Kitchen Printer (ethernet) keeps losing connection

[evilsivan]

I have two Square Stands. They keep losing connection to the Star ethernet kitchen printer.

The Square tablets give no notification when they printer loses connection (nor when it re connects). Our wifi is strong. Cycling the power on the iPads usually helps but not always. Any ideas how to see why the printer is losing connections, is it our ethernet switch? Is it the iPads losing wifi? Is there a way to force square to notify us when kitchen printer loses connection? This can be very stressful on my staff and is making my customers angry. Losing tickets is terrible.

[Valentina]

Hey @evilsivan, needing to constantly restart your devices in order for them to stay connected to the network definitely does sound unusual. 

As a first step, I would try running through these troubleshooting steps for Ethernet and WiFi receipt printers. If you're continuing to have the same issues after troubleshooting, try calling your WiFi provider to see if something at your location could be affecting your Ethernet connection during the day.

Finally, if your provider is unable to identify any glaring issues and this problem persists, then please call our support team so we can dig in with you!

[evilsivan]

Hi Valentina!

Thanks for the reply. We did try all those troubleshooting steps. I talked with support and they said they cannot help unless I contact them when the trouble is happening. That is not a viable solution as I cannot predict when it happens, and when it does happen we need to get printer up asap, we can't sit around and call support. We can try, but at the same time we need to get the printer re connected asap. Without the kitchen printer we cannot operate.

[Valentina]

In many restaurant (and retail) environments, one single router can house multiple networks.
IE: Yummy, Yummy-Guest, Yummy-Admin

A business could use 'Yummy' as their main source of internet connectivity for everyday usage, 'Yummy-Guest' for dining customers, and 'Yummy-Admin' specifically for back-of-house work.
 

Another possibility could be the iPad jumping to a different network when the main network is slow.
IE: I use 'Valentina-WiFi' at home. My neighbor has their own network, 'John-WiFi'.

If my network experiences a blip, my device may disconnect from 'Valentina-WiFi' and connect to 'John-WiFi' so I don't experience a lapse in connectivity.
 

As the iPad needs to be connected to the same network as the printers, you must ensure that the iPad is connected to the right network. There's not a great way to confirm which network your printer is connected to, so I advise trying to connect your iPad to each of the different networks.
 

Connect your iPad to Network 'A', and check to see if you can create a printer station. Repeat this step with each network you have available for your iPad. When you see the option to create a printer station, you have found the network your printer is connected to.

Once you are able to confirm which network this is, your troubleshooting step to avoid this issue would be to make sure your iPad is connected to that network. Let me know if this helps, @evilsivan!

[Romanpza]

I am having the same problem as you.  The wifi connection is good but the two kitchen ethernet printers randomly disconnect throughout lunch and dinner service.  Were you able to figure out what was happening? I have deleted and reinstalled the printers. I have had the router modem checked out.  I've eliminated any additional wifi connections.  

[cspp]

Did you ever figure out a solution? We are having the same issue, and it is so frustrating! I've had our IT guy check everything, and I've contacted Square Support who referred me over to the printer manufacturer. @Romanpza  @evilsivan  @Valentina 

[cspp]

@Romanpza @evilsivan  @Valentina 

[Romanpza]

We ended up getting a new modem and that fixed the problem.

[cspp]

Did you ever figure out a solution? We are having the same issue, and it is so frustrating! I've had our IT guy check everything, and I've contacted Square Support who referred me over to the printer manufacturer. 

[evilsivan]

The problem went away, but I don't know why, which is a bit scary. Good luck!