The Always-On Challenge: How 5G Failover Solves Retail Connectivity Gaps at Scale
5G failover for fast-food restaurants is now a critical capability for ensuring operational uptime and seamless service across multiple locations.
In the world of fast-food and quick service restaurants (QSR), downtime isn’t just inconvenient — it’s expensive. From point-of-sale (POS) systems and digital ordering kiosks to kitchen displays and guest Wi-Fi, today’s restaurant operations rely on seamless connectivity to deliver fast, consistent customer experiences.
Customer Introduction – Jones Technology Ltd (UK)
Jones Technology Ltd is a UK-based Managed Service Provider (MSP), founded to deliver specialist IT solutions across the retail, manufacturing, education, and construction sectors. With a team boasting decades of hands-on industry experience, Jones Technology combines enterprise-level capability with boutique-style service.
One of the company’s core strengths lies in supporting large multi-site retail estates, providing full-stack network design, implementation, and management — tailored to the unique pace and operational needs of quick service restaurant (QSR) environments.
Jones Technology supplies and manages everything from secure connectivity to proactive support, ensuring that its clients experience seamless uptime and responsive service across all their locations.
You can learn more about Jones Technology here: https://www.jonestechnology.co.uk/
BUSINESS CHALLENGE 1:
Ensuring Reliable Connectivity in Complex Environments
Many QSR locations, particularly those in retail parks and urban centres, suffer from poor indoor mobile signal due to their construction — with comms equipment typically housed in steel-clad plant rooms or back-of-house areas. These RF-hostile environments present a significant challenge for cellular-based failover solutions.
Jones Technology needed a 5G failover system that could perform consistently across hundreds of locations, each with different signal profiles and network coverage. The goal was to ensure mission-critical systems — such as POS, Wi-Fi, and kitchen displays — remained online in the event of a primary WAN failure.
To overcome this, Jones Technology deployed Robustel’s industrial-grade 5G routers in a custom-designed external enclosure, allowing the cellular equipment and antenna to be positioned outside the building where signal strength was significantly improved. Each site was equipped with an unlimited data SIM sourced from the most suitable UK mobile network for that location, selected based on coverage analysis.
This combination of high-performance hardware and strategic SIM provisioning enabled consistent, reliable failover connectivity across the estate. Robustel’s remote management capabilities also allowed Jones Technology to maintain visibility and control of the estate, ensuring uptime and rapid troubleshooting when needed.
“Our priority was to deliver a complete, reliable, and scalable connectivity solution that could support store operations from day one — without being tied to the delays or complexities of traditional line installations. The Robustel 5G router gives us a robust and flexible platform that integrates seamlessly with our SD-WAN deployments and keeps sites connected when it matters most.”
Rob Jones, Managing Director
Jones Technology Ltd
BUSINESS CHALLENGE 2:
Bypassing Line Delays and Last-Mile Dependencies
Primary leased line installations are a frequent bottleneck in QSR rollouts — often delayed by third-party carrier backlogs, site permissions, or civil works. These uncertainties can stall store openings, disrupt launch timelines, and undermine customer experience from day one.
To eliminate these risks, Jones Technology required a connectivity solution that was fast, independent, and production-ready — without relying on telco installation schedules.
By deploying Robustel’s R5010 5G routers with unlimited data SIMs sourced from multiple UK network operators, Jones Technology enabled zero-day connectivity at every site. The router’s industrial-grade design and plug-and-play configuration allowed it to be installed and activated within minutes — delivering full IP connectivity for POS systems, kitchen displays, staff devices, and guest Wi-Fi.
This cellular-first approach not only mitigated last-mile delays but also streamlined the rollout process, giving project teams the agility to bring new sites online without waiting for fixed infrastructure. Whether used as a short-term primary link or a long-term failover path, the solution ensured every location launched with reliable, business-grade connectivity from day one.
“Robustel’s R5010 router is ideal for Broadband backup in cost-sensitive applications, but none of the features come to life on their own. It takes a great System Integrator to allow all the value to shine through to the end customer and Jones Technology have done this admirably. From the outset the mentality has been to move fast, work hard and solve problems – it has been a privilege working with Rob and the team.”
David Evans, Global Solution Architect
Robustel
BUSINESS CHALLENGE 3:
Delivering Scalable, High-Performance Connectivity at the Right Price Point
Scaling a connectivity solution across a large multi-site QSR estate requires more than technical reliability — it demands economic viability. The client needed an industrial-grade router that could be deployed at hundreds of locations without incurring the high costs typical of enterprise edge devices.
Jones Technology selected the Robustel R5010 for its ideal balance of performance, ruggedness, and affordability. The R5010’s compact form factor, hardened enclosure, and industrial temperature tolerance made it well-suited to the demands of back-of-house environments — where heat, moisture, and limited space are common.
With stable firmware, high throughput capacity, and native support for SD-WAN integration, the R5010 delivered the enterprise-grade functionality required — without the enterprise-level spend.
This performance-to-cost efficiency enabled Jones Technology to standardize its deployment model across hundreds of sites — ensuring network consistency, simplified procurement, and reliable connectivity at scale. It was this balance that underpinned the project’s commercial success and operational resilience.
Quick Service Restaurant - Solution Overview
At the core of Jones Technology’s solution is a resilient network architecture designed to support the fast-paced and uptime-critical operations of a nationwide quick service restaurant brand. Each restaurant location relies on consistent internet connectivity to run essential services such as point-of-sale systems, kitchen displays, ordering kiosks, and guest Wi-Fi.
To enhance resilience, Jones Technology deployed an SD-WAN-enabled firewall solution with dual WAN capability — the primary circuit delivered via leased line, and a secondary WAN powered by a Robustel 5G industrial router. This setup ensures seamless automatic failover in the event of a disruption on the primary link.
In partnership with Robustel, Jones Technology also provides fully managed unlimited data SIMs as part of the end-to-end service — delivering a single-vendor solution that simplifies support, reduces risk, and guarantees continuity across all sites.
Results That Scale: Always-On Retail Connectivity Delivered
Through the strategic deployment of Robustel R5010 5G routers, Jones Technology enabled a resilient, rapidly deployable connectivity architecture for one of the UK’s largest quick service restaurant (QSR) brands — delivering measurable business impact at scale.
Key outcomes included:
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Seamless 5G failover via SD-WAN, ensuring uninterrupted operations for critical systems like point-of-sale (POS), guest Wi-Fi, kitchen displays, and digital ordering.
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Accelerated store readiness, with robust cellular connectivity available on day one — even when primary leased lines faced installation delays.
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Zero-touch deployment at scale, using preconfigured routers and centralised management through Robustel’s RCMS platform, dramatically reducing provisioning time and support overhead.
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Fully integrated service delivery, with Jones Technology managing router hardware, SIMs, and firewall configurations — eliminating third-party coordination risks.
The result was a high-availability network foundation that enabled faster store openings, improved uptime, and reduced operational risk — all underpinned by a cost-effective and scalable architecture ready to support future innovations.
Solution Components
R5010 5G Router
The Robustel R5010 is a compact, industrial-grade 5G router built for high-performance networking. With dual-SIM support, SD-WAN readiness, and rugged hardware, it delivers reliable connectivity in demanding environments. Ideal for retail, enterprise, and edge deployments where uptime, scalability, and remote management are critical.
RCMS - Cloud Device Management
Robustel Cloud Manager Service (RCMS) is a powerful device management platform enabling zero-touch provisioning, remote monitoring, and scalable firmware updates. Ideal for multi-site rollouts, RCMS simplifies deployment, reduces support overhead, and gives full visibility into device health and performance — from a single pane of glass.