Printers, Hardware & Network Setup in Meztezz

by Meztezz Team

Your menu is built, your stations are named, and your tables are laid out on the floor plan. Before the first real service, there’s one more step: connecting the physical hardware that turns digital orders into paper tickets in the kitchen and printed bills in the customer’s hand. This post is the definitive guide to printers, scanners, cash drawers, and the network that ties them together in Meztezz.

This guide assumes you’ve already gone through Setting Up Masters — specifically that your stations (Kitchen, Bar, Tandoor, etc.) exist. Stations are what KOTs route to, and printers are how they get there.

💡 Where this lives. Almost everything in this guide happens under Settings → Printer on the POS terminal. A few sections touch hardware that needs no Meztezz configuration at all — you just plug it in.

The Walkthrough at a Glance

PartWhat you’ll learn
1. The Mental ModelThe three print roles — Bill, KOT, Counter Copy — and how they flow.
2. What Hardware You NeedThe shopping list: thermal printers, scanners, cash drawers, and cables.
3. Connecting Your First PrinterUSB vs Network — plugging in and getting a test print.
4. Assigning Printer RolesBill printer, KOT printer, Counter printer — setting each one up.
5. Station-Specific KOT RoutingSending the right tickets to the right kitchen station.
6. Print Preview vs Direct PrintWhen to preview, when to skip it, and who controls the toggle.
7. Barcode ScannerPlug-and-play scanning with no configuration needed.
8. Cash DrawerHow the drawer port works — and why Meztezz doesn’t auto-open it today.
9. Print ServerSharing one USB printer across multiple terminals over the network.
10. Network TipsStatic IPs, subnets, and why most printing problems are network problems.
11. TroubleshootingCommon symptoms and how to fix them.
12. What Meztezz Doesn’t Do (Yet)Honest list of hardware limitations.

Part 1 — The Mental Model: What Prints, Where, and Why

Before you touch a single cable, it helps to understand the three kinds of printed output Meztezz produces — and where each one goes.

Print jobWhat it isWhere it printsWhen it fires
BillThe customer’s receipt — items, taxes, totals, payment mode.Bill printer (usually at the cashier counter).When the cashier settles or previews a bill.
KOTKitchen Order Ticket — the list of items the kitchen needs to prepare.KOT printer (in the kitchen), or a station-specific printer if configured.When a new order is sent or items are added to a running order.
Counter CopyA staff copy of the order, typically for takeaway and delivery. (The customer’s token slip is separate — it prints on the bill printer.)Counter printer if configured; falls back to the bill printer otherwise.When an order is saved.

The key idea: each print job has its own printer role, and each role can point to a different physical printer. A small restaurant might use one printer for everything. A busy one might have a bill printer at the counter, a KOT printer in the main kitchen, a second KOT printer at the bar, and a counter printer near the takeaway window — all running independently.

If you’ve already read Taking Orders, you saw KOTs fire when orders are sent to the kitchen. This post is about making sure those KOTs land on the right printer.

Part 2 — What Hardware You Need

Here’s the shopping list. You don’t need everything on day one — start with a bill printer and a KOT printer, and add the rest as your operation grows.

Thermal Printers

Meztezz uses the ESC/POS protocol — the industry standard for thermal receipt and kitchen printers. Most thermal printers sold in India support it out of the box. Inkjet and laser printers won’t work.

What to look for when buying:

FeatureWhat to pickWhy
ProtocolESC/POS compatibleThe only protocol Meztezz speaks.
ConnectionUSB or Network (Ethernet/Wi-Fi with a fixed IP)These are the two connection types Meztezz supports.
Paper width80mm for kitchen KOTs, 58mm or 80mm for billsOn 80mm, Meztezz prints 40 characters per line — room for item names, modifiers, and notes. (80mm hardware nominally fits 48, but Meztezz stays at 40 so columns don’t wrap.) 58mm gives 32 characters — compact but tight for long item names.
Auto-cutterYes, if availableCuts each ticket automatically so the kitchen doesn’t tear paper mid-rush.
Cash drawer portRJ11 port on the back (if you want a cash drawer)The printer sends a kick command to the drawer through this cable.

How many printers? That depends on your setup:

  • Single-station restaurant (one kitchen, one counter): Two printers — one for bills, one for KOTs.
  • Multi-station kitchen (kitchen + bar, or kitchen + tandoor + desserts): One bill printer at the counter, plus one KOT printer per station.
  • Takeaway-heavy operation: Add a counter printer near the pickup window for token slips.

Barcode Scanner (Optional)

If your menu uses barcodes (common in bakeries, sweet shops, and restaurants that also sell packaged goods), a USB keyboard-wedge barcode scanner works with Meztezz immediately — no drivers, no configuration. Just plug it into the terminal’s USB port.

Look for a scanner labelled “HID” or “keyboard-wedge mode” — that means it types the barcode as keystrokes, which is exactly what Meztezz listens for.

Cash Drawer (Optional)

A cash drawer connects to the bill printer — not to the terminal — via an RJ11 cable (looks like a phone cable). The printer’s drawer port pops the drawer open when it receives an ESC/POS “kick” command. Note that Meztezz does not currently send the kick command on a bill print, so the drawer won’t open automatically today — see Part 8 for the details.

Make sure the printer you buy has an RJ11 port on the back and supports the drawer kick command — most ESC/POS printers do, but check the spec sheet.

Network Equipment

You need a router or switch that keeps all your devices on the same local network. The terminal, all network printers, and any other terminals running the Print Server must be able to reach each other by IP address.

  • Wired Ethernet is more reliable than Wi-Fi for printers — if you can run an Ethernet cable to each printer, do it.
  • Wi-Fi works but can drop packets during a busy service. If you go wireless, use a dedicated router for the POS network, not the guest Wi-Fi.

Part 3 — Connecting Your First Printer — Settings → Printer

Open Settings → Printer from the gear icon on the terminal. This is where all printer configuration lives.

USB Printer

  1. Plug the printer into the terminal’s USB port and power it on.
  2. In Settings → Printer, open the USB printer dropdown — it auto-populates with all USB printers connected to the terminal, listed by name. (Tap Refresh List if you plugged the printer in after opening the screen.)
  3. Select the printer you want from the list.
  4. Tap Test — Meztezz checks it can reach the printer and shows “Connection successful!”.
  5. If the connection succeeds, you’re connected. Move on to Part 4 to assign it a role.

If the test fails:

  • Check that the printer is powered on and the USB cable is seated firmly at both ends.
  • Try a different USB port on the terminal.
  • Make sure no other software on the terminal is holding the printer.

Network Printer

  1. Find the printer’s IP address. Most network printers can print a self-test page (usually by holding a button on the printer for a few seconds) that shows their current IP.
  2. In Settings → Printer, choose the Network connection type.
  3. Enter the IP address and port. The default port for ESC/POS network printers is 9100 — enter it as 192.168.1.100:9100 (replace with your printer’s actual IP).
  4. Tap Test — Meztezz opens a connection to the printer and shows “Connection successful!”.

If the test fails:

  • Confirm the printer and the terminal are on the same network and subnet (e.g. both on 192.168.1.x).
  • Double-check the IP address — a typo in one digit is the most common mistake.
  • Make sure port 9100 isn’t blocked by a firewall on the router.
  • Try pinging the printer’s IP from the terminal to confirm basic network connectivity.

Meztezz uses a 5-second timeout for network connections. If the printer doesn’t respond within five seconds, the test is marked as failed.

Part 4 — Assigning Printer Roles: Bill, KOT, Counter — Settings → Printer

A connected printer doesn’t do anything until you assign it a role. Meztezz has three printer roles, each configured independently.

Bill Printer

This is the printer at the cashier counter that prints customer receipts. Set it up under Settings → Printer:

  1. Under the Bill Printer section, select the printer (from the USB dropdown or enter a network address).
  2. Choose the paper width — 58mm or 80mm.
  3. Test and save.

Every time a bill is settled or previewed, it prints here.

KOT Printer

This is the default kitchen printer. When a new order is sent to the kitchen, the KOT prints here — unless the item’s station has its own printer configured (see Part 5).

  1. Under the KOT Printer section, select the printer.
  2. Choose the paper width — 80mm is recommended for KOTs because item names, modifiers, and special notes need room.
  3. Test and save.

Counter Printer

This is optional. It’s where the counter copy prints — a staff copy of the order, handy near a takeaway or pickup station. (The customer’s token slip is separate: it always prints on the bill printer.)

  1. Under the Counter Printer section, select the printer.
  2. Choose the paper width.
  3. Test and save.

If you skip the counter printer, Meztezz falls back to the bill printer for counter copies. That works fine for small operations — the bill printer just pulls double duty.

💡 Token slips — the customer’s token slip prints on the bill printer, not the counter printer. The counter printer handles the counter copy (a staff copy). For how to configure token slip modes and which order types get tokens, see Taking Orders.

Part 5 — Station-Specific KOT Routing — Settings → Printer, Station Printers section

This is where Meztezz gets powerful for multi-station kitchens.

The problem it solves: Imagine a restaurant with a main kitchen, a tandoor section, and a bar. Without station routing, every KOT prints on the single global KOT printer — the bar gets tickets for biryani, the tandoor gets tickets for cocktails, and everyone wastes time sorting through paper they don’t need.

The fix: Assign each station its own printer. When an order contains items tagged to different stations, Meztezz splits the KOT automatically — the tandoor items print at the tandoor printer, the bar items print at the bar printer, and the main kitchen items print at the kitchen printer. Each station sees only what it needs to prepare.

Setting It Up

  1. Open Settings → Printer and scroll to the Station Printers section.
  2. Tap Add Station Printer. A dropdown shows all stations defined in your Masters (Kitchen, Bar, Tandoor, etc.).
  3. Select the station.
  4. Choose the printer — USB (select from the dropdown) or Network (enter IP:port).
  5. Choose the paper width.
  6. Tap Test to confirm Meztezz can reach it.
  7. Save.

Repeat for each station that has its own printer.

How the Fallback Works

Stations that don’t have a dedicated printer configured fall back to the global KOT printer you set in Part 4. So you only need to configure station printers for stations that have their own physical printer — the rest share the default.

Example setup:

StationPrinterWhere it prints
KitchenGlobal KOT printer (default)The main kitchen printer.
TandoorStation printer: Tandoor-80mm via USBThe tandoor section’s own printer.
BarStation printer: 192.168.1.55:9100 via NetworkThe bar’s own printer.
Desserts(not configured)Falls back to the global KOT printer in the main kitchen.

Station-Level Counter Printer

Each station can optionally have its own counter printer too. This is uncommon — most restaurants use one central counter printer — but it’s there if you need it (e.g. a bar with its own pickup counter).

Removing a Station Printer

If a station no longer needs its own printer (maybe you rearranged the kitchen), tap the station in the list and choose Remove. KOTs for that station will start going to the global KOT printer again.

Part 6 — Print Preview vs Direct Print — Settings → Printer

Meztezz can show you a preview of what’s about to print before it actually goes to the printer. This is controlled by the Print Preview toggle in Settings → Printer.

  • Preview enabled (default): Every bill, KOT, and report opens as an on-screen preview first. You review it, then tap Print. Good for the first few days of setup, or when training new staff — it catches mistakes before paper is wasted.
  • Preview disabled: Prints go straight to the printer the moment you tap the print action. No confirmation, no delay. This is what most restaurants switch to once they’re comfortable — it shaves a few seconds off every transaction during a busy service.

This is an owner-only setting — regular staff can’t change it. Toggle it under Settings → Printer.

Part 7 — Barcode Scanner

If you use barcodes on your menu items — common in bakeries, sweet shops, and restaurants with a retail counter — a USB barcode scanner works with Meztezz out of the box. There is no setup screen, no driver to install, no configuration to touch.

How It Works

Meztezz listens for rapid keystroke sequences on the billing screen. A USB keyboard-wedge scanner “types” the barcode digits just like a keyboard, but much faster — each character arrives within a few milliseconds of the last. When Meztezz detects a burst of characters arriving under 50 milliseconds apart, followed by an Enter key, it treats the whole string as a barcode scan and looks up the matching item in your menu.

To use it:

  1. Plug the USB scanner into the terminal.
  2. Open the billing screen.
  3. Scan a barcode. If the barcode matches an item in your menu, the item is added to the cart automatically.

That’s it. No settings, no pairing, no driver.

What Scanner to Buy

Look for a USB scanner that says “keyboard wedge” or “HID mode” on the box. Most handheld scanners sold in India default to this mode. Avoid Bluetooth-only scanners — Meztezz doesn’t support Bluetooth scanner connections today.

The scanner won’t fire if you’re typing in a text field (search bar, notes, etc.) — Meztezz knows the difference between someone typing an item name and a scanner blasting 13 digits in half a second.

Part 8 — Cash Drawer

A cash drawer is a piece of hardware that connects to your bill printer — but there’s an important limitation to know up front.

How It Works

Most ESC/POS thermal printers have an RJ11 port on the back (it looks like a phone jack). You connect the cash drawer to this port with an RJ11 cable (usually included with the drawer). The printer pops the drawer open when it receives an ESC/POS “kick” command through that port.

The catch: Meztezz does not currently send the kick command when it prints a bill. The hardware path is fully supported — the printer’s kick port works — but Meztezz doesn’t emit the kick on a bill print today, so the drawer won’t open on its own. If automatic drawer-open is important to your operation, write to us so we can prioritise it (see Part 12).

Do You Need One?

Honestly, many small restaurants in India skip the cash drawer entirely — the cashier keeps cash in a regular drawer or cash box. A cash drawer is most useful alongside a formal Day Close with cash reconciliation. Just remember that, for now, you open the drawer manually — Meztezz doesn’t trigger it on a bill print.

Part 9 — Print Server: Sharing a Printer Across Terminals — Settings → Printer, Print Server section

If you run more than one terminal — say a cashier terminal at the counter and a second terminal in the kitchen or at a different billing point — you might want both terminals to print bills on the same physical printer without buying a second printer or a network printer. The Print Server feature makes this possible.

What It Does

The Print Server turns one terminal into a print relay. It accepts print jobs from other terminals over the local network and forwards them to the server terminal’s own USB bill printer. The other terminals treat the relay as if it were a network printer. Because it shares that one USB bill printer, the server terminal must have a USB bill printer configured — the relay won’t start without one, and it can’t share a network bill printer (a network printer is already reachable on its own).

Setting Up the Server Terminal

On the terminal that has the USB bill printer connected:

  1. Open Settings → Printer and scroll to the Print Server section.
  2. Set the port — the default is 9100, which is the standard ESC/POS network port. You can change it to anything between 1024 and 65535, but 9100 is fine for most setups.
  3. Tap Start Server.

Once running, the Print Server shows:

  • The terminal’s local IP address — you’ll need this for the client terminals.
  • Active connections — how many other terminals are currently connected.
  • Total jobs processed — a running count of how many print jobs have been relayed.
  • Last error — if something went wrong, the error message appears here.

A green pulsing indicator confirms the server is running.

Setting Up Client Terminals

On every other terminal that needs to print through this relay:

  1. Open Settings → Printer.
  2. Choose the Network connection type for the printer role you want to share (e.g. Bill Printer).
  3. Enter the server terminal’s IP address and port — for example, 192.168.1.50:9100.
  4. Tap Test — if Meztezz reports “Connection successful!”, the relay is reachable.
  5. Save.

From this point, whenever the client terminal prints a bill, the job travels over the local network to the server terminal, which sends it to the physical printer.

How It Handles Concurrent Prints

If two terminals send a print job at the same time, the Print Server queues them and prints them one after another. Jobs are serialized — you’ll never get two receipts garbled together on the same roll. The second job just waits a moment until the first one finishes.

When to Use This vs a Network Printer

ScenarioBest option
You already have a USB printer and don’t want to buy another.Print Server.
You’re buying a new printer and have multiple terminals.Buy a network printer — simpler, no relay needed.
You need high reliability and the server terminal might be turned off sometimes.Network printer — it doesn’t depend on another terminal being online.

Part 10 — Network Tips for a Smooth Setup

When printing problems happen — KOTs not arriving, bills timing out, the print relay dropping — the cause is almost always the network. Here are the things that save you from chasing ghosts.

Assign Static IPs to Network Printers

By default, your router assigns IP addresses dynamically (DHCP). That means your printer might be 192.168.1.100 today and 192.168.1.105 tomorrow. When the IP changes, Meztezz can’t find the printer.

Fix: Log into your router’s admin panel and reserve a static IP for each network printer. Most routers have a “DHCP reservation” or “static lease” option where you bind a device’s MAC address to a fixed IP. Once set, the printer keeps the same IP every time it connects.

Keep Everything on the Same Subnet

The terminal, all printers, and any other terminals must be on the same subnet — typically 192.168.1.x or 192.168.0.x. If the terminal is on 192.168.1.10 and a printer is on 192.168.0.50, they can’t see each other without special routing. The simplest fix is to make sure everything connects to the same router.

Prefer Ethernet over Wi-Fi for Printers

Wi-Fi can drop packets, especially in a restaurant where microwaves, metal surfaces, and thick walls interfere with the signal. If your printer has an Ethernet port, run a cable. Kitchen environments are particularly hostile to Wi-Fi — steam, grease, and stainless steel surfaces all degrade wireless signals.

Don’t Overload Your Router

A consumer-grade Wi-Fi router handles ten to fifteen devices comfortably. If you’re running three terminals, four printers, a KDS tablet, the Captain App on three phones, and guest Wi-Fi for fifty diners on the same router — things will drop. Consider a separate router or access point dedicated to the POS network.

Finding the Terminal’s IP Address

You can see the terminal’s local IP address in two places:

  • Settings → Printer, Print Server section — shown when the server is running.
  • Settings → KDS — shown under the KDS access info section.

This IP is what other terminals and devices use to connect to the Print Server or access the KDS.

Part 11 — Troubleshooting

Most printer problems fall into a handful of categories. Here’s a quick reference.

SymptomLikely causeFix
Test print works, but bills/KOTs don’t print.The printer is connected but not assigned to a role (Bill, KOT, or Counter).Go to Settings → Printer and assign it — see Part 4.
KOT prints on the wrong printer.The item’s station doesn’t have a station printer mapped, so it falls back to the global KOT printer.Map the station to the correct printer — see Part 5.
Network printer times out.Wrong IP, printer is off, or printer is on a different subnet.Verify the IP address, check power, confirm both devices are on the same subnet — see Part 10.
Print Server relay disconnects.Firewall blocking the port, wrong port number, or different subnet.Check the port setting, whitelist it in the router’s firewall, confirm same subnet.
Barcode scanner not detected.Scanner isn’t in HID/keyboard-wedge mode, or it’s a Bluetooth-only model.Check the scanner manual for how to switch to USB HID mode. Meztezz doesn’t support Bluetooth scanners.
Cash drawer doesn’t open on a bill.Meztezz doesn’t send the kick command on a bill print today — the drawer doesn’t open automatically.Open the drawer manually for now; see Part 8.
Prints are cut off or text wraps weirdly.Wrong paper width selected in Meztezz.Go to Settings → Printer, check that the paper width (58mm or 80mm) matches the actual paper roll in the printer.
USB printer not showing in the dropdown.Cable issue, printer not powered on, or another application is holding the printer.Tap Refresh List, try a different USB port, power-cycle the printer, close any other printing software.

If none of the above fixes your issue, try the basics: power-cycle the printer, restart the terminal, and check all cables. Most hardware problems come down to a loose connection or a device that needs a fresh start.

Part 12 — Honest List of What Meztezz Doesn’t Do (Yet)

We’d rather you know in advance.

  • No Bluetooth printer support. Meztezz connects to printers via USB and Network (TCP/IP) only. Bluetooth thermal printers won’t work today.
  • No wireless barcode scanners. The barcode scanner must be a USB HID keyboard-wedge type. Bluetooth and serial scanners are not supported.
  • No automatic network printer discovery. For network printers, you need to know the printer’s IP address and enter it manually. Meztezz doesn’t scan the network for printers — only USB printers are auto-discovered.
  • No direct card reader integration. For card and UPI payments, use a standalone payment terminal (like a Pine Labs or Paytm device). Meztezz records the payment mode but doesn’t talk to the card machine directly.
  • No weighing scale integration. If you sell items by weight (common in sweet shops), model the different weights as item variants in your menu — “Gulab Jamun 250g”, “Gulab Jamun 500g”, etc.
  • No cloud or remote printing. All printing is local — the printer must be reachable from the terminal, either by USB cable or over the local network. You can’t print from the cloud dashboard or from a remote location.
  • No automatic cash drawer kick. Meztezz doesn’t send the ESC/POS kick command on a bill print today, so a connected drawer won’t open by itself — you open it manually. The hardware path (RJ11 port and kick) is supported by the printer; Meztezz just doesn’t trigger it yet. See Part 8.

If any of these are deal-breakers for your operation, write to us — we track every request and it directly influences what gets built next.

Stuck? We’re Here to Help

If a printer won’t connect, a KOT is landing on the wrong station, or the print relay keeps dropping — drop us a line at bazimat@gmail.com or contact us. Tell us which part of this guide you’re on and what you’re seeing; we’ll usually have you sorted in a single back-and-forth.