Can I process payments using an unsecure WiFi network?

[Erv13]

If the wifi is not secured does that mean that i cannot use the reader? This happned this week end at a craft show in the same building as last year but the reader would not work. The wifi there is not secured same as last year, what gives!

[nika]

Welcome to the Seller Community @Erv13!

If public WiFi won't allow you to connect to it for whatever reason, you'll either need to use your own data or take payments in Offline Mode.

But it actually sounds like it's your reader that might be the issue, not the WiFi! Could you confirm which reader you're using? I can share some troubleshooting steps that are specific to the reader you're using and we'll see if it makes a difference!

We'll keep a lookout for your reply!

[Erv13]

Nike, the reader i have is the large hand held squre dip, and or tap and is about 3 years old and i did check it out here at home on our secure wifi and it worked fine. At the craft show as soon as i turned on the tablet, Tab4, it immediately went to off line mode. I tryed several times to get the connetion to the wifi but it would come back as no connection and would not load. There was a couple of other vendors that had the same problem although they were using smart phones which i don't have. They went to the slide through squre like i did. The tablet was in bluetooth mode and this is the first time this has happened and i still beleive that it is a change that Squre has made which does make since to use only secure wifi for transactions.

Erv13

[ashc]

Hey @Erv13! Stepping in for @nika here. 

The dip reader would require an internet connection to work. It wouldn't work in offline mode. If you ever don't have internet, you would need to use the swipe reader. 

[Erv13]

I know that I have to connect to the internet to use the reader, that is the problem we had at the craft show this past weekend, the building has wifi but and I repeat it is not secure and it was not secure last year but everyone with the square reader including myself could use the reader. This year same bulding same wifi same not secure wifi, none of us could use the reader because we could not connect with the internet! As I stated in previous post I ran a check at home with our secure wifi and there was no problem connecting to internet, but as soon as I brought up squre and the keyboard it went to off line mode at the building. I checked the wifi at the building and it was on and the signal was strong just not a secure wifi. Since for what ever reason we cannot comunacate with Squre directly to find out if the system has been changed to having a secure wifi in order to use the reader the only chose we have is the swipe and hope that the card is good and not a bad card!

Erv13

[ashc]

@Erv13 Hmm if there's wifi, it definitely shouldn't be switching over to offline mode. 

Have you tried disabling offline mode and just running off the wifi? 

[Erv13]

I have taken the tab4 and the reader to another site that is unsecured to see if that is the problem and it is not! The tablet loaded and the reader connected to the wifi so i still don't know why it would not connect at the other building this past weekend. The signal at the building was strong but would not connect.

Anyway thanks for all of the help with this problem.

Erv13