminal reconnects by itself and fetches the open orders. An order still inside the platform’s acceptance window appears and can be accepted; one that ran out shows Not accepted in time — cancelled by the platform. Some platforms then close the listing: select Reopen the store. Status updates on orders you already accepted are sent late.
Backoffice sync	The day’s close is queued: Settings → Backoffice shows Close queued.	The close is retried until the backoffice accepts it. Do not close a second time.
Licence renewal	Brindola keeps working on the licence it holds. Settings → Licence shows Renewal needed if the paid period has ended, with 14 days of grace in which everything keeps working.	The main computer fetches the renewal by itself when it starts and once a day; Check now asks at once.
Email	Messages wait in the outbox.	They are sent on the next retry. A message still unsent after about a day is marked failed and can be sent again.
Revenue Service documents (Georgia)	Tax invoices and waybills are queued.	They are sent as soon as the line is up.

For a long outage with delivery platforms, pause the listing in the platform’s own merchant app or portal, from a phone on mobile data, so guests are not ordering food nobody will accept. Some platforms close a listing that leaves an order unaccepted, and it stays closed until someone reopens it.

For a licence that is about to run out during a long outage, a licence file can be downloaded on any device with internet and installed on the main computer under Settings → Licence → Install a licence file…. If no licence is held when the grace ends, new orders stop only once that trading day has closed; signing in, history, reports, backup and export always keep working.

Card payments without the internet

Brindola does not process cards. The card is taken on your bank’s card terminal, which stands beside Brindola and reaches the bank over its own connection: its own SIM, or the venue’s line.

1. On the order, select Pay. The panel opens as Pay — remaining …; choose the card payment option. Payment options are named under Settings → Payments, so a venue with two terminals can tell them apart.
2. Key the same amount into the bank terminal and take the card.
3. When the terminal approves, select Apply payment in Brindola.
4. Record the terminal’s receipt number on the payment: select Fiscal # beside it and type the number into Fiscal receipt number. It is recorded once and cannot be changed afterwards.

The Fiscal # field appears when Settings → Fiscal is set to Uses a certified fiscal device, with Manual keying. At a venue set up that way, Split is not offered (Splitting a bill is not available yet at a venue that registers its sales): take several payments against the one order instead.

Whether cards work during an outage depends on the terminal’s connection, not on Brindola. A terminal on its own SIM keeps approving cards while the venue’s broadband is down. A terminal that uses the venue’s internet goes down with it; ask your bank which yours does, and whether it can have a SIM.

Store-and-forward. Some card terminals can accept a card while they have no connection and send it to the bank later. Whether yours does, and up to what amount, is set by your bank. The risk is the venue’s: a card accepted offline can be declined when it is finally sent, after the guest has left. Brindola never holds a card to approve later, so it adds no queue of its own; it records the payment the terminal reports. If the terminal says a payment is pending or offline, treat it as your bank’s terms describe.

Cash needs nothing: the drawer, change and the register work as usual.

If the local network fails

This is the network between your own devices, not the internet. The main computer keeps working on its own: take orders, payments and the close there.

On a paired device:

• The screen shows Connecting to the master…, and after 30 seconds Connection to the master lost — data may be out of date.
• An order screen can still take new orders: open an order, add items and send it. The order is marked OFFLINE — queued (Offline — queued; will reach the master on reconnect) and has no order number yet. It does not reach the kitchen or a printer until the device reconnects.
• Payments, changes to orders that already exist and the register wait for the main computer. A queued order cannot be paid until it has landed.
• A kitchen screen cannot update its tickets, and may show Could not load tickets — this is NOT a clear board, check the connection. The kitchen is not clear: use the main computer’s own Kitchen screen window, or a kitchen printer attached to it.
• A kiosk shows Please order at the counter. It never queues an order.

When the connection returns, each device catches up on its own. Queued orders are sent to the main computer, which checks each one again; they get their order number and their kitchen tickets then. If the main computer refuses part of one, the order screen says Some queued items were rejected at sync: … — re-enter what it names by hand.

While the network is down, keep queued orders few: walk what you can to the main computer, and take every payment there.

If the main computer fails

First try to bring it back: power, cable, restart. Nothing is lost while it is off; paired devices keep their copy and queue new orders as above.

If it has failed for good, one paired computer running the order screen can take over. A phone or tablet cannot.

1. On that computer, open Settings → Preferences, then under Connection select Change the main computer….
2. Under Promote this device to master, select a manager, type their PIN and select Promote to master. It needs someone whose role may manage devices.
3. On every other paired device, open the same dialog, type the new main computer’s address in the field under Master address (after a promotion elsewhere, point this device at the new master) and select Save.

There is no automatic failover: the takeover is always this manual step, on purpose, so that two computers never both act as the main one.

What can be lost. The new main computer starts from the last record it received. Anything the old one accepted that had not reached it yet is not there. When the old computer comes back, do not trade on it: open Settings → Devices on it and use Rejoin as a terminal… under If this master is replaced, with a pairing code from the new main computer. It writes a report of the orders taken on it after the two lost contact, so they can be re-keyed.

Printers and devices attached to the old computer, and connections stored on it (a backoffice pairing, the Order Bridge connection for delivery platforms), do not move by themselves. Check Settings → Printers, Settings → Backoffice and Settings → Order intake on the new main computer, and Settings → Licence.

If no paired computer is available, a replacement is restored from a backup: see Backups and recovery.

A 4G or 5G backup line

A backup internet line is your venue’s own choice; Brindola does not provide one and needs nothing set for one. A router with a mobile backup switches the main computer to the mobile line by itself, which keeps delivery-platform orders, backoffice sync and licence renewal flowing through an outage. Ordering, the kitchen and payments do not need it.

Keep the bank card terminal on a connection of its own (its SIM) rather than behind the same router, so one failure does not take both down.

Test it before you rely on it

Run this once before opening, and again after any change to the network.

1. Unplug the internet at the router. Leave the router and your own network on.
2. Open a table or a tab, add items with modifiers and a note, and send them. Check each ticket on its kitchen screen and its printer.
3. Add another round to the same order and send it.
4. Take two card payments on the bank terminal and record each one in Brindola; take one cash payment. Check that the terminal approved the cards while the venue’s line was down.
5. If your venue is not set up with a fiscal device, split a bill (By item, Evenly or By amount) and pay the parts.
6. Print an X report — preview & print.
7. With paired devices: unplug the main computer’s network cable for a minute. Check the banner on a paired screen, take one new order there and watch it show OFFLINE — queued. Plug the cable back in and check the order reaches the kitchen.
8. Plug the internet back in. If you use delivery platforms, check Online orders reconnects; with a backoffice, check Settings → Backoffice.

Rehearse the main-computer takeover once on a quiet day, with someone who may manage devices, so the steps are known before they are needed.

Questions

Does Brindola keep working when the internet goes down?

Yes. The records are on the main computer in the venue and every screen reaches it over your own network, so order screens, kitchen screens, printers, the cash drawer, payments, the register close and reports all keep working. Only delivery-platform orders, backoffice sync, licence renewal and email wait for the line.

How do card payments work during an internet outage?

The card is taken on your bank’s card terminal, which reaches the bank over its own connection. Key the amount into the terminal, then record the payment in Brindola and, at a venue set up with Manual keying, the terminal’s receipt number. A terminal on its own SIM keeps approving cards while the venue’s line is down; one on the venue’s internet goes down with it.

Does Brindola store card payments to send later?

No. Brindola never handles the card and holds nothing to approve later. Some bank terminals can accept a card offline and send it later; whether yours does, and the risk of a later decline, is set by your bank.

Do delivery orders placed during an outage arrive when the internet is back?

Only those still inside the platform’s acceptance window. The others are cancelled by the platform and show as Not accepted in time — cancelled by the platform, and some platforms then close the listing until it is reopened. For a long outage, pause the listing in the platform’s own app.

How long can Brindola run without the internet?

There is no limit on trading offline. The licence is the only thing with a date: it renews by itself when the main computer can reach the account service, keeps working for 14 days of grace after the paid period ends, and can be renewed without internet by installing a licence file.

What happens if the Wi-Fi or the local network fails, not the internet?

The main computer keeps working on its own. Paired order screens can take new orders, marked OFFLINE — queued, which reach the main computer and the kitchen when the connection returns. Payments and changes to existing orders wait for the main computer.

Is there automatic failover if the main computer breaks?

No. If the main computer fails for good, a manager promotes a paired computer to take over, under Settings → Preferences → Connection. Orders the old computer accepted that had not reached the new one are lost, and are listed in a report when the old computer rejoins.

Do I need a 4G or 5G backup router?

Not for ordering, the kitchen or payments. A backup line, which is your own and not part of Brindola, keeps delivery-platform orders and backoffice sync flowing during an outage.