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Comment by fudged71 | Hacker News Reader

Are there any wires needed to hook into receipt printers, cash boxes, etc?

The receipt printer is a network printer; it needs an ethernet cable. The iPad connects to the printer over wifi. The receipt printer is connected to the cash drawer by, essentially, a telephone cable. The printer tells the drawer to open through that line; the iPad does not directly communicate with the cash drawer.

Unfortunately I paid $499 for this stuff from Square just last month, and I'm not going to spend $299 more to upgrade to a fancier stand.

Why not see if they'll swap the gear, refund you, etc?

The Square Stand actually includes a USB hub to plug the printer, cash drawer, and barcode scanner in via USB. It's much simpler than setting up everything to talk on the network.

It's all plug-and-play, there are no drivers, software installs or any other setup. You literally just plug the printer into your switch/router, the cash drawer into the printer, and pair the bluetooth barcode scanner with the iPad. Then they just work. I'm not sure how USB devices would even work with an iPad, or why anyone would want cables running across the checkout counter of their store.

Do printers/drawers/scanners come with an USB interface?

Absolutely, Here is a list of USB hardware compatible with the Square Stand.

https://squareup.com/help/en-us/article/5125-square-stand-su...

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