Access control lets you manage entry to your club through a physical barrier, such as a turnstile or a magnetic door lock. ClubRight connects to the barrier and decides who gets in: members whose payments are up to date, or who have paid for a booked activity, are let through, and anyone else is refused. This article explains how the integration works, the hardware ClubRight supports, and what you need to run it.
Why use access control
Access control puts your membership rules on the door. It is worth setting up if you want to:
Let in only paid-up members. Entry is granted based on each member's live membership and payment status, so overdue or lapsed members are refused automatically.
Run unmanned or extended hours. Because the barrier checks members itself, you can offer early, late, or 24-hour access without staff on the front desk.
Control entry by your own rules. Opening hours, club capacity, and visit limits all feed into who is allowed in and when.
How it works
ClubRight talks to your access control hardware through the Welcome Screen, a small application that runs on a Windows PC at your club. The Welcome Screen is the connector between your ClubRight account and the barrier: it keeps the access hardware updated with each member's current membership and payment status, so the barrier knows whether to open.
When a member arrives:
The member presents their credential (a QR code, barcode, PIN, or card) at the reader.
The reader passes it to the Welcome Screen, which checks the member's current status in ClubRight.
If the member is active, paid up, and permitted to enter at that time, the barrier opens.
If not, entry is refused and the screen shows the reason.
For what each refusal message means, see Troubleshooting member access: club, classes and app.
The hardware ClubRight supports
ClubRight integrates with two access control systems. Both connect through the Welcome Screen and achieve the same result, but they work in different ways:
Nortech: an industry-standard access control controller, connected to the Welcome Screen. See Setting up Nortech access control.
Paxton: the Paxton Net2 system, also connected to the Welcome Screen. See Setting up Paxton access control.
Your approved access control installer will advise which hardware suits your premises and will carry out the installation.
š” How quickly member changes reach the door: Nortech and most setups sync directly with the ClubRight database, so a change to a member's status applies straight away. Paxton works slightly differently: ClubRight updates the Paxton database on a repeating schedule of around 5 minutes, so a member who has just paid may need a few minutes before they can get in.
How members gain entry
Depending on your setup, members can use any of the following to gain entry:
QR code: generated in the member app.
Barcode: on a membership card or key tag.
PIN number: a 6-digit number, the same as the member's membership number.
Card or fob: a physical credential assigned to the member.
What you need to run it
š” PC requirements: Your access control must run on a dedicated Windows PC, used only for access control. It will not run on an Apple device, and a desktop is strongly preferred over a laptop. The PC needs at least 8GB of RAM and should be hardwired to your internet router for stability. ClubRight keeps a local cache in case of a short internet outage.
Two settings on the PC are important:
Turn off automatic updates, so a Windows update does not interrupt access control.
Turn off sleep mode, as this will shut down your access control when the PC sleeps.
The Welcome Screen needs to be open and online at all times for the barrier to work. You can download it from Settings > Your Club > Apps & Widgets, and there is more detail in Setting up and troubleshooting the Welcome Screen.
Getting access control installed
We recommend using a ClubRight approved access control supplier. They carry out the site survey, advise on hardware, install it, and connect it to ClubRight. The Welcome Screen setup itself is quick, typically a few minutes, once the hardware is in place.
For help choosing an installer, see Choosing an access control supplier, or contact the Customer Success team using the orange chat button in your application.