If the internet goes down
Bina keeps selling with no internet — but only some things. Here's exactly what still works, what needs the connection back, and what those pills at the top of your screen mean.
The 20-second version
When the internet drops, keep ringing cash sales for takeaway and delivery. They complete instantly, print, and open the drawer — no internet needed. Everything else on this page — dine-in, splits, refunds, card payments, the kitchen screen — needs the connection back.
What still works with no internet
| You want to… | Works offline? | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Ring a cash sale (takeaway / delivery) | ✅ Yes | Completes right away — receipt prints, drawer opens. It quietly saves itself and sends to the server the moment the internet returns. Check Sell → Orders afterwards — it will show up exactly once, never twice. |
| Print a receipt or kitchen ticket, open the drawer | ✅ Yes | Printing runs over your shop’s own network to the printer, not the internet — it never cares if you’re offline. |
| Scan, search or tap to add items to the cart | ✅ Yes | Your menu is already loaded on the till. Building the sale never needs a live connection. |
| Park a sale, then bring it back | ✅ Yes | Park saves it on the till itself, not the server. |
| Send a takeaway/delivery order to the kitchen | 🟡 Queues, but the kitchen screen won’t see it yet | It saves the same way a cash sale does and shows up on the Kitchen screen once the connection is back — not the instant you send it. |
| Reopen the till after a reboot or power blip | ✅ Yes, usually | The till remembers itself and your recent menu, so a restart mid-outage doesn’t strand you — it reopens and keeps selling. |
What needs the connection back
| You want to… | Works offline? | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Start a new dine-in order (pick a table) | ❌ No | Bina needs the server to open a table before it can take the order. You’ll see “Could not open the table tab.” Switch to Takeaway, or wait. |
| Split a bill between two or more people | ❌ No | Splitting only works once the order is saved on the server — that saving step needs the connection. |
| Refund a sale | ❌ No | Refunds always talk to the server directly. |
| Void an order | ❌ No | Same as refunds — always needs the connection. |
| ⚠ Collect payment on an order you sent earlier | ❌ No — even for cash | This one surprises people: even though the customer is handing you cash right now, this specific action always talks to the server. It will not work until you’re back online. |
| Apply a promo code or redeem loyalty points | ❌ No | The server has to check and price these before you can quote the customer a total. |
| Apply a manager-PIN discount | ❌ No | The PIN has to be checked by the server before the discount is allowed through. |
| See or update anything on the Kitchen screen | ❌ No | The kitchen tablet is a separate device — it checks the server for tickets every few seconds and shows nothing new until it’s back online. |
| Look at Orders, Reports, Z-Report, Inventory, Team, Settings | ❌ No | Every other page in Bina needs to fetch live data from the server to show anything useful. |
About card payments
Treat card, Apple Pay and Google Pay as unavailable the moment the internet drops. Take the payment on your bank’s card terminal like normal — it is the bank terminal, not Bina, that actually needs a live connection to approve a card. If your shop’s whole internet is down, that terminal is very likely down too. Don’t try to force a card sale through — cash-only until you’re back online.
What the pills at the top mean
| Pill | Meaning | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Offline · N queued | No internet right now. Cash sales you ring are being saved and will send themselves later. | Nothing — keep working normally. |
| 🟠 Syncing N orders… | Internet is back and your queued sales are being sent to the server. | Wait a few seconds — it clears itself. Don’t close the tab mid-sync. |
| 🔴 N sale(s) failed to record — review | This is different and more serious — a sale was taken (receipt printed, cash in hand) but the server permanently refused to record it. There is no order and no stock movement for it. | Tap the pill, read the reason for each one, re-ring it if the customer was served, then Acknowledge & clear. Tell a manager — the cash for that sale still needs reconciling. |
Testing it yourself before you rely on it
Any manager or owner can prove this works in under a minute:
- Turn off Wi-Fi on the till (or unplug the network).
- Ring a cash sale. It should complete instantly, print, and open the drawer. The nav shows Offline · N queued.
- Turn Wi-Fi back on. The pill turns to Syncing…, then disappears.
- Check Sell → Orders — the sale should be there exactly once.
If anything looks different from that — the sale is missing, duplicated, or you see the red "failed to record" pill — stop and get help before trusting the till on a busy shift.