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POS hardware

The register runs in a browser, so it works on an iPad, an Android tablet, a laptop or a desktop at the counter. This page covers the hardware around it: a card reader, a customer display, a receipt printer, a kitchen printer, the cash drawer, barcode scanners and a label printer.

Plan availability

POS hardware comes with POS, on Pro and above. There is no extra charge for printers, scanners or customer displays.

DeviceRecommendedWhy
RegisteriPad (10th gen or newer) or an Android tablet on a standTouch-first, and the camera scans barcodes
Receipt printerStar mC-Print3 or Star TSP143IV (CloudPRNT), or Epson TM-m30III (Server Direct Print)Prints from any device over the internet: no driver, no pairing, no app
Cash drawerAny 24 V drawer with an RJ12 cable, such as the Star CD3-1616 or the APG VasarioPlugs into the printer's drawer port and opens when the printer tells it to
Barcode scannerAny USB or Bluetooth scanner in keyboard mode, or the tablet's cameraA scanner types the code like a keyboard, so it needs no setup
Label printerRollo, Zebra ZD421/ZD621 or GK420d, DYMO LabelWriter 4XL or 5XL, Brother QL-1100Prints product labels and 4x6 shipping labels on thermal stock

Card readers​

The register takes card-present payments on Stripe's smart readers:

ReaderNotes
Stripe Reader S700 / S710Android-based smart reader for the countertop or the hand.
BBPOS WisePOS ECountertop smart reader.

Both are sold by Stripe. They are smart readers: each one talks to Stripe over its own internet connection, so it does not need to be plugged into or paired by Bluetooth with the device the register runs on. Card readers are shown in the console only when they are available for your store.

Getting a reader

Readers take payments through Aglyn's Stripe account, which pays your store out, so a reader is registered to your store in Aglyn rather than in a Stripe Dashboard of your own. Any supported reader can be added with the pairing code it shows, including one that was registered somewhere else before: generating a new pairing code on the reader and adding it here moves it to your store.

Stripe sells its readers through the Terminal hardware shop in the Stripe Dashboard. If you buy one there with a Stripe account of your own, add it here with a fresh pairing code from the reader, as above. Use the pairing code rather than the reader's serial number or order number: those two only register a reader to the Stripe account that ordered it.

Setting one up

  1. Charge the reader and switch it on. Stripe recommends leaving it plugged in and on, even when not in use, so it receives software updates.
  2. Connect it to the internet: Wi-Fi from the reader's Settings, or Ethernet through Stripe's optional dock or hub. Stripe's setup guides for the S700/S710 and the WisePOS E show where each setting is, including the admin passcode the reader's Settings asks for.
  3. On the reader, open Settings and generate a pairing code.
  4. In the console, add the reader under Commerce → Settings → POS devices → Add card reader with that code. The steps are in Card readers.

Network notes

  • The reader must be online to take a payment. Its status in the POS devices card reads Online or Offline, and the register warns you before you charge an offline reader.
  • The reader does not need to be on the same network as the register; it only needs its own internet connection. A wired connection through the dock or hub is the steadier choice at a busy counter.
  • If a payment will not start because the reader is offline or busy, check that it is on and connected, cancel the payment, and take it again — or use Card (QR) or Type card for that sale.

Receipt printers​

A cloud receipt printer collects its work from Aglyn over the internet, so a receipt prints from the register on any device, even one with no printer driver, and even when the printer is on a different network. Each printer belongs to one register.

Star printers use CloudPRNT and Epson printers use Server Direct Print. Both come built into the models above.

Add a printer​

  1. Go to Commerce → Settings. Each register has a Hardware card.
  2. Select Add printer on the register's card and choose the brand.
  3. Enter the model, a name such as Counter printer, and the printer's identity:
    • Star: the printer's MAC address. Hold the FEED button while you switch the printer on to print a self-test; the MAC address is on it. Use the Ethernet MAC even when the printer is on Wi-Fi.
    • Epson: any ID you choose, such as counter-1. You enter the same ID in the printer in step 5.
  4. Choose the paper width, whether the printer prints a receipt for every sale, whether it prints kitchen tickets, and whether a cash drawer is plugged into it. Select Add printer. The card shows the printer's URL. Copy it.
  5. Enter the URL in the printer's own settings page (open the printer's IP address, from the self-test, in a browser on the same network):
    • Star: sign in (user root; the password is public or the one on the printer's label), go to Settings → CloudPRNT, turn CloudPRNT on, paste the URL as the Server URL, set the polling interval to 5 seconds, then Submit and Save → Restart device.
    • Epson: in EPSON TMNet WebConfig, open Server Direct Print (under Web Service Settings on most models). Select Enable, enter the ID from step 3, paste the URL as the Server 1 URL, set the interval to 5 seconds, select Submit, and reset the printer.
  6. Within a minute the printer shows Online on the card. Select Test print.
Keep the URL private

The URL is the printer's password: whoever has it can collect this register's receipts. If it is ever shared, open the printer's Settings and select Regenerate URL, then enter the new URL in the printer. The old one stops working at once.

What prints​

  • Every sale, when the printer is set to print a receipt for every sale: the store name and address, the order number, each item with its price, the subtotal, discount, tax, tip and total, how it was paid and the change, and a barcode of the order number that a scanner can read back. When the customer asks for an emailed or texted receipt, or no receipt, no paper prints. When they ask for a printed one and no printer prints every sale, the register's first printer prints it.
  • Kitchen tickets, on a printer set to print them: the order number in large type, the time and the register, and each item with its quantity and options, with no prices. Put one in the kitchen, at the bar or on the packing bench.
  • The last sale's receipt: select Receipt printer under the register's last sale when the customer asks for paper after all. It prints once: a receipt that already printed for that sale is not printed again.
  • Reprints: open any register order under Commerce → Orders and select Receipt printer. A reprint is marked REPRINT.
  • X and Z reports, from the register's shift, on the printer that prints receipts. See Running the register.
  • A test page from the Hardware card.

A receipt waits up to 30 minutes for its printer, and a kitchen ticket up to 10. If the printer is off or out of paper for longer, the job is marked Expired and you can reprint it.

Your logo on the receipt​

Printers keep a logo in their own memory. Store your logo with Star Quick Setup Utility or Epson TM Utility, then enter its number (Star, such as 1) or key (Epson, such as 48,48) in the printer's Settings on the Hardware card.

Status​

The Hardware card shows what each printer last reported: Online, Paper low, Out of paper, Cover open or Printer error. A printer that has not checked in for two minutes shows Offline. Recent print jobs lists what was sent, whether it printed, and why it did not. A job the printer has not collected yet can be canceled.

If a job fails, the printer retries it up to three times before it is marked Failed.

Cash drawer​

Plug the drawer's RJ12 cable into the DK (drawer kick) port on the back of the printer, and turn on A cash drawer is plugged into this printer in the printer's settings. The drawer then opens:

  • on every sale paid in cash, including a sale paid partly in cash and partly by card, as the receipt starts printing (or on its own when that printer does not print receipts),
  • when the shift records cash paid in, paid out or dropped to the safe, and when a return is refunded in cash,
  • from Open drawer on the Hardware card.

A drawer only opens within two minutes of the sale that asked for it. If the printer was offline for longer, the drawer stays shut rather than springing open later at an unattended counter.

Barcode scanning​

  • USB or Bluetooth scanners work with no setup: the scanner types the code and presses Enter, and the register adds the product whose barcode or SKU matches. It works whether or not the search box has focus, so you can scan straight after tapping a product or a button. A scan made while a payment window is open is ignored. Set the scanner to send Enter after each code; most do out of the box.
  • The camera works on a tablet or phone: select the scan button beside the register's search box, or beside a variant's Barcode field in the product editor, and hold the barcode inside the frame. The camera reads EAN-13, UPC-A, EAN-8 and Code128 everywhere. Chrome on Android and on a Mac also reads UPC-E, Code 39 and QR codes. The first time, allow the browser to use the camera.

For a busy counter, a handheld scanner is faster than the camera.

Label printers​

Product labels​

Print price and barcode labels for your shelves and stock:

  1. Go to Commerce → Catalog and select Labels on a physical product.
  2. Choose the label size, 2.25 x 1.25 in or 2 x 1 in, and how many copies of each variant to print. Each label carries the product name, the variant's options, its price, and a barcode of the variant's barcode, or of its SKU when it has no barcode. A variant with neither cannot print a label; add one in the product editor first.
  3. Select Print, choose the label printer and the same label size in the print dialog, and print at 100% scale. Or select Download ZPL and send the file to a Zebra printer (with Zebra Setup Utilities, for example), which prints it without a print dialog.

A valid EAN-13, UPC-A or EAN-8 prints as that symbology; any other code prints as Code 128. Every label scans back at the register, with a handheld scanner or the camera.

Shipping labels​

Shipping labels bought through Pirate Ship or ShipStation come as 4x6 inch PDFs, which any thermal label printer prints from the browser:

  1. Install the printer's driver (Rollo, Zebra, DYMO and Brother all provide one for Mac and Windows) and load 4x6 labels.
  2. Open the label PDF and print it. In the print dialog choose the label printer, the 4x6 (or 100 x 150 mm) paper size, and Actual size or 100% scale, never Fit to page.
  3. Print one label to check the barcode is sharp and nothing is cut off. The browser remembers these settings for the next label.

Customer display tablet​

Any tablet with a modern browser can be the customer display. It needs an internet connection, but not a sign-in: you pair it with a code from the register, as described in Customer display.

For a counter that runs all day:

  • Put the tablet on a stand facing the customer; landscape gives the basket and the tip buttons the most room.
  • Keep it plugged in, and set the tablet not to sleep or lock while the display page is open.
  • Use the tablet's own single-app or guided-access mode, if it has one, so customers cannot leave the display page.
  • Add the display page to the home screen or bookmark it, so it can be reopened quickly after a restart. A paired display stays paired until you sign it out under Commerce → Settings → POS devices, remove its register, or clear the tablet browser's data for the console.