Using 2 KDS and Jetrik within the premises in but different locations

V5 Question
1

ok, that explanation will be a bit long winded, so please bear with me.

We have currently the following set-up

1x Server
3x individual terminals in different locations in a Resort setting
1x Ticket printer connected t 1 of these terminals and then shared via Windows Share Printer
1x MC3 Mobile client
2x 8" windows tablets for taking orders
1x KDS screen in the kitchen

As the current MC3 cannot switch menus (please correct me if I am wrong here) and I can not get the MC3 to print to the shared printer (maybe my incompetence as I am trying to get this to work for 3 weeks now) we are thinking of setting up a second KDS in the Beach Bar area…

What we are trying to achieve is that all food orders keep pushing to the KDS in the kitchen, same as it is now working already fine… and all other orders (mainly drinks) from either MC3 or the 2 windows tablets to push to a second KDS we would install in the Beach Bar.

To make all of this even more difficult, we have installed currently Jetrik Starter so our guests can see the menu on their devices, but we actually would like to go the next step and upgrade Jetrik so guests can actually order directly from their devices through jetrik… Having said this, if we upgrade Jetrik, can these order from Jetrik then also be sent to the two different KDS screens (1 x the whole order to the Beach Bar screen and 1 x only the food order to the kitchen) ?
So, basically the desired full scenario is:

  1. Accept orders from the MC3 App and the Windows Tablets and send the full order to the Beach Bar KDS and the food only order to the Kitchen KDS
  2. Accept orders from guests themselves via upgraded Jetrik and send these orders the same way.. full order to the Beach Bar KDS and the food order only to the Kitchen KDS
  3. Be able to print from MC3 the bill on the shared windows printer
  4. be able to print from the Windows Tablets the bill on the shared windows printer (this actually works already now)
  5. Be able to switch between Menus on the MC3 client (we have a beach fitness which is a separate entity as it’s a JV, so they need separate Menu and separate inventory and calculations, but the drinks for this area are still done at the beach bar, so there are different menus for the beach bar itself and for the Beach Fitness …

I am trying to figure out if that will work what we had in mind, before buying more licenses etc… we have right now already a KDS and a MC3 license, so the KDS for the kitchen works just fine, but the MC3 does not really do what we would like to achieve…

Any advice and pointing in the right direction would be appreciated.

Thanks guys…

2

Everything will work except switching menu on mc3. To get printer to work it must be Ethernet and you must install its drivers to the server.

1 Like
3

Thank you for the input Jesse and the advice for the printer, however that is exactly the issue we have, as our locations of the items (Server, Kitchen, beach bar, beach fitness etc… are soo far spread out with over 500 meters distances between them all, the only way we can connect this all together is via Wi-Fi, and when i connect a printer via Ethernet to our network it ends up on a different Network name and therefore becomes unreachable… That’s why we use the shared windows printers on the stations…

So, I assume, we will forget the idea of printing from MC3 to an actual printer and just plan with the KDS in the bar instead.

Jetrik (advanced) will integrate with the KDS and transfer the order into SambaPOS as well. did I understand this correctly?

Thanks again for the answer

Max

4

Usually when you setup WiFi it is on the same network. I am not sure why you would setup different networks for your WiFi.

Yes Jetrik can integrate to Sambapos.

5

Just wanted to add to what @Jesse mentioned…

As far as network printers go - ethernet (wired) or wifi is exactly the same as to how it connects. Windows would just connect to the printer’s IP address so the network connection type is irrelevant.

However all devices must be on the same network. 500m is impossible for a single wifi connection without being correctly setup with access points, extenders, etc., so my understanding is that you have created 2 separate (wifi) networks. This will not work - all devices for the same SambaPOS setup must be connected on the same network. When on the same network, the wifi “network name” (i.e. SSID) ideally should be the same for ease of allowing devices to automatically roam between different access points, however that alone is not the point (you can have different SSID on the same network). The point is everything must be on the same physical network otherwise it will not work.

There is also a chance you intended to have this as a single network but the wireless access points / extenders have not been configured correctly - I’ve seen before customers using a combined router / AP that has not been configured properly in AP mode and thus by default creates a separate network?

500m is too large for a typical wifi network - you probably could in theory extend just using mesh extenders but you probably would want to look at a more solid venue wide wifi solution - it is totally possible it is just about the hardware used and cost, just like the way single wifi can work across an exhibition venue, stadium, airport, etc. This is however not something I know much about other than it is possible.

It sounds like you already have the Windows terminals setup and working together with SambaPOS, all connecting to the same database on the server? If you do, then why is connecting the printer to the network an issue? If the Windows terminals can be connected to the same network, why not the printer? Do you actually have a network-capable printer, or is it a USB only printer?

6

Hi Mark, thanks for the remarks…

As far as network printers go - ethernet (wired) or wifi is exactly the same as to how it connects. Windows would just connect to the printer’s IP address so the network connection type is irrelevant.

Maybe I explained myself a bit unclear, the issue is not really the Network printer or the network, but that I have in my bar ONLY Wi-Fi Access to the network, which is fine for the Windows Terminals, but not for the printer as I can connect that printer only with USB or Ethernet, but there is no ethernet there… that’s my problem - closest AP is 50 meters away all in open air…

As said, because of the distances, we have everything connected via Wi-Fi (all on the same network and it works fine, but as I could connect the printer via Ethernet only where the server is (500 m away from the bar where I need it), I have this issue with the connection and even if I would connect it near the server with Ethernet, it would not help me, as my staff cannot get to it for printing…

So, the access points are all fine and work from all the different locations we have (KDS in the kitchen right now, 2 terminals in the beach bar (150m away), 1 terminal in the restaurant, another 100 m away, 1 terminal/server with my accountants (400m away), plus my own laptops and the owner’s laptops which are allover the resort, as we are running around the place a lot… All of this works, and as long as I have the printers shared via the windows terminals and their Wi-Fi connection, I can also print from anywhere (set-up via the Print templates) except just from MC3, as that cannot print to shared windows printers…

So, basically, I have 2 options 1 think…

Option 1) I get 8 inch windows ordering tablets, which I can use in the outdoor areas for taking orders and as they are windows terminals, I can connect to the shared printers… problem is only the 8 inch ordering tablets we bought are from China and are crap crap slow and always lose wi-fi connectivity, so I am searching for something faster and more stable, but for 8 inch windows, very hard to find, as of 10 inch, no problem, but that’s too big for my staff to carry around…

Option 2) I get a second KDS for my beach bar, as then I should be able to push the orders from MC3 to this KDS as well and forget the ticket print completely and let my staff print the bills from the regular windows terminal in the beach bar…

That was the main reason I was asking these questions, to help me make a decision how to go forward from here…

Thanks both of you for the advice…

Max

7

You can also get wifi adapters for printers, wifi AP’s with ethernet ports, Wifi extenders with ethernet.

8

To connect the printer to wifi you can just use a wifi extender that has an ethernet port on it. Something like this:

(I am in the UK, but you will be able to get the same type of device in your country)

Connect the extender to your network via wifi, then plug the printer into the extender via ethernet, then configure the printer IP address etc.

Alternatively you can just buy a thermal receipt printer that comes with wifi.

Or one other thing you can try… (this may not work)

I can say definitely MC3 can work with USB printers however some changes are required. I have had it working on a local USB printer before, but never tried with a shared USB printer. You can try this and see if it will work.

The reason that by default USB printers will not work with MC3 is because SambaPOS Messaging Server runs on the local system account. This account does not give access to USB connected devices. You need to change the account the service uses to be a local user account. The account you use must also have a password set (you can use your existing account you use to login to Windows as long as it has a password - it is not necessary to create a new / dedicated account for this).

  1. If you open Services on Windows, double click on SambaPOS-MessagingServer then go to Log On tab of the properties dialog which appears.
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  2. Change to Log on as: This account then click Browse.
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  3. Click Advanced.
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  4. Click Find Now, select the desired account from the results then click OK.
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  5. Click OK
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  6. Enter the password for the selected user account then click OK
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After doing this, you may see 1 or 2 dialogs about allowing the account to start as a service, just click OK on these.

Now restart SambaPOS Messaging Server (right click and select Restart).

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Now try to print from MC3 and see if it works. If it does - great! If not, you’ll need to connect the printer to the network as previously mentioned.

1 Like
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Hi Mark,

The tip with the range extender is actually a rather good one, no idea why i did not think about this myself… Will test this actually out when i get back to the resort, as I still have one here at our other hotel (different city) we do not use anymore…

The other idea may or may not work and I appreciate the detailed instructions, but to be honest, as I am not always at the resort (only 2 weeks out of every month) I try to keep the whole set-up as standard as possible, so in case somebody else needs to look after it, there are not too many “unique approaches” lol…

Max

10

Hello Max,

The printer that you want to connect at the Bar. Connect it to the LAN port of the PC using a Crossover Cable. That should do it if the PC is connected via WiFi to the network.

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Thanks for the tip, however the terminals in use there are Windows Surface tablets without Lan ports, but the idea with the wifi extender Lan port actually worked …

Max

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