POS for spotty internet
When the internet drops in the middle of a rush, a cloud-only till stops taking orders. SeroPOS keeps ringing sales and printing kitchen tickets offline, can link tills over your own network and uploads everything once the connection is back.
Unreliable internet in SeroPOS
Sales saved on the device
Every sale is written locally first with a till-unique token, then uploaded.
Kitchen tickets print offline
Tickets still print to kitchen printers on your network when the internet is down.
Automatic retries
Uploads retry every 20 seconds and back off up to 30 minutes, and nothing is dropped.
Tills on your own network
On Pro, Server and Client mode links tills over your LAN without needing the internet.
Card charge safety
Approved card charges are recorded before the sale is saved, and duplicate charges are flagged.
Online indicator
The app bar shows whether the till is online, so staff know which mode they are in.
What keeps working when the internet drops
SeroPOS keeps a local copy of your products, prices, taxes, customers and printers on each till, and every sale is saved on the device first with a unique token for that till. When the internet drops, staff keep adding items, holding orders, taking cash and printing receipts. Kitchen order tickets print to network kitchen printers as normal, so the cooks don't notice the outage.
In the background, the till tries to upload each sale every 20 seconds and backs off up to 30 minutes while the connection is down. If a sale fails eight times it is parked on the device, kept rather than dropped, and the till warns staff not to ring or charge it again. When the connection returns, uploads catch up on their own.
- Ringing sales and holds
- Cash payments and receipts
- Kitchen tickets to network printers
- Sales queued and uploaded later
What needs a connection
Being honest about the limits helps you plan. Recent Transactions, the daily sales report, BILL printing for table service and barcode lookup on phones need the internet. Online and web orders can't arrive while you are offline. Card terminals need a connection to their processor to approve a card, so keep a cash float and a plan for card customers during a full outage.
Catalogue changes made in the back office reach the till on the next sync, every ten minutes, or straight away with Sync DataBase in the side menu. Clear DB wipes the device and logs out, so it should only be used after everything has uploaded. Leave it alone during an outage, since unsent sales live on the device until the connection returns.
Several tills on your own network
On the Pro plan, Server and Client mode turns one Windows PC into a local server and connects the other tills to it over your network, on any platform. Client tills store their sales in the server's database, and the floor plan, held orders and kitchen display are shared, so a waiter on a tablet and a cashier at the counter see the same tables without the internet.
The server is discovered on the network automatically and restarts with the PC. New tills can join during a 24-hour setup window, which you can close early with Lock Down Now. The server till uploads to the cloud when the connection is available, so the back office catches up after an outage.
Protecting card payments
The risky moment in an outage is a card charge that was approved but never recorded. SeroPOS writes every approved card charge to an outbox before it saves the sale, and replays it after 90 seconds if the sale wasn't recorded. If the same card is charged the same amount moments later, the till warns that it was already charged.
On Global Payments terminals, Check on Terminal reads the terminal's batch to confirm whether a card went through, and the recovery buttons offer a safe retry, keeping the order or cancelling. A terminal watchdog emails a timeline if a transaction stalls past 90 seconds, so support can see what happened.
Frequently asked questions
Does SeroPOS work without internet?
Yes, for the core of the job. You can ring up sales, hold orders, take cash, print receipts and print kitchen tickets offline. Sales are saved on the device and uploaded when the connection is back. Reports, Recent Transactions, online orders and most card approvals need a connection.
Will I lose sales if the internet goes down?
No. Each sale is saved on the device first and uploaded with automatic retries. If a sale keeps failing, it is parked on the device rather than dropped, and staff are warned not to ring it again. Uploads resume on their own when the internet returns.
Can I take card payments offline?
Card terminals generally need a connection to approve a payment, so plan to take cash during a full outage. SeroPOS records each approved charge before saving the sale, warns about duplicate charges and can check the terminal's batch when a payment stalls.
Can my tills talk to each other without internet?
Yes, on Pro. Server and Client mode makes one Windows PC a local server, and other tills connect to it over your network. Sales, held orders, the floor plan and the kitchen display are shared locally, and the server uploads to the cloud when it can.
Do kitchen tickets print when the internet is down?
Yes. Kitchen order tickets print to printers on your local network while the till is offline, so orders keep reaching the kitchen. Kitchen printer routing by category or product works the same way online and offline, as long as the kitchen printers are on the same local network as the till.