thread Re: Intermittent and slow connection problem. in Payments Troubleshooting

Intermittent and slow connection problem.

saffrongrove — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 12:52:26 GMT

I have 2 card readers which used to work fine with my old iphone. Since I bought the new iphone 13, they struggle to connect every time. Sometimes it is fine, then if I don't take a sale in a while it disconnects and when I want to use it again it struggles to connect sometimes taking up to 5 minutes to do so which is embarrassing when you have a customer ready with their credit card.

My husbands (older) iphone has no problems being ready to use every time.

Is this a known problem? Because I am very close to changing my card reader to another company.

Thanks

Rachel

Re: Intermittent and slow connection problem.

Breffni — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:39:30 GMT

Hi Rachel, thanks for flagging this.

Sorry to hear you're running into this, it definitely sounds frustrating.

It sounds like your readers have been paired with at least 3 different devices recently, but the readers should only be connected to one device at a time or else it can cause the type of connectivity issues you have described.

I would suggest removing both readers from the Bluetooth settings on all three phones, to begin with:

iPhone > Settings > Bluetooth > Square Reader > Forget This Device.

Then you can factory reset both readers by holding down the power button for 10+ seconds.

Once that is done, we can repair one of the readers to your new phone, and please make sure you have the most recent version of the Square app downloaded on your phone before doing soon.

Tap Settings > Hardware > Card Readers > Connect a Reader.

Put your reader into pairing mode by pressing the reader’s button for 3–5 seconds. Remove your finger as soon as you see orange flashing lights. If you see red flashing lights, you’ve held the button too long and you’ll need to try again.

When connected, the reader will be listed as Reader Ready in-app.

Let me know how these steps go, if the readers are working on your husband's phone, then we should have no issues getting them to connect to your phone @saffrongrove 🙂

Re: Intermittent and slow connection problem.

saffrongrove — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 16:31:47 GMT

Hello, thank you for replying. Yes I have done this. It seems the problem lies with the Bluetooth connectivity.

The app and reader work fine until I stop using it for a few minutes, then the Bluetooth stops being connected. I can reconnect easily enough, it’s just a pain having to do this each time my phone goes to sleep between transactions.

at least I have found a way round it for now.

all the best

Rachel