"You're blocked" — what to do

What this covers

You signed in and got a page saying access from your network is not allowed. This explains why and what to do. Written for whoever is looking at that page — no special permission needed.

What has happened

Your password is fine. Your account is fine. Nothing is broken and you have not done anything wrong.

Your restaurant has chosen to limit sign-in to approved networks — normally the restaurant's own internet connection. You are connecting from somewhere that is not on the list: home, mobile data, a café, or the venue's own connection after its address changed.

Notice that you got past the password step. That is why this is not a password problem: you proved who you are, and the restriction is about where you are.

You are also still signed in — you have not been logged out, which is why the page can greet you by name.

Three ways forward

1. Get onto the restaurant's network

The simplest fix. Connect to the restaurant's Wi-Fi and try again.

Worth checking even if you think you are already on it: your phone may have quietly dropped to mobile data, which is a different network as far as this is concerned. Turn mobile data off, confirm you are on the venue Wi-Fi, and reload.

2. Ask for a bypass code

If you genuinely need to work from where you are, an Owner or Manager can issue you a bypass code — a short code like XKPQ-7RTM-2VBN that lets you through.

Message them and say where you are and what you need to do. They can issue one in about ten seconds (link Bypass codes).

Entering it

  1. Type the code into the field on the blocked page. Capitals and dashes do not matter.
  2. If you will be working here for a while, tick remember this connection — it keeps this location working for 12 hours so you are not re-entering the code all evening.
  3. Submit. You land where you were trying to go.

If it is rejected, the message tells you which of three things went wrong: the code is invalid (check for typos, or a mistyped character passed on by phone), expired, or already used up. Ask for a fresh one — the person issuing it can see how many uses were left.

Do not keep retrying a code that failed. Attempts are rate-limited, so repeated tries will start being refused regardless.

3. Ask for your location to be added

If you will be working from here regularly — you do the rota from home every week — a permanent allowlist entry is better than a code every time.

Your Owner or Manager needs your public address. Search the web for "what is my IP address" from the device you are on, and send them the number it shows (link Managing allowlist entries).

If you are the Owner or a Manager

You should not normally see this page at all — Owner and Manager accounts are exempt by default. Seeing it means somebody has turned that exemption off.

Your routes, in order:

  1. Use a bypass code if you kept one in reserve. This is precisely what it is for (link Bypass codes).
  2. Ask a colleague with manage-settings who is currently on the venue's network to issue you one, or to add your address.
  3. Go to the restaurant and connect to its Wi-Fi.
  4. Contact support if none of those is possible (link Reporting a problem).

Everybody is blocked at once

If your whole team is suddenly locked out on a normal day, the usual cause is that the restaurant's internet address has changed — after a power cut or a router restart. The allowlist is still pointing at the old one.

Whoever manages the settings needs to add the new address. They can get it from a device on the venue network in the usual way, and they may need a bypass code to reach the settings page at all — which is why keeping one in reserve matters (link Restricting sign-in to your venue's network).

What not to do

  • Do not keep re-entering your password. It is not the problem, and enough failed attempts will lock your account as well — leaving you with two problems (link Unlocking a locked-out account).
  • Do not create a second account. It would be blocked identically.
  • Do not use a VPN to get round it unless you have been told to. It changes your apparent location and will not match the allowlist anyway.
  • Do not pass a bypass code on to anybody else. It was issued for you, and its use is recorded.

Good to know

Guests are never affected. Your restaurant's booking page, menu and events pages work normally for everybody. This only restricts staff signing in.

Blocked attempts are recorded, with the address and the page. So your Manager can see that it was you and not somebody else, which is useful rather than sinister (link The audit log).

It is not a lockout. A lockout comes from wrong passwords and clears itself; this is a network rule and waiting will not change it (link Unlocking a locked-out account).

Where to go next

Previous Bypass codes Next The audit log