Can I print to a remote printer?

[jaysross]

We are a taproom that does not have a kitchen. We are partnering with a local restaurant to serve food in our pub. That being said, my question is, can we enter an order in our POS and have it print a ticket to the restaurant who is also logged in to our POS account? They of couse are not on our internal network. However we would provide them with an ipad that logs into our POS account and a connected receipt printer at the restaurant. 

Is what I am trying to do even possible?

[ryanwanner · Accepted solution]

If the iPads are not on the same WiFi network, this isn’t possible. It’s more of a built in WiFi security issue than a Square limitation. It would be like you being able to print to your neighbors printer when sitting in your bedroom at home—a little freaky! 

Now if if there was a way for the restaurant’s tablet you’re providing to be on your network either via a strong router or an extender, and it was logged into your account, then yes. This obviously means that they would not be able to use that tablet for their own restaurant, but could send drinks your way! 

[slainte]

Has anyone from Square weighed in on this? No offense to Ryan, but I'd like an "official" response before abandoning our plan...we also own a bar and looking to make the exact same arrangement with a restaurant about a block away.

[ryanwanner]

No offense taken, @slainte ! 🙂

Im still stuck on the fact that it’s going to be tough to pull off if your system isn’t on the same network...

That said, you may want to look into doing a special Online store that you can log into to send orders to the restaurant. 

Hey @katieand, @Helen or anyone else on the admin team: any insights?

[Helen]

Hello @slainte 🍀 Helen here from the Community team.

I can absolutely see how this would be useful but there isn't a way to send the order to a printer if it's on a different network. You could use Open Tickets to view orders in both locations, or as Ryanwanner suggested you could look into using Square's Online Store, which does have a remote printing feature. 

If I find any other workarounds I'll let you know! 

[DrewD]

Hey @katieand, @Helen or anyone else on the admin team: I want to do the same thing...can it be done on through a VPN?

[Helen]

I don't think so @DrewD! But @ryanwanner - correct me if I'm wrong!

[ryanwanner]

Hey @DrewD using a VPN is an interesting solution! I'm not entirely sure it would work only because my experience with VPNs are pretty limited.

Basically, the way Square works is that if the printer is listed on the same network as the terminal, you can print to it. If a remote printer attached via a VPN is "seen" as a local printer, than theoretically it would work. Strange feeling that if it does work, however, Square won't support any troubleshooting with it...

Thanks for thinking of me @Helen 

[ben1440]

I was just wondering if anyone had given the VPN option a try.  I am trying to setup a customer who has almost the exact same situation.  My concern using the VPN is that since the device and printer will not be on the same subnet, I wont be able to select it since manually putting in the IP address is not an option.

Any additional input would be greatly appreciated if someone has experience with this.

Thanks.

[AshleyK]

@ben1440 Great question! Your concerns are correct, though, as if you cannot get the Point of Sale iPad and the printer onto the same VPN/wifi network as your router, then the two will not find each other and won't pair. 

If you think you can get the printer on the VPN then this process is worth trying!

[Johan42]

Ashley & Other Square Users, 

Any luck with the VPN solution? I have a feeling this might just work.....

We are running into the same problem. We are looking into mesh network extenders for longer distance transmission of our Wifi network to other local providers.....

Any further guidance in remote order ticket printing would be greatly appreciated. 

[ben1440]

I think I have finally got a solution working to print between 2 network sites. I am using a pair of Ubiquiti edge routers and using them to build an EoGre over IPSEC tunnel. The result allows layer 2 traffic between the 2 sites which means I can see the printer from the square app from the other side. It was definitely a pain to get setup but it seems to be a solution. 

[JP65]

Ben, I was thinking a VPN connection might do the trick but was unsure about the investment, especially with multiple restaurants in the equation. That said, I would love to see what you came up with. I'm one of Johan's partners so hopefully we can all synch up in the coming days and share stories.

[JamesSandbar]

Hey @ben1440  I have been diggin into this for a few week now. 

first off I setup my network on one unifi USG with basic settings

192.168.1.x lan

192.168.2.x VPN 

Setup radius server and user

running a dynamic dns

I can log into the vpn and send all traffics thru. Everything seems to work but the printer discovery. 

im using

1 Star sp700

1 Star tsp100

3 Star mC-Print 3’s

While on the vpn over cellular i can ping all of them manually, I can even access the mc-print3’s web interface

but square app will not discover  the printers as connected

i can even trick in by being on the same network via Wi-Fi opening square confirming the printers presence then switching off Wi-Fi and connect via VPN over Cellular. I can still see the printers connected and even print remotely but if the app refreshes or logs out I lose the printers. I’m so close it drives me crazy. I think if I could manually enter the ip for printers it would fix it but square doesn’t support that. I just need to find a way to make the printer discoverable when on the vpn. If you could help I would appreciate it. 

[JamesSandbar]

@ben1440  Hey Ben if you could help me with some questions on how to got the site to site to work it would be appreciated 

thanks

james

[biryani]

Hi Folks,

I am trying to do this as well. I did notice Square POS now enabled connecting to the printers by Static IP in Advanced settings. Did anyone succeed in this? Can the admins share any recent developments, that would be really appreciated.

[ben1440]

That is an interesting deveopment.  Where in settings is this located?  I am about to be onsite where I would be able to test this out.

[biryani]

Under Printers -> Create Printstation -> Advanced Printer setup -> Epson/Star Printer. You should be able to type in your Printer static IP address. Going to try this out.

[JamesSandbar]

So...... If you create a VPN for your establishment and login to it from a remote location on say an iPad you should be able to set those Static IP Addresses and it should print if your VPN layers are set correctly. I cant give much info on how to setup the VPN as everyone's setup and hardware is different. 

Or if you have Public IP addresses with your internet provider then you could set your printers on those. you should be able to print to them like that. Most internet providers charge for public IPs and the printers would have to be programed for the Public IP ether via your DCHP Assignment on your router or using the star printer app.

Ive used the VPN trick before they allowed the Static IP setting but that's what I needed for it to work it stable. Basically i would trick square by signing in the vpn on local wifi then switch to other wifi or cell after connected. if i didnt shut down the app i could print from anywhere. if i closed the app it would lose the printers.the problem with VPN's is they will create their own subnet so you have your local xxx.xxx.xxx.168  and the vpn would be xxx.xxx.xxx.169 you can directly connect via static ip to the printer if allowed( wasnt at the time). Square when searching for IP Printers only looks down the same subnet (which would be your VPN) and doesn't see the printers on the other subnet (local) even tho i can see them with the star app or directly connect to them via IP in a browser.

I know this was alot but the static ip is a plus and im happy they brought that to the table.

Also staic IPs is great to setup up anyways as all my square devices (ipads,phones,printers,KDs) are all static ips by MAC Address to ensure that they have priority in DCHP and dont get bumped off by high client amounts. You should always assign static ip to anything important that you use of business everyday.

[biryani]

Thanks James. I will give it a try. Really appreciate your prompt response!

[Sam_400º]

Another option for this situation @biryani would be to use the Square KDS. 

This doesn’t have to be on the same network to work. If the kitchen really needed paper tickets these can be printed directly from the KDS too. 

In the summer I have remote ordering stations on some gigs that tether from a phone etc & this works a treat for me.