POS system not working? A universal guide for Australian hospitality venues.
Published: 14 Jul 2026
POS troubleshooting at a Brisbane hospitality venue — applies to Impos, Bepoz, Abacus and more.
After more than a decade of on-site work in Australian hospitality venues, HospoDoc technicians have seen POS installations go wrong across dozens of different platforms. The specific software varies — Impos in a pub, Bepoz in a club, Abacus in a fast-casual chain — but the problems that actually cause downtime almost always trace back to the same handful of root causes.
This guide gives you a diagnostic framework that works regardless of which system you’re running.
Problem 1: POS won’t start or connect after installation
The most common call after a new POS installation: “It was working yesterday and now it’s not.” In the majority of cases, this isn’t a software problem — it’s a network or server startup issue.
Most hospitality POS systems run on a client-server model. The “server” might be a physical PC on-site (Impos, Bepoz, Idealpos) or a cloud server accessed via internet (Lightspeed, Square). Either way, if the connection breaks between terminal and server, nothing works.
- Local server systems (Impos, Bepoz, Idealpos): Is the server application running? Look in the Windows system tray. If it’s not there, the service has stopped — restart it and wait 2 minutes before testing terminals.
- Cloud-based systems (Lightspeed, Square, Kounta): Check the system’s status page (search “[system name] status page”). If the platform is down, wait it out. If it’s green, the issue is your local network.
- Test internet from the affected terminal — open a browser and load a website. If that works, the problem is POS configuration, not internet.
- Check whether any hardware changed recently — router replaced, switch changed, cables moved. Network changes can break POS connectivity if IP addresses shifted.
- Restart the terminal itself with a full device restart — forces fresh network and DNS lookups, resolves more connectivity issues than it should.
Problem 2: Printers stop working
In virtually every POS system, printers communicate via a fixed IP address. When that IP changes — usually after a router reboot or DHCP lease expiry — the POS loses the printer silently. Orders process, dockets don’t print.
- Print a self-test page from the printer (hold the feed button) — the IP address prints on the ticket. Write it down.
- Compare the printed IP to what’s saved in your POS’s printer configuration — if they’re different, the IP has changed. Update the POS printer settings to match.
- In your router’s admin interface → DHCP settings → DHCP Reservation → assign the printer’s MAC address a permanent fixed IP. This prevents IP changes after any future router reboot.
- Repeat for every printer on the network.
- If the IP is correct and printing still fails: power cycle the printer completely. Some thermal printers get stuck and only a full power cycle clears it.
Problem 3: Intermittent dropouts during service
The signature of a network that can’t handle service load. Consumer-grade routers and unmanaged switches are fine for light use but begin dropping packets under the combined load of multiple POS terminals, printers, tablets, and customer Wi-Fi all active at once.
- Isolate POS devices from customer Wi-Fi — separate SSID or VLAN for POS equipment. Customer Wi-Fi congestion is one of the most common causes of POS dropouts.
- Replace consumer-grade routers with a business-grade router — for most venues, this single change resolves network-related POS issues entirely.
- Replace unmanaged switches with managed switches — unmanaged switches can’t prioritise POS traffic under heavy load.
- Use wired ethernet for POS terminals rather than Wi-Fi wherever possible.
- Check ethernet cables in the kitchen — heat and moisture degrade cables after 12–24 months. Replace any that are discoloured, kinked, or passing through high-heat areas.
Problem 4: Menu changes not showing on terminals
Every POS system has a sync mechanism — automatic real-time, manual trigger, or cache that refreshes on restart. When a sync fails, you get stale data on terminals.
- Look for a manual sync or refresh option in the POS terminal app — trigger it and wait for confirmation before checking the menu.
- If no sync option is visible, fully close the POS app (not just minimise) and reopen — forces a fresh data load in most systems.
- If one terminal has stale data while others are current, the issue is that terminal’s network connection — check signal strength if on Wi-Fi.
- For local server systems: if the terminal can’t reach the server, sync will fail — go back to Problem 1 diagnostic steps.
- For cloud systems: confirm the back office actually saved the changes — look for save confirmation before assuming a sync issue.
Problem 5: EFTPOS integration breaking
EFTPOS integration uses a local network communication path between the POS and the payment terminal. If the terminal’s IP has changed, or if the middleware service has stopped, the integration silently fails.
- Restart both the POS terminal and the EFTPOS terminal — power cycle both fully. Integration re-establishes automatically on most setups.
- For systems using Linkly (PC-EFTPOS) middleware: check the Linkly service is running on the server PC — look in the Windows system tray for the Linkly icon. Restart it if missing.
- Confirm the EFTPOS terminal’s IP hasn’t changed — compare it to what’s configured in the POS payment integration settings.
- If the terminal received a firmware update, the integration may need to be re-paired — contact your EFTPOS provider.
Problem 6: POS slowing down over time
Database growth, Windows OS bloat, and hardware wear all degrade POS performance over time — especially on systems left running 16+ hours a day without routine maintenance.
- Restart all POS devices fully at the start of each trading day — free maintenance that prevents most day-to-day slowness.
- Check available storage on the server PC — run Windows disk cleanup to free space.
- Run your POS’s built-in database maintenance or optimisation tool — most platforms include one. Do this monthly.
- Ensure Windows automatic updates aren’t running during service hours — schedule them for 3–5am.
- If the server’s primary drive is a spinning HDD rather than SSD, upgrading to an SSD is often the single biggest performance improvement available — usually $150–$200 for the drive plus installation.
When to call a technician
- You’ve worked through the diagnostic steps and the problem persists
- The issue is intermittent and can’t be reproduced consistently — usually a hardware or infrastructure fault
- You’re about to open service and the system is down
- Planning a new installation and want it set up correctly from day one
- Server hardware is more than 4 years old — time for a preventative health check
POS not working and you need it fixed fast?
HospoDoc provides on-site support across Brisbane, Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast. We work across all major POS systems.
Call 1300 467 761 Talk to our team