Readers are not showing up on the Portal

Readers are not showing up on the Portal

Situation
You've activated the reader using the Activation card but they are not appearing on the web Portal. Either none of the readers are showing up the inb Machines table or at least the one you're expecting.

The Machine table might look like this: 


Actions

Step 1: Confirm reader is Activated

If the reader's display is showing "NOT ACTIVATED", then it is not activated. You must use the Activation card.

Step 2: Check that VAC01 is online

The readers communicate using an internal wireless network with the Value Add center (VAC01), which communicates with the web server. So, if VAC01 is not online, no reader can any data to the web Portal. Confirm that your Value Add Center is connected to the internet and that you see VAC01 on the web Portal. It should not say "Offline" and the Last Communication should be within the last 10 minutes.



Step 3: Ensure reader is numbered

Ensure you've numbered the reader using the DIP switch on the backside, The reader should NOT display Washer 127 or Dryer 127. See this article about numbering the readers: Reader DIP Switch settings

Step 4: Check for WNC Error

The WNC is the Wireless Network Controller, a small board inside the Value Add Center. It's the main radio board responsible for communication with the readers. Ensure you don't see WNC Error on the web Portal. If you see WNC Error then there will be no communication with the readers. See this article: 
Wireless Network Controller (WNC) Issues

Step 5: Wait or Reboot Value Add center

If you connected the internet to the Value Add Center AFTER you activated the readers, then there might be a backlog of records from the readers that the VAC is flushing to the web Server. It may take some time for the VAC to process all the records so you might not see particular readers until some or all of the backlog has been processed. 

This is a common issue during laundromat installations, as internet service might not be available until well into the installation process.

Reboot VAC01 as this may expediate the process.

Step 6: Check Location ID

The readers will only communication with a VAC that has the exact same 7-digit Location ID.

If you've just installed readers, confirm that the 7-digit Location ID on the reader matches the Location ID of your actual location (i.e same as the VAC). You can reboot the reader and watch the LCD display. If, for instance, the location ID is 0100001, it should says "LocID: 01000001". Confirm that this is location ID of your location inside the web Portal. 

This is sometimes an issue in multi-family/route installation when there is a mix-up of Activation cards (e.g VAC was Activated with location ID 000012 but the readers were activated with location ID 0000015)

Step 7: Check the Antenna clip on WNC

There have been some cases where the antenna clip on the WNC board got unclipped, possibility as a result of shipment. Open the VAC and confirm that the gold antenna clip is snapped onto the WNC board as shown below:







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