Payment Network Segmentation
Your POS terminals and card readers isolated from guest Wi-Fi and the rest of your network: the single biggest lever in PCI DSS scope and breach risk.
See networking & security →For Businesses
IT Support for Retail, Restaurants & Card Payment Security in Tampa Bay
A POS system that goes down during the lunch rush costs more than the average ticket, and a payment network that isn't segmented right can put your ability to take cards at all on the line. Bay Geeks brings the same managed IT approach we use for Tampa Bay's law firms, medical practices and accounting firms to retail, restaurants and hospitality: from our St. Petersburg office since 2004, with plans from $75 per computer per month and Bay Geeks EDR on every one.
Same-day appointments usually available
Premium and Advanced plans: 2-hour response target during business hours, 24/7 monitoring on Advanced
Local office since 2004: 1655 20th Ave S., St. Petersburg; on-site across Pinellas & Hillsborough
Built For The Work You Do
What's Included
POS & Network Uptime
Proactive monitoring and patching so a register, kiosk or online ordering outage doesn't hit during your busiest hours.
Ransomware Protection
Point-of-sale systems are a frequent ransomware and card-skimming target industry-wide. Bay Geeks EDR is included on every maintenance plan.
See Bay Geeks EDR →Backup & Disaster Recovery
Automated backup for sales, inventory and customer data, tested and monitored.
See backup & recovery →Before You Hand Over Access
How We Protect Your Business
Built for payment data
We take a PCI DSS-aware approach to your payment environment: segmenting card systems from the rest of your network and mapping your setup toward the standard rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Fully insured, cyber included
We carry $1M/$2M general liability, $1M cyber liability and errors & omissions insurance, so if something goes wrong on our watch, there's a policy behind us, not just an apology. Certificate of insurance on request.
Background-checked owner
The person who accesses your network is the owner, Alden Stenberg, who has passed a background check, and your signed agreement binds Bay Geeks to confidentiality.
Documented data handling
A written policy governs access, retention and secure end-of-life drive destruction, from procurement through disposal.
See our compliance approach →PCI DSS (the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, maintained by the PCI Security Standards Council, currently version 4.0.1) applies to any business that stores, processes or transmits card data, which in practice means almost every retailer, restaurant and hospitality business in Tampa Bay. Most small locations qualify as Level 4 merchants and validate with a Self-Assessment Questionnaire instead of a full onsite audit, but which SAQ applies, and how much of your network is in scope, depends entirely on how you take payments: a standalone terminal that never touches your network is a very different question from a POS system wired into the same network as your office computers.
The technical work is the same either way: keep the payment network segmented from guest Wi-Fi and everything else, encrypt cardholder data in transit, avoid storing it at all where you can help it, patch and monitor the systems in scope, and give every employee their own login instead of a shared register password. Get that right and the assessment becomes paperwork instead of a scramble.
The stakes are real for a single-location business: a card-data incident brings forensic costs, card-brand fines that flow through your processor, and in some cases losing the ability to accept cards while it's sorted out. It's also exactly the kind of event a cyber insurance policy is meant to cover, and carriers increasingly ask card-processing applicants some of the same questions a PCI assessment does. See our insurance & compliance hub for how those two overlap.
Common Calls From Retail & Restaurant Clients
- Payment network segmentation review (POS and card readers isolated from guest Wi-Fi)
- Walking through which PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) applies to your setup
- POS and network slowdowns during peak hours
- Backup verification for sales and inventory data
- Setting up guest Wi-Fi that's actually separate from the business network
Straightforward & Upfront
Commercial Rates
On-Site Service
$175/ hour
1-hour minimum on-site. A technician comes to your location in our service area.
Remote Support
$175/ hour
Billed in 15-minute increments, so quick fixes cost less than a full hour.
Pickup & Return
From $300flat rate
For specific hardware issues we can quote a flat rate up front, with no surprises.
Managed maintenance plans available: ongoing patching, monitoring, backup and Bay Geeks EDR, billed monthly per device. Call for a site survey and quote.
Start With Evidence
Not Sure Where Your Business Stands?
Our Business Risk Assessment inspects your accounts, email, computers, backups, office network and what the internet can see, then ranks every finding in plain English and prices the fixes. For a shop or restaurant, it flags where card-payment (PCI) requirements apply and whether your payment devices are separated from guest Wi-Fi.
$495 flat for up to 10 computers, credited toward a maintenance plan if you start one within 30 days of the walkthrough.
When Customers Ask AI
Who Does AI Recommend Near You?
People now ask ChatGPT and other AI assistants questions like “Where’s a good brunch spot in downtown St. Pete?” or “Which bike shop near Gulfport is open Sunday?” The answer names a few places. Our free AI Answer Snapshot asks the assistants the questions your customers ask, then shows you which businesses they named, whether yours was one of them, and the sources they cited.
Free, with no obligation. If there’s a gap, Search & AI Visibility Care tracks those answers every week and works on the sources behind them every month.
Visit Or Call
Our St. Petersburg Office
- Address: 1655 20th Ave S., St. Petersburg, FL 33712 (directions)
- Phone: 727-579-4335
- Hours: Mon–Thu 8am–6pm, Fri 8am–2pm; weekends and after hours by appointment
- On-site: across Pinellas and Hillsborough, same-day appointments usually available
- In business since 2004
Ready When You Are
Let's Talk About Your Network
Call to schedule a site survey, or open a ticket if something's broken right now: we'll figure out the fastest path back to working.