A restaurant usually needs at least two printers: one at the counter for customer receipts and one in the kitchen for orders. Trying to run both from a single machine is the most common setup mistake, and it produces exactly the failure that costs money — orders that never reach the kitchen.
Counter printer
Prints the customer receipt. Requirements are straightforward: 80mm paper, an automatic cutter for speed, and a connection your POS software supports cleanly.
Place it where staff can reach the roll without moving the printer. It will be opened several times a day.
Kitchen printer
This one has different requirements, and specifying it like a counter printer causes problems.
- Use a cable, not wireless. Kitchens are electrically noisy and full of metal and moisture. A dropped Wi-Fi packet in a shop means a reprint; in a kitchen it means a missed order. Ethernet is the right answer.
- Expect heat and grease. Mount it away from the line, above splash height, and clean the exterior regularly.
- A buzzer helps. Kitchens are loud, and a printer that only prints gets ignored during a rush.
Why network beats USB for multi-station setups
A USB printer belongs to one computer. If that machine is off, being updated, or replaced, the printer is unavailable.
A network printer has its own address on the local network. Every till, tablet and back-office machine can send to it independently, and swapping a computer changes nothing. For anything beyond a single till, this is worth the small extra setup effort.
Assign network printers a fixed address — either a static IP on the printer or a DHCP reservation on the router. A printer that changes address after a power cut appears broken, and this is the single most frequent cause of a POS printer that "stopped working overnight".
Cash drawer connection
Most counter receipt printers have a drawer port that opens the till when a sale completes. It is a simple cable and saves buying a separate drawer controller — confirm the printer has the port before you buy the drawer.
Setup mistakes that cause real losses
- One printer doing two jobs — kitchen orders and receipts on the same device means staff sorting paper mid-rush.
- No spare rolls at the station — a printer that runs out during service stops the queue.
- Wireless kitchen printer — intermittent, and the failure mode is silent.
- No test print in the daily routine — a failed printer discovered at the first order is discovered too late.
A simple opening routine
Print one test receipt from each station at open. It takes under a minute and moves every printer fault from the middle of service to before it.
Keep at least one spare roll at each station and a full box in the back. Rolls run out at the worst time, without exception.
See POS printers, receipt printers and wireless printers.
Frequently asked questions
Can one printer serve counter and kitchen?
Technically yes, practically no. Separate them.
Why did my network printer stop after a power cut?
It probably took a different IP address. Assign it a fixed one.
Do I need a separate cash drawer controller?
Usually not — most receipt printers include a drawer port.