TL;DR: Most café & guesthouse print/POS outages come from wrong SSID/band, IP conflicts, or driver/paper width mismatches. Do the quick checks below; if receipts still won’t print—or card readers keep dropping—book our on-site visit to stabilise Wi-Fi, reserve printer IPs, and fix drivers fast.

Barista counter with a Wi-Fi receipt printer and POS tablet on a stable 2.4 GHz staff network in a Stellenbosch café

Cafés and guesthouses in Stellenbosch live and die by uptime. When the espresso queue is snaking round the door and the printer stops, you feel it in complaints and lost sales. The fixes below prioritise service speed and stability—with a clear split between what you can do now and when to call a tech for on-site help.

Spot the failure in 60 seconds

Nothing prints at all → check power, paper, and cabling first (USB/Ethernet).
Test page prints, POS doesn’t → wrong driver, paper width, or POS app not pointing to the right printer/port.
Intermittent during rush → Wi-Fi band/roaming or IP conflict (two devices claiming the same address).
Card reader drops during payment → weak Wi-Fi at till, crowded channel, or reader on guest SSID that blocks LAN access.
Guest prints fine; bar fails → printer joined the wrong node in a mesh; force 2.4 GHz on a staff-only SSID.

Quick checks (do them in order)

Power, paper, and ports
- Paper loaded and sensor flap closed.
- If USB, reseat cable and try a different port.
- If Ethernet, link light on? Try another switch/router port.
- If Wi-Fi, check the printer’s Wi-Fi LED and signal bars.
Get (and keep) a valid IP
- Print the network config from the printer (usually via a long press on “Feed” or the settings button).
- If the IP is 169.254.x.x, it didn’t get DHCP—rejoin the SSID or plug Ethernet temporarily.
- In the router, reserve that IP for the printer’s MAC so it never changes mid-service.
Right SSID + band
- Join a private staff SSID; guest SSIDs often block printer discovery.
- Force 2.4 GHz for older thermal printers; some struggle on 5 GHz/DFS channels.
Driver & paper width
- Install the exact model driver on the POS PC/tablet (or the vendor’s generic ESC/POS if approved).
- Match paper width (57/80 mm) in both OS and POS app; disable page scaling.
POS app targeting
- In the POS app, re-select the printer by hostname/IP (not by a stale device name).
- Send the app’s test ticket; if that works, print a live receipt.
Channel & placement
- Put the printer within one room of the AP; avoid fridges/microwaves (2.4 GHz killers).
- Change to a quiet Wi-Fi channel; split staff vs guest SSIDs to reduce chatter.

If you get stuck at any step, we can jump in remotely and then schedule an on-site slot to finish the job and harden the setup.

Do-nots (they cost you service time)

Don’t keep re-pairing Bluetooth every hour—wire it (Ethernet) or use stable Wi-Fi with a reserved IP.
Don’t let printers join the guest SSID; most guests networks isolate devices by design.
Don’t delete and re-add printers blindly—you’ll lose port and width settings. Fix the IP/driver first.
Don’t scatter mesh nodes behind ovens/fridges—heat/metal wreck signal.

Common café/guesthouse setups (and the fix)

USB to a POS PC (Windows/macOS)

Fast and reliable if the PC is always at the till.
Fixes: correct driver, default printer set, POS app target, cable/port health.

Ethernet to router/switch

Best for busy counters; reserve the IP in the router; cable once, forget.
Fixes: switch port, cable test, DHCP reservation, staff VLAN if you use one.

Wi-Fi to staff SSID

Flexible, but stabilise it: 2.4 GHz, fixed channel, printer near AP.
Fixes: rejoin SSID with correct password/encryption, reserve IP, lower roaming aggressiveness.

Card readers (Wi-Fi) + POS tablet

Keep reader and tablet on the same staff SSID.
Fixes: split guest/staff, remove portal/login screens from staff SSID, strong signal at counter.

When to book an on-site visit

Receipts mis-cut or blank after every driver change.
Mesh Wi-Fi constantly roaming your devices mid-ticket.
You need VLANs/guest isolation configured without breaking POS discovery.
Two counters + kitchen printer need clean routing and print rules.
You want us to label, reserve IPs, and leave a one-page playbook for staff.

Book help (fast)

FAQs

Q: Can I print from both the bar and the kitchen to one printer?
A: Yes—share a single Ethernet/Wi-Fi printer to multiple POS endpoints. We’ll reserve the IP and set the correct port/driver on each station.

Q: The kitchen is far—do I need another printer?
A: Often yes. Long Wi-Fi hops through fridges/ovens are flaky. A second wired printer or a nearer AP is more reliable.

Q: My mesh system keeps ‘optimising’—good or bad?
A: For IoT/printers, aggressive band-steering is bad. Use a staff SSID pinned to 2.4 GHz and disable “smart connect” there.

Q: Can I put the printer on guest Wi-Fi for convenience?
A: No. Guest isolation usually blocks it. Keep staff devices on a private SSID.

Compliance & trust

Updated on 2025-09-22.

Thermal receipt printer on Ethernet with a reserved IP label, next to a POS tablet in a Stellenbosch guesthouse reception