- Cellular failover is limited to Adyen-related services, such as payment or diagnostics requests. Cellular failover does not support network requests from other apps that you may have deployed on the terminal.<\/li>
- Third-party SIM cards<\/a> can only be used with AMS1, S1U2, S1F2, S1F2L, and S1E2L payment terminals with software version 1.93 or later installed.<\/li><\/ul><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Cellular connection and alternatives<\/h2>\n
When there is a problem with the internet access, you can use cellular failover so that your terminals automatically switch to a cellular connection.<\/p>\n
To make cellular failover possible, you can either:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Use terminals with built-in cellular connectivity<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Use a cellular router<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Using terminals with cellular connectivity<\/h3>\n
Most mobile and portable terminals<\/a> have built-in 3G or 4G hardware and a pre-installed, activated SIM card. This allows the terminals to send and receive payment messages as packets over the internet through General Packet Radio Service (GPRS, which is an extension to cellular communication).<\/p>\n
If these terminals cannot reach the internet through their primary network connection, they automatically switch to processing payments using their cellular connection. They will also switch back to using the primary connection when this is available again.<\/p>\n
Note that our terminals only support SIM cards supplied by Adyen. For exceptions see activating a third-party SIM card<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Currently, we do not charge fees for using the cellular connection. In the near future this will change for Android terminals: we won't charge a fee for using the cellular connection to make payments or update the terminal, but you will need to buy data bundles to cover the expected data traffic of the apps that you have running on your Android terminals.<\/p>\n
\nMobile network operators around the world are ending coverage for 3G<\/a>. This affects terminals that only support 3G for cellular connectivity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Using a cellular router<\/h3>\n
If your terminals do not have built-in cellular hardware, you can install a router with 3G\/4G cellular failover. When the terminal cannot reach the internet through its primary network connection, the terminal switches to an internet connection over GPRS. The terminal also switches back to the primary connection when this is available again.<\/p>\n
To ensure you get the best cellular reception, you should also install external 3G\/4G antennas.<\/p>\n
However, there are situations when cellular failover is not always useful, as described in the scenarios<\/a> in the next section. The following alternatives are available:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Enable offline payments<\/a>. This is possible when your integration uses local communications<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Use a standalone terminal<\/a> as a backup. This must be a terminal model with a built-in printer<\/strong>. Also, either cellular connectivity<\/a> or offline payments<\/a> must be enabled on the standalone terminal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nYou are fully liable for the risk of failed captures, chargebacks, and disputes related to offline payments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Understanding cellular failover scenarios<\/h2>\n
There is a difference between network connectivity and internet connectivity. The terminal uses its primary network connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) to reach the internet. There are two ways this can go wrong:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The terminal cannot access the internet because it has lost the connection to your network.<\/li>\n
- The terminal is connected to your network but cannot access the internet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The following scenarios show how cellular failover works in these cases with cloud communications and local communications.<\/p>\n
Scenario: No network connection - cloud integration<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/cloud-no-network.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
\nThe terminal lost its primary network connection, and fails over to a cellular connection. The POS app sends the payment request to the plataforma de pagamentos da Adyen, which forwards the request to the terminal. The terminal receives and processes the request over the cellular connection.<\/p>\nScenario: No internet - cloud integration<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/cloud-no-internet.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
\nThe terminal is connected to the network through its primary network connection, but has no internet access. The terminal fails over to a cellular connection. If the POS app does have internet access, it sends the payment request to the plataforma de pagamentos da Adyen, which forwards the request to the terminal. The terminal receives and processes the request over the cellular connection.<\/p>\nIf the POS app cannot access the internet, cellular failover on the terminal does not solve the problem as shown in the next illustration.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/cloud-no-internet-at-all.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
<\/p>\nIf the POS app has no internet access, it cannot send and receive payment messages.<\/p>\n
\nIn this scenario, cellular failover on the terminal is not useful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Consider using a standalone terminal<\/a> as a backup.<\/p>\n
Scenario: No network connection - local integration<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/local-no-network.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
\nThe terminal lost its primary network connection, and fails over to a cellular connection. The POS app is still connected to the network and sends the payment request to the terminal over the network. However, the terminal never receives the request because it is disconnected from the network.<\/p>\n\nIn this scenario, cellular failover on the terminal is not useful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Consider alternatives:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Use a standalone terminal<\/a> as a backup.<\/li>\n
- Enable offline payments<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Scenario: No internet - local integration<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/local-no-internet.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
\nThe terminal is connected to the network through its primary network connection. After receiving the request, the terminal tries to access the internet through the primary connection. After 36 seconds of not being able to connect to the internet, the terminal fails over to a cellular connection. The transaction is processed over the cellular connection.<\/p>\nManage cellular connectivity on the terminal<\/h2>\n
By default, SIM cards are activated and cellular connectivity is enabled. Using our Management API<\/a>, you can deactivate and activate the SIM card in individual terminals one at a time. If you deactivate a SIM card, the terminal cannot use cellular connectivity. If you later enable the SIM card again, you need to ensure the terminal can use it.<\/p>\n
To deactivate or activate the SIM card in a terminal:<\/p>\n
- \n
- \n
Optional. To see the current activation status of a SIM card, make a GET \/terminals\/{terminalId}\/terminalSettings<\/a> request and check the simcardStatus<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Make a PATCH \/terminals\/{terminalId}\/terminalSettings<\/a> request.<\/p>\n
In the request body, specify a connectivity<\/a> object with the following properties:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Enable offline payments<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Use a standalone terminal<\/a> as a backup.<\/li>\n
- Use a standalone terminal<\/a> as a backup. This must be a terminal model with a built-in printer<\/strong>. Also, either cellular connectivity<\/a> or offline payments<\/a> must be enabled on the standalone terminal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Use a cellular router<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Use terminals with built-in cellular connectivity<\/a>.<\/li>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/docs.adyen.com\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/cloud-no-internet-at-all.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
","cloud-no-internet.svg":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/docs.adyen.com\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/cloud-no-internet.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
","cloud-no-network.svg":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/docs.adyen.com\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/cloud-no-network.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
","deactivate-sim-card-4477036889.js":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/docs.adyen.com\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/local-no-internet.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
","local-no-network.svg":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/docs.adyen.com\/user\/pages\/docs\/03.point-of-sale\/04.design-your-integration\/07.network-and-connectivity\/03.cellular-failover\/local-no-network.svg?decoding=auto&fetchpriority=auto\")
"}}