Segmentation is the first decision
Tills and POS, payment devices, staff, cameras and guest Wi-Fi belong in separate network segments. As long as a guest device can reach a till at network level, adding capacity solves neither the security nor the stability problem. We detail the design in our [multi-branch network guide](/en/blog/enterprise-network-guide).
What we do
- Network discovery, traffic profiling and bottleneck analysis
- Segmentation design with a default-deny access rule set
- Wired and wireless coverage planning with capacity calculation
- Inter-branch connectivity, backup links and failover design
- Prioritisation for critical traffic such as payment authorisation and POS sync
- Monitoring, latency measurement and outage reporting
Is the backup link really a backup?
If both links share the same physical infrastructure or provider backbone, a single outage takes down both. We build the backup link on a different carrier or access technology, then shut the primary down deliberately to verify a till transaction still completes.
Planned together with the application
If the store application can keep selling when the link drops, an outage is a disruption; if it cannot, it is a stoppage. We therefore design the network alongside offline capability on the [retail POS](/en/products/retail-pos) side.
What we measure
Round-trip latency to the central application server measured from inside the store, link utilisation at peak hour, monthly outage count and mean outage duration. Without these, "the network is slow" cannot be separated from "the application is slow".
Frequently asked questions
VPN or application-aware routing?
With few branches and traffic going to one centre, point-to-point VPN is enough. As branch count and cloud-bound traffic grow, a structure that can pick the path per application reduces management effort.
Why keep camera traffic separate?
Camera streams are continuous and high volume and crowd out other traffic in a shared segment. Security updates for camera devices are also often delayed, which makes isolation necessary in its own right.
What are the obligations for guest Wi-Fi?
Providing public internet access carries record-keeping obligations whose scope varies with the nature of the service. We leave the logging infrastructure in place at installation; the scope assessment should be made with your legal adviser.