Square Register Trouble

[LRF]

Our fireworks sales fundraiser does thousands of transactions over a 9 day period each year. The last two days are very busy. Commonly we have 5 or 6 customers waiting in line at two registers. Two years ago we invested in a Square Register, compatible USB printer and USB cash drawer. The first season the register ran flawlessly. This season, which ended a couple days ago, was a bit frustrating. On three occasions the register froze for no apparent reason. The register also dropped it's wireless connection to our router a few times. Other wireless devices had no trouble getting out to the Internet at the same time through the same router. The problem was not our router or cell-based modem. Very frustrating to have to send four or five customers to our Square Stand register where there were already people in line as I had to reboot the Square Register to fix the problem. I am losing confidence in my Square Register. Yes, I had the latest updates installed. I found another thread about the freezing issue. No one posted a fix on that thread. I did see the recommended troubleshooting suggestions.  I need a reliable register that will not embarrass me. I am betting this is a known issue with the 'older' Square Registers. Has the problem been fixed in the newer hardware versions?

[JustinC]

Sorry to hear this  @LRF. Whether old or new, all Registers operate using the same software.

You mentioned reading up on Register troubleshooting steps, but have you tried any? A factory reset usually does the trick. Let me know if you need step by step instructions on how to reset your Register. 

[LRF]

The only troubleshooting step that worked for us was to reboot the register. That got the register unfrozen or reconnected. Whatever the issue was, that fixed it until the next time it happened. A factory reset seemed a bit extreme at the time as there were customers waiting in line. I think I mentioned that we are a seasonal business. The Square Stand, Square Register and their compatible devices (various printers, cash drawers and bar code readers) are stored for about 11 months of each year. Re-creating the environment, the 'stresses' on the hardware and software, so that real-time troubleshooting can be accomplished is not possible. All I know for sure is that there were no freezing or network connection issues last fireworks selling season and this year there were a three or four ... at very inopportune times. Assuming we continue to use the Register, I will hard wire it to my network router rather than rely on a wireless connection. I doubt that will fix the freezing problem but hey, it's something I can do that may make a performance difference.