Device modes: Solo, Hub and Waiter
Every device registers as Solo when someone first signs in on it. Most restaurants should leave it that way.
The modes
Section titled “The modes”| Mode | What it means |
|---|---|
| Solo / Standalone | The device works on its own against the server. The default. |
| Hub (Master POS) | A device that also acts as the local master for waiter handsets over the restaurant Wi-Fi. |
| Worker (Waiter) | A handset that takes its orders through the Hub rather than straight to the server. |
The app’s own advice is short and worth taking literally:
Use Solo for independent counters. Use one Hub + Waiter only when waiters share a local master offline.
When a Hub earns its keep
Section titled “When a Hub earns its keep”One case: waiters must keep taking orders at the table while the internet is down, and those orders have to reach a single place immediately rather than sitting on each handset. A Hub on the Wi-Fi gives them that local master.
If your internet is reliable, or your waiters ring orders in at a counter anyway, Solo is simpler and has fewer things to go wrong.
Changing the mode
Section titled “Changing the mode”The mode is read-only on the device itself. It is changed from the device list by an owner or a manager with the devices permission:
Read-only on this device. New logins register as Solo. An owner or permitted manager can change the mode under Devices.
Where changing it is allowed, the app asks for your password to confirm. Afterwards the device shows a short notice that Device mode was updated by a manager, so whoever is holding it knows why its behaviour changed.
Checking the LAN link
Section titled “Checking the LAN link”Settings → This device → LAN connectivity has a Check now button, and it is the first thing to use when Hub-and-Waiter orders are not moving:
Hub and waiter devices talk over the restaurant Wi-Fi. Use Check now if orders are not syncing.
On a Hub it reports whether the hub server is listening and on which port, whether it is visible to waiters over Wi-Fi, how many waiter devices are connected, and when each was last seen. No waiter heartbeats in the last 45 seconds means the handsets are not reaching it.
On a Waiter device it reports whether it is looking for a hub, which hub it is connected to, and when the link was last good.
Some devices cannot do the discovery at all, and say so plainly:
This device cannot discover a hub (NSD/mDNS unavailable).
That is a property of the hardware and the network, not a setting. On a guest-isolated or client-isolated Wi-Fi network the devices cannot see each other by design — put the POS devices on a network segment where they can.