Star Ethernet Printer Disconnecting and Square App Shuts Down

[ewolygerg]

We've used Square POS in the Square stand for a few years now with no problems at all. Everything has worked great with no issues. About a month ago we switched internet providers and now we have the following issues almost daily:

1) Our Star TSP100 Ethernet printer (version 200.110.100) continually disconnects from the Square stand every day. It appears to happen at random, but it does disconnect every day.

2) A few days out of this month, our Square app will shut down during the middle of a transaction, causing multiple duplicate transactions to form on our transaction history. We've noticed that it primarily happens during a cash transaction and/or when the printer automatically disconnects from the Square stand.

Here's what we've done to troubleshoot the printer:
- We've made sure the iPad (ver: 15.3.31, 5th gen) is up to date with automatic updates turned on

- We've closed the Square app and re-opened it

- We've deleted the Square app and re-installed it

- We've turned the iPad off, then on
- We've deleted the Star printer (under settings > hardware > printers) and installed it again with the correct IP address

- We've followed all of the troubleshooting steps provided by Square here: Printer Troubleshooting | Square Support Center - US (squareup.com)

- We've disconnected the cables and reconnected them

- We've replaced the Ethernet cable that plugs directly into the router

- We've turned off the internet and turned it back on

When the printer randomly disconnects from the Square stand, we'll turn the printer off, then on again, then we go to connect it in the Stand settings under hardware, etc... It will show that it was disconnected, but after we restart the printer, it will appear again and then connect. 

Here's what we've done to troubleshoot the Square app shutting down:
- We turn the printer off, then on again

- We close out the Square app, then reopen it

- Once the printer reconnects to the Square stand, the POS works like normal

Again, we never had any problems before switching internet providers.

One idea would be setting up a separate router that we would connect our Square stand to, rather than the main internet router, thinking that maybe our Star printer gets interrupted by being directly connected to the main router. The router our ethernet cable is connected to is the Arris BGW210-700. 

[Candlestore]

@ewolygerg ;

Since you say you switched Internet providers, did they provide you with a new router (wired-Wireless) one?

I told my ISP to just give me a High Speed Modem, and I provided my own router(s) for my network.

Your old ISP could have configured your Star Printer as a Static IP address, New isp might have it as an DHCP.  So every so often the Printer may ask the router for the address and get a different one especially after your ISP give your external IP a new IP for safety reasons.  The other thing could be is how long of a cable are you running to your star printer?

I had to run a wired line to a wireless repeater so My square Stand could get a constant connection, and have the Star printer on Ethernet so 2 Stands could print to it.  I had a wired switch that the printer connected to but my stands would drop wifi because of the size and thickness of our walls, and that would give me some of the problems you are describing.  Since I don't know what all you are using for cable lengths or wifi etc this is about the best I can do from here without more info. 

This is the range extender I am currently using, and extends both 2.4 and 5ghz ranges... no wires needed to install and works with any wifi signal.  I actually use 2 of these to connect my ip cameras to in my 2 storage barns ( 1 in each Barn).

wifi/range-extenders/eax20 

[ewolygerg]

Thanks for the response @Candlestore!

When we switched ISPs, they provided a router/modem combo (switched from Spectrum to AT&T now using the Arris BGW210-700). In order for our ethernet printer to work at all and connect to the Square stand, we needed to reconnect our Star printer by using the IP address associated with the printer. That's what we did, but I'm suspecting that we may need to directly connect our Star Ethernet printer into a separate router, rather than the one AT&T provided, so we would have an uninterrupted signal.

We had used a 3' ethernet cable and swapped it out for a 6' because I didn't disconnect the cable from the printer before I purchased one. 

I know our new Arris BGW210-700 router is 5G and our Star TSP100 is able to accommodate 2G & 5G networks. 

[Candlestore]

@ewolygerg ;

Since you are connected by an ethernet cable from the router to the printer, you may just need to go into the router settings and assign the star printer a Static IP (you can use the one it currently has).  Maybe the router keeps assigning the printer different IP addresses when it sleeps.  I have my Star printer and a few other items in my store assigned static IP addresses so they are always the same ip address on my network.  By having this done so far I have not had any problems with my star printer.  I bought the Ethernet/USB/Bluetooth version to get the most connections to try to future proof it.  

You may also want to contact your new ISP since to me, which I could be wrong but it sounds as though the Star printer is loosing its IP address or the router keeps reassigning it

[ewolygerg]

That's a good idea @Candlestore. I have 4 ethernet ports in the back and have noticed that the Star printer is not recognized if I unplug the ethernet cable from port 1 and place it in port 2. 

I'll try to assign a specific port to the printer in hopes that fixes it.