Connecting Hardware
Once your iPad is registered and signed in (see Getting Started - iPad POS app), the next step is connecting your printer and card terminals to it.
Two types of hardware to set up:
- Epson TM-m30III thermal printer — for receipts and kitchen tickets
- Zavo card terminals — for taking card payments
Both connect over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and are auto-discovered by the POS app once they’re powered on and on the same network.
For the iPad, iPhones, printers, and card terminals to discover and connect to each other during setup, every device must be on the same Wi-Fi network. If your venue has a separate guest network, put all Zavo hardware on the staff network. Devices on different networks (or on Wi-Fi isolation / client-isolation mode) will not appear in discovery scans.
Zavo is currently certified with the Epson TM-m30III thermal printer. For integrations to other printers, contact your account manager or point of contact.
1. Setting up the Epson TM-m30III printer
From powering it on to enabling pairing, here’s how to get the TM-m30III ready to be discovered by the POS.
Basic setup
Unbox and turn the printer upside down
Place the printer face-down on a clean, flat surface so you can access the cable bay.
Remove the cable slot cover, plus the rear and bottom covers
These three plastic covers come off by hand — no tools required.
Connect the cables you need
Pick the connection that matches how you’ll use the printer:
- Bluetooth / Wi-Fi — no extra cables. The printer connects directly to the iPad over its built-in radios.
- Ethernet — plug an Ethernet cable into the printer and into your router. Best for fixed receipt or kitchen stations on a stable network.
Replace the rear and bottom covers
Snap the covers back into place, leaving the cables routed through the slot cover opening.
Connect power and turn the printer on
Plug the power cable into the supplied adapter, then into a wall socket. Flip the power switch on the printer.
Load a paper roll
Pull the printer door open using the tab near the LEDs on the front. Insert an 80 × 80 mm thermal paper roll with the loose end coming off the side closest to the door. Pull a few centimetres of paper past the door, close it, and tear off the excess.
The front of the printer has three LEDs: Power, Paper, and Network/Bluetooth. Once powered on with paper loaded, only the Power LED should be solid — no warning lights.
Connect the printer to Wi-Fi (SimpleAP / QR setup)
If you’re using Ethernet or Bluetooth, skip this section. For Wi-Fi, the TM-m30III ships with Epson’s SimpleAP setup — the printer broadcasts its own temporary network and prints a QR code that walks you through joining your venue’s Wi-Fi.
Print the SimpleAP setup sheet
With the printer powered on:
- Open the paper cover (tab near the LEDs on the front).
- Press and hold the FEED button on top of the printer.
- While still holding FEED, close the paper cover.
- Keep holding until it begins printing, then release.
The printer prints a sheet titled SimpleAP Start with a QR code, a DIRECT-TM-m30III-XXXX Wi-Fi name, and a password.
If you let go before printing actually starts, the printer prints a plain status sheet (no QR code) instead. Keep holding through the cover close until paper starts feeding.
Turn off mobile data on your iPad / iPhone
Before scanning the QR code, disable cellular / mobile data on the device you’re using for setup. If mobile data stays on, the device often routes the Epson setup page through cellular instead of the printer’s network, and the page never loads.
Scan the QR code with your iPad or iPhone
Open the camera app and point it at the QR code on the printed sheet. Tap the prompt — your device will either open the Epson setup page or ask to join the printer’s network.
Sometimes the QR scan does nothing. In that case:
- Manually join the
DIRECT-TM-m30III-XXXXWi-Fi network from your device’s Wi-Fi settings (password is on the printed sheet). - Open a browser and go to http://192.168.192.168
The Epson setup page will load directly.
Join the printer's temporary Wi-Fi
When prompted, connect to the network shown on the sheet (e.g. DIRECT-TM-m30III-XXXX). Use the password printed on the same sheet.
This is expected — the iPad temporarily joins the printer’s own network so it can configure it. After setup it may switch back to your venue Wi-Fi automatically — otherwise reconnect manually from Settings → Wi-Fi. (iPads in particular tend to stay stuck on the DIRECT-… network.)
Pick your venue's Wi-Fi network
The Epson setup page opens in a browser. Select your real venue Wi-Fi from the list, enter the password, and tap Save / Apply.
Wait for the confirmation sheet
The printer reboots onto your venue’s Wi-Fi and prints a second sheet — usually showing PASS plus useful details:
- The SSID the printer joined (double-check this matches the iPad’s network)
- The printer’s IP address — write this down, it’s helpful for POS setup and for Add by IP if discovery ever fails
Once you see PASS, the printer is online and ready to be discovered by the POS.
You can repeat step 1 anytime — the FEED-while-closing-the-cover gesture always reprints a fresh SimpleAP Start sheet with the QR code, Wi-Fi name, and password. Useful if you’ve lost the original or are moving the printer to a new network.
Make sure the venue Wi-Fi you pick for the printer is the same network the iPad and terminals are on. If the printer ends up on a different SSID (e.g. guest Wi-Fi), it won’t be discoverable.
2. Setting up Zavo card terminals
Each terminal walks through a quick first-launch wizard the first time it’s powered on. The goal is to get it onto your venue’s Wi-Fi — once it’s online, the iPad finds it automatically.
Connect to Wi-Fi during first setup
On the Welcome screen, select your language
Tap your language, then tap the arrow to continue.
On the Setup Wi-Fi screen, tap +
This opens the network picker.
Turn WLAN on
Toggle Wi-Fi on. A list of nearby networks appears.
Pick your Wi-Fi network
Select your venue’s network. If you’re on a hidden SSID, tap Add network instead and type it manually.
Enter the Wi-Fi password and tap OK
The terminal joins the network and continues setup automatically.
Both your printer (if Wi-Fi) and your terminals must be on the same Wi-Fi network as the iPad. If your venue has a separate guest network, put the iPad and the hardware on the same staff network.
Once both the printer and terminals are powered on and online, they’re discoverable from the POS app — covered next.
3. Connecting the hardware to the POS
This is done from inside the Zavo POS app on the iPad. The same drawer covers both Printers and Card readers.
Open the Devices drawer
On the iPad, tap Settings in the bottom tab bar
The Settings screen lists everything device-related — connected hardware, network, language, and more.
Hardware pairing is done on the iPad. Handheld iPhones don’t expose the device-pairing screens — set everything up from the iPad first.
Tap the Connected devices row
The row at the top of Settings, with a printer icon. Subtitle reads “Configure printers & hardware” if nothing’s connected yet, otherwise it shows live counts (e.g. 2/2 printers, 1/2 card readers).
A drawer slides in from the right titled “Devices”
The drawer has two pill tabs at the top — Printers and Card readers — and lists everything you’ve already paired underneath.
Add a printer
On the Printers tab, tap “Discover printers” at the bottom
A second drawer slides in on top, titled Discover printers, with two scan buttons.
Pick Scan network or Scan bluetooth
Use Scan network for Wi-Fi / Ethernet printers, Scan bluetooth for Bluetooth-paired printers. The app shows a spinner: “Scanning for network printers…” or “Scanning for bluetooth printers…”.
Tap a result to add it
Discovered printers appear under a RESULTS heading with the device name and a network identifier. Tap the row, the app connects, and shows a green confirmation: “Connected to TM-m30III”.
Close the discovery drawer to set roles and defaults
Back on the Printers tab, the new printer is listed. Tap the ⋮ on its row to:
- Set as default — used for receipts at checkout
- Set role —
ReceiptorKitchen(kitchen printers receive fired tickets) - Test print — confirm cabling and paper loading
- Disconnect / Remove
The Printers tab carries an inline tip: “Make sure the printer is turned on and connected to the same network (for WiFi) or has Bluetooth enabled before discovering.” If a scan returns nothing, that’s the first thing to check.
Add a card terminal
In the Devices drawer, switch to the Card readers tab
Same drawer, second pill at the top.
Tap “Scan for terminals”
The app scans your local network for any Zavo terminal that’s online. Discovered terminals appear under a FOUND N NEW TERMINALS heading.
Tap a terminal to pair it
Tap the result row to add it. The terminal’s screen will show a pairing prompt — confirm on the terminal itself.
Optional: Add by IP address
If your terminal is on a separate network from the iPad and isn’t showing up in a scan, tap Add by IP address below the scan button, type the terminal’s address, and tap Check. Ask your network installer for the address if you’re not sure.
A printer or terminal is connected when the iPad has an active link to it. If the iPad sleeps, switches Wi-Fi, or restarts, it reconnects on its own in the background — you’ll see the connection dot in Settings → Connected devices turn from amber to green within a few seconds.
Troubleshooting
- No printers found on Wi-Fi scan — Confirm the printer and the iPad are on the same Wi-Fi network (not the guest network). For Ethernet printers, make sure the cable is in the router (or a switch on the same network).
- No printers found on Bluetooth scan — The Bluetooth pairing window on the printer may have closed. Put the printer back into pairing mode and rescan immediately.
- Test print works but kitchen tickets don’t print — The printer is probably set to role Receipt. Open its ⋮ menu and switch to Kitchen, then re-fire the order.
- Terminal not discovered — Confirm the terminal completed its first-launch Wi-Fi setup and the bottom-screen status shows it’s online. If your venue has separate networks for different devices, use Add by IP address.
- Hardware drops mid-shift — Open Settings → Connected devices, look for an amber or grey dot next to the device, and tap Connect. If it keeps dropping, it’s almost always a Wi-Fi issue, not a Zavo one.
Next steps
- Getting Started - iPad POS app — If you haven’t already, finish the iPad setup
- Receipts — Customize the receipt layout that prints on your TM-m30III
- Prep Stations — Route specific menu items to specific kitchen printers
- Payments — How card payments flow through your terminals at checkout