Why is my Contactless and Chip Card Reader Disconnecting?

[cmusicshop]

[The title of this thread has been edited from the original: Contactless Reader weirdness]

Just had this happen - contactless reader drops Bluetooth connection (this has happened before though less frequently lately).  Normally just reconnect or shut down app, restart and all is good.

Not this time.  Bear in mind, nothing changed or happened, it just disconnected.  Did everything multiple times but when it came to reconnecting, the orange lights flashed forever and never connected.  Finally, I held reset button until it flashed red and kept holding it for a total of 20 seconds.  Only then did it restart/reconnect when prompted.

Question:  What's going on?  Is this a symptom of device failure considering nothing changed on the tablet (wifi, BT, current version)?  Any others?  Freaked me out as it puts a big stopper on taking payments.

[Joe · Accepted solution]

Hi there, @cmusicshop - thanks for taking the time to reach out to us here on the Community and let us know about this. So sorry for the trouble you are experiencing with your Contactless & Chip Card reader! We are here to help!

There are multiple factors that can contribute to this kind of behavior from your reader. While this issue isn't necessarily common, we do see pairing difficulties for devices who have recently gone through a software (or hardware) updates, and the same can sometimes occur if the reader has recently updated its firmware. 

Would you mind trying out each of these troubleshooting steps? If there are any lingering software or firmware issues, they should be be able to patch them up and get you back in business.

Let me know if that works! I want to make sure this gets resolved for you.

[cmusicshop]

I did all those things before posting, I didn't want to make a post that was covered somewhere else if possible.  I looked at updates, turned every option off/on, reset, etc.  It was only after I held the button long past where the orange turns red and then off that it worked.  Might this be a "hard" reset for the reader?

It's working fine now but I'd like to avoid it in the future or at least have a quicker solution.

[Alex_]

Hi @cmusicshop,

Stepping in here for Joe. As mentioned above, normally this issue falls in line with a software update affecting your device's connectivity. 

Just as you tried, we always recommend performing a full hard reset by holding down the button on the reader until the lights have completely cycled through green, orange, red, and off. If your device's app and software are completely up to date, and you are still experiencing issues, it will usually fall on a hardware malfunction on the reader itself. 

Please let me know if you have any other questions by replying to this thread. 

[Yolande]

I don't know why the reader keeps disconnecting, and then not connect at all. it does accept cash and print. This is my second reader already. The reader works and then it stops. Am at a food truck and I lose customers as system does not work. They go elsewhere. So far, in two year, I really get frustrated and disappointed. Is the terminal a better device? Please advise, asap.

[GreenAcresGolf]

I'm having a similar problem, but my reader is in the dock and disconnects.  I unplug the dock and plug it back in, and it reconnects. This started happening a few weeks ago, and we have been using the system since January 2021.  Is there something else I can try to fix this issue?  

[Kassi_]

Welcome back to the Community, @GreenAcresGolf - 

Give these troubleshooting steps a try to help fix your reader. If these don't do the trick, then you can submit the form for a warranty exchange. The Contactless + Chip Reader has to be less than a year old. 

Please let me know if you have any other questions.