Internet outage during service: what happens and what to do

Your internet just dropped during the Friday rush. Here's what stays working, what doesn't, and how to come back online cleanly.

Quick checks (try these first)

1. 1

   Confirm it's an internet outage, not a Wi-Fi-only outage

   Plug a laptop directly into the router with an Ethernet cable. If it works, it's a Wi-Fi issue — restart your access points. If the laptop also has no connection, the outage is upstream.

2. 2

   Check your ISP's status page

   Spectrum, Comcast, Verizon, and most major ISPs publish outage maps. Knowing it's a regional outage versus just your business changes whether you wait or call.

3. 3

   Tether an iPad to your phone hotspot

   Even at LTE/5G speed, the admin.eatsyorders.com dashboard works fine on a phone hotspot. Reconnect the wall-mounted iPad to your hotspot's Wi-Fi as a temporary bridge so kitchen tickets keep flowing.

What works offline

• Existing orders in your queue. Anything already accepted on the kitchen tablet (Order Management) is cached locally on the device. Your kitchen can keep cooking what's already in the rail.
• Cash payments via the iPad app. If you're already running the Eatsy iPad at the counter, cash transactions complete locally. Card transactions require internet.
• Printed receipts. Printers connected directly to an iPad via USB or Bluetooth keep printing for already-fired tickets. Network-connected (Ethernet) printers do not.

What doesn't work offline

• New incoming orders from customers. Your branded app, microsite (<slug>.eatsyorders.com), QR ordering, and delivery aggregators all need the internet. Customers see a "site temporarily unavailable" message — this displays automatically within ~30 seconds of detecting the outage.
• Card payments. Card readers route through Shift4 or NMI and require internet to authorize. Switch to cash-only for in-person sales until reconnected.
• Push notifications and WhatsApp triggers. These queue server-side and deliver when you're back online.

Diagnose the root cause

Hypothesis 1: ISP-side outage

Check your ISP's outage page. If your area is affected, there's nothing to do but wait. Communicate to in-restaurant customers ("our card processor is down, cash only for now"). Delivery channels already display the outage message automatically.

Hypothesis 2: Router or modem failure

If neighboring businesses are online but you're not, restart your modem (unplug 30 seconds, plug back in). If that doesn't work, restart the router. If still no connection, the hardware itself may have failed — most ISPs replace these for free if you call.

Hypothesis 3: DNS misconfiguration

If you can ping IP addresses but websites don't load, your DNS is broken. Switch your router's DNS to Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 — works on every router we've seen.

Recovering when you're back online

1. 1

   Wait 60 seconds for auto-reconnect

   Eatsy reconnects automatically. The kitchen tablet shows a green "Connected" badge top-right when restored.

2. 2

   Check the queue for orders placed during the outage

   Customers who placed orders right at the outage moment may have been double-charged or returned a generic error. Check your gateway dashboard (Shift4 or NMI) for any unmatched authorizations and refund anything not associated with a real order.

3. 3

   Re-fire any push notifications scheduled during the outage

   Scheduled pushes pause during outages and don't always auto-resume. Reschedule manually in admin.eatsyorders.com → Marketing if needed.