Backup internet for car washes
Unattended pay stations and membership (license plate or RFID) systems often need the internet to authorize payments and look up members. With no attendant on site, an outage can mean the wash takes no money until someone notices.
What to protect
- Pay stations / auto cashiers (card authorization)
- Membership lookup (plate recognition or RFID tags)
- Remote monitoring and cameras
- Alerts to the owner when the main line drops
Setup tips
- Choose a failover router that alerts you when it switches over, so you know the main line is down.
- Mount cellular antennas outside metal equipment rooms if signal is weak.
- Ask your pay-station vendor which ports and hosts must be reachable, and whether they support cellular backup.