Benefits of a Wireless Edge Solution

Please speak to the benefits of a wireless edge solution for restaurants.

Restaurants are embracing LTE and 5G solutions to ensure food safety, improve operations, transform customer experiences, and expand store formats.

• Wireless edge solutions enable agility as restaurants can connect to the Internet wherever needed, whether at pop-up locations, food trucks, restaurants in-store, or ghost kitchens.

• Restaurants can enhance network uptime by deploying WAN failover so that, in the event of network outage, the wireless connection for point-of-sale (POS) is assured and other applications remain available.

• Restaurants can get more connectivity with fewer boxes, using an all-in-one branch solution that connects applications, tablets, guest Wi-Fi, digital signage, IoT sensors, and more.​​

What are some critical considerations for restaurants seeking to implement a wireless edge solution?

Restaurants should consider several factors when implementing a wireless edge solution:

• Cellular connectivity is more widely available than wired connections. 

- Signal strength can be enhanced with adjusted antenna and router placement. 

- Multiple carriers and dual modems within one router enable you to choose the best carrier and signal for your location.

• In areas where IT has resource limitations, Wireless WAN solutions can provide efficiencies, such as centralized management, analytics, and zero-touch deployment.

• Day-one connectivity can be provided by a wireless edge solution, along with cloud-managed maintenance and updates.​

Security remains top of mind for restaurant operators. Please speak to network security, segmentation, and compliance.

Wireless edge solutions contain robust security so restaurants can transact confidently, with network security that:

• Segments critical point-of-sale devices by containing them in a separate network segment. Intrusions into other parts of the network will not impact these important revenue-generating devices.

• Isolates IoT on its own network so that IoT devices lacking the ability to perform standard security techniques can be separated from the rest of the network.

• Complies with PCI DSS guidelines. This includes many features, such as application-aware services, multiple private network options, content filtering, intrusion detection and prevention systems, cloud-delivered analytics and alerts, and several types of network segmentation.​​

Our audience of restaurant operators would love to know more about wireless edge solutions for vehicles and IoT — and any other cutting edge use cases on the horizon.

Wireless WAN is not just for fixed locations. Many restaurants provide delivery services and pop-up locations or are permanently in motion, such as food trucks. So, a flexible in-motion wireless edge solution is optimal.

• A wireless edge solution provides connectivity and data where required, as well as offering location services and vehicle telematics to link POS systems and inventory tracking.

• Sensors and IoT devices are being used to improve the customer experience and operational efficiency. Monitoring temperatures — and reporting variances — for freezers and cooking equipment to ensure operations in a consistent environment, according to standards, is another use case.

• Wireless can serve you, getting you closer to your customers. 

Learn more about Cradlepoint solutions for restaurants at  Cradlepoint.com/solutions/for-business/restaurants/