A few years ago, an internet outage at a hotel meant guests could not check email. Today, without hotel backup internet, it can stop the whole operation. Cloud property management systems, VoIP phones, card terminals, online booking channels, door lock systems and guest WiFi all depend on the same connection. When it drops, the front desk cannot see reservations, cannot take payments and may not be able to answer the phone. Backup internet with automatic failover is how hotels make sure one cut cable does not shut down the property.
What Stops Working When Your Hotel Internet Goes Down
- Your PMS, if it is cloud-based: no arrivals list, no room status, no folios
- Phones, if you are on VoIP: no incoming reservations calls and no room-to-desk calls on some systems
- Card payments through internet-connected terminals
- Channel manager and booking engine updates, which can lead to overbookings
- Guest WiFi, the fastest route to a bad review
- Remote camera viewing and some surveillance features
Outages happen for ordinary reasons: construction crews cutting a line, equipment failure at the provider, storms and power problems in the area. None of them are under your control. What you can control is whether your hotel keeps running when it happens.
How Hotel Internet Failover Works
Failover means your property has two internet connections and a business firewall that watches both. When the main connection fails, the firewall moves traffic to the backup automatically, usually within seconds to a minute, and switches back when the main line recovers. Staff do not have to unplug anything or call anyone.
Hotel Backup Internet Options
A second wired connection
The strongest option is a second wired line from a different provider, for example fibre from one company and cable from another. The key is real diversity. Two services that share the same cable or come in through the same trench can fail together.
Cellular (LTE or 5G) failover
A cellular router with a business data plan is affordable and completely independent of the cables in your street. It is ideal for keeping the front desk, PMS, phones and payments running, though usually not enough to carry full guest WiFi demand on a busy night.
Satellite internet for rural properties
For inns and resorts outside town, where a second wired provider may not exist and cellular signal is weak, low-orbit satellite service can serve as the backup, or in some locations even the main connection.
Prioritize What Matters During an Outage
A backup line is often smaller than your main one, so the firewall should decide what gets it first. A sensible order for most hotels:
- Card payments and the PMS
- Phones
- Back-office staff systems
- Guest WiFi, limited per device so a few guests streaming cannot take over the backup
This depends on a properly segmented network, with payments, staff and guests on separate networks. That segmentation is also a core part of PCI compliance for hotels, so the work pays off twice.
Do Not Forget Power
Two internet connections will not help if the network equipment loses power. A battery backup (UPS) on the firewall, switches, modems and phone system keeps everything running through short power interruptions and gives you time during longer ones. This matters even more as carriers replace copper phone lines, which carried their own power, with fibre, which does not. We cover that change in What Copper Line Retirement Means for Your Hotel.
Monitoring: Know Before Your Guests Do
Failover works best with monitoring behind it. When a connection drops, your IT provider should get an alert, open a ticket with the carrier and keep you updated, often before the front desk notices anything. Monitoring also catches a backup line that has quietly failed, so it is ready when you need it. This is part of what managed IT services for hotels should include.
Keep Your Hotel Online With AutoSecure
AutoSecure Communications designs hotel networks that stay up: dual internet with automatic failover, traffic prioritization, battery backup and 24/7 monitoring. We have supported Ontario hotels since 2003, and we will recommend the right backup option for your location and budget.
Book a free consultation or call 226-476-3358.