Anyone having trouble with FreshKDS?

[1369Coffeehouse]

Is there anyone who is having trouble with FreshKDS?  We're having tons of trouble and their support team is not responsive.  

The problem I am encountering is that whenever I add a second tablet to the system, it isn't recognized by square.  Often it then breaks the first tablet.  We've tried multiple types of tablets, uninstalled and reinstalled everything, made sure all of our OS's are up to date, etc...

Is there anyone else struggling with this?

[AZCorpGames]

@NewYorkPizza  I too suffer the same exact dilema.  We have had 50 orders in queue and can not see past the second page or 10 tickets.  I have been reading through the thread and have experienced some of the same issues.  I have been using KDS for several years and largely depend on it's ficntionality.  I do a lot of fries with my phillies and when I can not see past the 10th ticket, and a plain philly or gyro is sitting and we could have gotten it out, very frsutrating.   I use a verizon JetPack for my wifi cell data connection and have had mimimal disruptions, but have seen some of these exact problems.  I have a lerger event this weekend and I am going to pay closer attention on the tickets appearing whether it is cash or card.  I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10 and a View for my 2 android tablets. 

[NewYorkPizza]

Sean, I'm at the Expo and the rep here was unaware of what we are going through. Please help us by making the necessary moves to provide this simple piece of programming.

[VCB]

Update on our KDS issue: We went ahead and upgraded our modem, despite everything working fine prior to the last 3 weeks or so.  KDS finally chimed in on my outstanding ticket a agreed that everythign should be working with our configuration. Once I told them I was going to be proactive and replace the modem, they went and closed my ticket as "solved"....nothing is solved. I've opened another ticket (the 3rd) with the same issue.  Nothing really new to report, other than here's our configuration if anyone is interested:

System:
Square POS: ver. B10
KDS: 3.0.50 Tablet: Samsung: SM-T230NU
Modem: SurfBoard 6190
Router: Ubiquiti EdgeRouterX
Access Point: UniFi AP AC LR 802.11ac Long Range Access Point

Our access point, Square and KDS termial are all located within a few feet of each other.   I'm not ruling out an issue on Square's end, transmitting data to the KDS terminal.  I would be nice to see some confirmation that this isn't part of the problem.  @Sean, I will try and switch back to the "non-beta" Square Register and see if anything changes.

[candlepins]

Did you replace your router as well? The router was the piece of equipment that was failing in my setup when I had issues . Also, which tablets are you using?

[VCB]

We have a Samsung Tab 2.  No, I'm not going to replace a router that is working fine, I've already replace a perfectly fine modem with a perfectly fine modem.

Im would like answers, not random guesses from Square/KDS. Right now, this thread is the only dialogue happening

[VCB]

Base on the latest KDS reply, they don't seem to be getting any negitive feedback regarding connectivity.  Has everyone been creating support tickets with KDS?

"Connectivity between the Square device and KDS are all related to your network wifi.  I am sorry to say I cannot troubleshoot your network.  We are not having many reports of this so that tells me it is not a software issue but more environmental/network.  I am sorry I could not be of greater help."

@NewYorkPizza @candlepins @1369Coffeehouse what version of Square are you using, the older "Register" from the App Store, or the newer beta?  I switched us back to the older version this afternoon to see if the issue continues....stand by.

[1369Coffeehouse]

I think Fresh KDS isn't getting feedback because they cosistently respond in one of three ways:

1. Update your register
2. Upgrade your network.
3. Silence. 

Most of the time it is option 3, and frankly I'm tired of hearing the same old story and don't bother with tickets any longer.

[candlepins]

I always use the newest version of what square and kds provides.  I also update the OS whenever prompted to. 

Im sure kds tests out the performance of the software in a regular sized room with a pricey router and I'm sure it works fine in that situation. And I know it doesn't work as well in a real world situation where cooking oils, coffee dust, and general work place grime floating in the air winds up coating the inside of modem/router. Most of us are probably using a basic modem/router set up or a consumer grade router. Kds should add a suggested router to their list of devices that function well with their set up. If you call you internet company up and they tell you there's nothing wrong with your connection and that there's no signal degradation, then its most likely a router issue and that should be replaced first. 

[VCB]

We're mostly using enterprise level equipment, all 5g wifi. We have a hardwired access point to the router, that sits less than 5' away from our Square/KDS station.  I would like to think our configuration is more robust than the Airport Extreme.  Everything works great except KDS.  It would be nice if KDS actually asked a question or two, before discounting any chance that their software could have an issue.   I just wrote to them asking for their suggestion on what our hardware configuration should be since all inquiries get pushed to the generic excuse "it's your network"

@Sean the problem still occurs using the "standard" version of Square.  BTW, any idea when we will be out of beta with "Square Point Of Sale"

[candlepins]

I thought my router was perfectly fine as well when I kept losing tickets, since it worked fast for everything else. I turned off the router portion of my xfinity modem/router combo and replaced the router with an AirPort Extreme and everything was 99.9% fine after that. Still lousy customer service and troubleshooting from KDS, but my set up works now. If you have a nice router at home, it may be worth it to swap it out and see if your performance improves. If so, then spring the bucks for a higher quality router. It may have been the modem that didn't need to be replaced. 

[candlepins]

Hey I'm not sure if there are updates to the Samsung Tab 2's (I used to have 2 of the 7" models on kds), but those didnt support the 5g wifi band. So the iPad and the tablets needed to be on the same band (2.4ghz in the case of my tab 2's) in order to play nicely (most android tablets don't work work on 5g) I noticed that you said you have enterprise level stuff and that it was all on 5g wifi. Just in case it was an oversight and to try putting the iPad and tablets on 2.4ghz wifi. 

[AZCorpGames]

@NewYorkPizza  Square is also slow to implement changes based on large user requests.  Look up the credit card preauthorization as used with rental companies or the ability to leave a tip on the online store.  

[candlepins]

It's basically geek squad for people who don't know the difference between 2.4ghz and 5gz wifi bands. 

[NewYorkPizza]

The answer to this is to implement a better wireless access point than the stock router. We do not have an issue with dropped tickets as that has more to do with your router/access point than the program itself. Our store pushes a hell of a lot of tickets and we don't lose any. What you do is run an ethernet cable to a strong access point such as a Peplink's pepwave rugged or AP one. Spending a few bucks on your network goes a long way! I have set up 4 networks using peplink's dual wan router and wireless access points. Our store has redundant internet providers (comcast and centurylink for example). All of the troubles I have had come from the crappy routers internet providers send with your internet account. In 10 years, we have had to replace our Comcast modem 6 times!

The online management from Peplink is unparalleled but you do need a bit of an understanding of networks. It's high level equipment for sure.

[candlepins]

Dang, how come I'm getting better tips from a pizza shop instead of the developer. I was just going to pick up a higher end router from Best Buy/amazon, but I'll check out that pep router

[VCB]

Fresh KDS works pretty well for us with one tablet, but I agree with everyone about their "customer support".  Its pretty bad.

This product has a lot of potential, from simple coffee tickets like we have, to multi-tablet kitchen and bars. Square really should aquire this and improve on it, or build their own version. 

[VCB]

This is the latest from the "support team" at KDS (this took me direct msging one of the techs who actually responds, the rest just go silent after "check your network:"):

"From what you have listed that you are using then it should work....Any type of radar close by? ...After that it is a question of environment, there are some locations that it just doesn't work. If you you have done everything as you describe and tried different equipment it may not work in you location"

Crickets from the Square team?

[Sean]

Hi again @VCB. Rest assured that I've been following this conversation from the beginning. It sounds like you need to continue to work with FreshKDS as they are the singular point person for support. I'm also more than happy to continue channeling feedback about the quality of this integration to our Partnership Team. 

[CoffeeShop]

Change your Wireless Channel to a # that is not saturated in your area. Using a laptop and the Program WiFi Scanner by Lizard Systems can scan all Wireless Signals in range of your POS WiFi Router, you can then see the info on what channels the individual wifi signals are using. You are going to want to change your WiFi Router settings to a channel that is not being used or is being used very little. NOTE: Usually in a Business area there are many WiFi signals and a lot of traffic on each of them, this can cause interference issues with your WiFi signal.

[DeathValleyCT]

Also, especially in a restaurant environment, check for leaky microwave ovens!  Just a small leak will kill 2.4GHz signal while the microwave is on, and commercial units tend to be high power.  Use a network tool to ping the router while the microwave is on...and the wireless cameras and the baby monitors and, etc.  5GHz will solve a lot of problems but make sure to name it slightly differently than your 2.4Ghz network or your devices may bounce back and forth unexpectedly.

[SomeResturant]

Hi newyorkpizza, do you mind sharing our exact configuration?

thanks