Epos Now not working? Common problems & how to fix them.
Published: 01 Sep 2026
Epos Now POS setup at a Brisbane hospitality venue.
Epos Now is a cloud-based POS system used across Australian hospitality and retail venues — cafes, restaurants, bars, food trucks, and takeaway shops. It’s designed to be self-installable and runs on Android touchscreen hardware, which makes it accessible. But when things go wrong in a live service environment, the problems are the same as any cloud-dependent system: internet reliability, network configuration, and printer connectivity.
Here are the Epos Now issues HospoDoc technicians see most often across Brisbane and Southeast Queensland, and how to fix them.
1. Epos Now POS won’t connect or keeps dropping out
Epos Now is fully cloud-dependent. Every transaction, menu lookup, and reporting function communicates with Epos Now’s servers. If the connection between your POS device and the internet is unstable, the system will drop out — sometimes mid-transaction.
Usually caused by POS devices sharing the same Wi-Fi network as customer devices. During peak service, customer Wi-Fi congestion competes with POS traffic and causes intermittent dropouts.
- Set up a dedicated Wi-Fi SSID for Epos Now devices — separate from the guest or staff Wi-Fi network.
- Replace any consumer-grade router (ISP-supplied units, home routers from Officeworks) with a business-grade router. Consumer routers are not designed for continuous 16-hour venue operation.
- If you’re using the Epos Now Terminal (their proprietary hardware), connect it via ethernet where possible — the terminal has an ethernet port and a wired connection is significantly more reliable than Wi-Fi.
- Set up a 4G/5G failover router so the system automatically switches to mobile data if the main connection drops. Epos Now can continue operating on a mobile data connection.
- Check the Epos Now status page (status.eposnow.com) to rule out a platform-side outage before assuming it’s a local network issue.
2. Receipt or kitchen printer not printing
Epos Now supports a range of receipt and kitchen printers via network (Ethernet) or Bluetooth. Network printers are the most common in hospitality venues, and IP address changes are the most common cause of printer failures after initial setup.
The printer was on DHCP (automatic IP assignment). The router rebooted and assigned the printer a new IP address. Epos Now still has the old IP saved, so it can no longer find the printer — even though the printer itself is powered on and connected.
- Print a self-test page from the printer: hold the feed button while powered on. The current IP address prints on the ticket.
- In Epos Now Back Office → Devices → Printers, find the affected printer and update its IP address to match the self-test printout.
- In your router’s admin interface, set up a DHCP reservation using the printer’s MAC address — this permanently assigns the printer the same IP every time, preventing this issue recurring after any future reboot.
- If using Bluetooth printers: check that Bluetooth is enabled on the Epos Now device and that the printer hasn’t been paired to a different device. Epos Now Bluetooth printer pairing must be done within the Back Office printer settings, not through the device’s system Bluetooth settings.
- Always run a test print after any changes before reopening for service.
3. Epos Now KDS (Kitchen Display System) not receiving orders
Epos Now offers a Kitchen Display System integration via their app store. When the KDS stops showing orders, it’s almost always a connectivity issue between the KDS device and the Epos Now account — not a problem with the KDS hardware itself.
The KDS app has lost its connection to Epos Now’s cloud servers, or the device running the KDS has lost its Wi-Fi connection in the kitchen environment.
- Check the KDS device’s Wi-Fi signal — kitchen environments have significant interference from appliances. A wired ethernet connection to the KDS device is far more reliable.
- Close and reopen the Epos Now KDS app — this forces a fresh connection to the Epos Now servers.
- Check that the Epos Now KDS app is signed into the correct account — if the app was updated or the device was reset, re-authentication may be required.
- If the KDS app shows a connection error, verify the main Epos Now POS is also online. If the internet is down for the whole venue, the KDS will also be affected.
- Ensure the KDS app is on the latest version — Epos Now periodically releases updates that fix connectivity issues in the KDS integration.
4. Payment integration not working
Epos Now integrates with payment providers including Tyro, Westpac, and Adyen for integrated EFTPOS. When payments stop routing correctly from the POS to the terminal, it disrupts service significantly — staff have to manually enter transaction amounts, which slows checkout and increases error risk.
The most common cause is a network change — if the EFTPOS terminal’s IP address changed after a router reboot, Epos Now can no longer route the payment request to it.
- Restart both the Epos Now device and the EFTPOS terminal — in many cases the integration re-establishes automatically.
- Check the EFTPOS terminal’s current IP address (usually in the terminal’s network settings) and compare it to what’s configured in Epos Now’s payment settings in Back Office.
- If you’re using Tyro: confirm the Tyro terminal is showing as “Online” in the Tyro portal, and that the pairing between Epos Now and Tyro is still active (Back Office → Payments → Tyro).
- Assign a static IP to your EFTPOS terminal via the router’s DHCP reservation — prevents the IP changing after future reboots.
- If integration still fails after the above: contact Epos Now support, as some payment integrations require a re-pairing process that must be initiated from the Back Office.
5. Epos Now running slowly on the terminal
Epos Now runs as a web-based application on their touchscreen terminal (or on a third-party Android/Windows device). Memory accumulates over time, particularly if the device is never fully restarted.
- Fully restart the Epos Now terminal at the start of each trading day — don’t just lock the screen or put it in sleep mode.
- If running Epos Now on a third-party Android device: close all background apps and check that no other applications are running during service.
- If running Epos Now via browser on a Windows machine: use Chrome, clear the browser cache weekly, and don’t run other browser tabs simultaneously.
- Check that the device is not running automatic OS updates during service hours — these consume processing resources and can cause slowdowns.
- If the hardware is more than 3–4 years old and slowness persists, the device may need replacing. Epos Now’s cloud-based architecture becomes more demanding with each software update.
6. Staff accounts or permissions not working correctly
Epos Now staff accounts are managed in Back Office. Accounts added via Back Office may not sync immediately to the POS device if the device is offline or hasn’t synced recently.
- Ensure the POS device is online, then force a sync: in the Epos Now app, go to Settings → Sync Data.
- In Back Office → Staff, check that the new staff member’s account has the correct role assigned — Epos Now roles control access to voids, refunds, discounts, and reporting separately.
- If a staff member can log in but certain actions are blocked, check their specific permissions under their role in Back Office → Staff → Roles.
- After any permission change, the staff member must log out and log back in on the POS device for changes to take effect.
When to call a technician
- Internet or network issues persisting after basic troubleshooting — often a router, switch, or access point fault needing physical diagnosis
- Payment integration not re-establishing after network changes or terminal firmware updates
- KDS screen consistently unreliable in kitchen environment — ethernet cable installation needed
- Multiple devices behaving inconsistently across the venue — network infrastructure audit required
- New venue installation needing network setup, hardware configuration, and end-to-end testing before going live
Frequently asked questions
Why does my Epos Now POS keep going offline?
Epos Now is a cloud-based system — if your internet connection drops or becomes unstable, the system loses access to its servers and stops processing transactions normally. The most common cause in hospitality venues is that POS devices are sharing the same Wi-Fi network as customer devices. Separating POS equipment onto a dedicated SSID and using a business-grade router resolves most Epos Now dropout issues.
Why is my Epos Now receipt printer not printing?
Receipt printer failures in Epos Now are almost always caused by the printer’s IP address changing after a router reboot. Epos Now stores the printer’s IP in its settings — when the IP changes, the POS can no longer find the printer. Fix: print a self-test page from the printer (hold the feed button) to get the current IP, update it in Epos Now’s printer settings, then assign the printer a static IP via your router’s DHCP reservation to prevent the issue recurring.
Why won’t Epos Now accept card payments through the integrated terminal?
Epos Now integrates with payment providers including Tyro and Westpac. If integrated payments stop working, the most common causes are: the payment terminal’s IP address has changed and it’s no longer reachable by Epos Now; a firmware update on the terminal has broken the pairing; or the Epos Now Payments merchant account has an outstanding verification step. Restart both the POS device and the payment terminal, then check the payment integration settings in your Epos Now Back Office.
Getting Epos Now causing problems?
HospoDoc provides on-site POS support across Brisbane, Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast.
Call 1300 467 761 Talk to our team