Hi, I know this has been touched upon in the past but I need some help with choosing the right Windows tablet for my setup (one desktop terminal with 3 tablets).
I prefer Windows over Android Client as I would like full samba functionality on the tablets.
Here are the two options I have:
8” tablet - generic brand with 2gb ram.
10” tablet - slightly more expensive, more branded and has 4gb ram.
My question is what choice would you be recommending based on:
Portability for order taking
Functionality (speed and connection to the main server)
I’m a bit nervous about how well the devices would communicate to each other via wifi. Can I still expect the same level of reliability that all the orders I take on the tablet will get printed as long as I have wifi connection?
The hotel group i did tablets for recently (pic posted the other day) were 10" windows.
They were tidy refurb dell venue tablets.
We did have to improve wifi a little to be sure good operation (switched to unifi UAP-AC-LITE boxes from the original UAP ones mainly to use a 5ghz as required higher deensity of aps in the old buidling with fixes walls and 2.4ghz n only give 3 non overlapping channels vs 11 i think it is on 5ghz
Your changes with good wifi of just not printing are slim, main niggle they have with those tablets is the inittial reconnection time after being left unused all afternoon and the occasional wifi disconnect but in both cases its not that you dont know if its printed to kitchen its a delay on say logingin in to samba or opening a table entity.
This is really insightful, thank you so much for sharing your experience.
It sounds like the major issue with functionality is the connectivity to the server over wifi after a period of inactivity. So I’m guessing whether it’s 2gb ram or 4gb ram wouldn’t make much of a difference?
I’m glad that the printing won’t get affected though as the reliability with that is super important.
I’m new to the modem router world. I’m setting this up on a two level building. Would it suffice If I have Google Nest mesh network?
I recommend ubiquiti unifi boxes, enterprise gear at reasonable prices.
When I say printing won’t be effected I mean if setup corectly it would be all or nothing. It samba wouldnt flow as normal and just not print. Obviously if there is an issue tablet wouldnt be able to connect to dB or printer.
Tablets can be set not to sleep etc at sacrifice of battery life onviously.
If you can cover area with one ap that would be ideal.
If not and you can segment areas and have say tablet per floor then likely seperate ap/ssid for each area and tablet.
Once you need multiple boxes with roaming things get allot more interesting.
Some systems claim seamless roaming but since its client device that decides when to switch between aps its not that simple.
The hotel we have 5 ac-lite aps for bar/restaurant areas then the rest of the hotel for rooms etc are just cheaper old 2.4 uaps.
I have only epos ssid on 5ghz ssid, public and office ssids on 2.4 with alternate aps having 2.4 disabled since 2.4 offers better range with obsticals but lower non overlapping channels.
This resulted in each room having a good 5ghz signal.
Next issue was how to push tablets to switch aps when expected rather than hanging on to say the ap from the last room that can just get signal for.
To try sort this i set a lower rssi value which should make the ap kick the client off at which point generally the client dev will reconnect to best available signal.
It’s looking like the costs are going a bit high and might be better to reconsider the android solution lol.
Could I save costs by using a cheaper non-unifi router and connecting that to the Unifi ap?
Seems like you came up with a clever solution with regards to the rssi value.
Do you think I’ll need to look into the settings if I only have one router and one access point? (I’m planning to have the router downstairs and the access point upstairs)
Why a dream machine, I don’t have one kf these.
Network here is run on a hp procuve switch backbone with a drayteck router.
Unifi boxes are managed using a cloud key but you can install unifi controller on any windows or mac pc.
ALso, for table-side service I find an 8" tablet more manageable and it fits in my apron. Invest in a handle for the tablet that one’s hand slips into.
I recently purchased some cases from https://www.armor-x.com/ for 5 lenovo 8" tablets I deployed. They all came with hand straps and swiveled. The build quality was really good and it felt like an ottorbox maybe slightly cheaper but very good quality for price.
They shipped directly from China so it took a few days but it wasnt too bad.
Unfortunately there rarely exists a one-size-fits-all solution. For what it’s worth, I use only UniFi AC Pro APs and have great results. They also seem to hold-up really well in the salt air, too.