and note the error messages in the Status field of the Value Add Center(s) in question:

Note: If you have more than one VAC kiosk, and they are ALL showing "VAC Offline", then it is extremely likely that the issue is related to the wired internet at the location, and not a hardware/software issue with the VAC kiosks themselves.

Check the Last Communication timestamp listed on the Laundro Portal for each VAC kiosk:


All VACs automatically check in with our servers every 10 minutes
If the last communication times, for all VACs, are within 10 minutes of each other;

it is extremely likely the issue is related to an internet in the location, NOT an issue with the VAC kiosk's themselves.

If VAC01 specifically is the VAC reporting as Offline;

then you will also start to see all card readers installed on machines reporting as Offline as well
(Timeout - check VAC, or Timeout - check reader/machine errors).

VAC01 needs to be online for any Card Readers to be able to report as online, so you should troubleshoot the VAC01 Offline issue first, before looking into any offline errors related to any Card Readers installed on the machines in the location.

Troubleshooting Video

1. Check the Presence of any VAC Control board's Status LEDs to ensure it's getting power
   Ensure that there are at least some LED lights on the VAC control board itself.
   If there are no lights at all, this indicates a problem with power to the control board,
   
   Ensure the power supply for the VAC control board is fully plugged in, and the power bar providing the power is turned ON and receiving power
   You can review our VAC Control Board Connectivity article if you're unsure where the VAC control board's power cable is located:
   
   
   
2. Check for the Blue Flashing Status LED - this LED MUST be flashing at all times
   
   This indicates that the operating system is running on the VAC Control Board.
   
   
   Note for 1st generation VAC control boards specifically.
   If the BLUE status light is NOT flashing, AND you have a 1st generation VAC control board;
   completely remove the coin-cell battery (if present), and then power cycle the VAC (unplug from power, then plug power back in).
   
   
   The coin-cell battery is no longer needed on this generation of VAC control board and has been seen to cause this issue,
   so completely remove it (if present) and do NOT reinstall a new battery
   
   
   Regardless of which version of control board is installed in your VAC;
   if you've power cycled the VAC (unplugged from power, then plugged the power back in) and the Blue Status LED is still NOT flashing on your control board, contact our support team.

   Note: After a power cycle, it will usually takes approx. 20 seconds to 1 min before the Blue Status Light will start flashing continuously.
   But once it starts flashing, it should remain flashing at all times if the VAC is running it's software correctly.
   
   IF your Blue status light is NOT flashing (it's either completely OFF, or solidly ON);
   do NOT continue to any other steps until you've resolved this issue.
   
   The VAC will NOT connect to the internet if the Blue status light is not flashing.
   
   First check to ensure that you do NOT have any USB cables plugged into the VAC control board's USB ports that should not be there.
   The only USB cables that should be plugged into the VAC control board, are the USB cable from the Receipt Printer, and a USB cable from the Touch Screen Monitor/Monitor Controller.
   If your VAC does not have a touch screen equipped, or a receipt printer installed, then you should NOT have any USB cables plugged into the VAC control board's USB ports.
   
   If you do have some other USB cable plugged into the VAC control board, power OFF the VAC, remove that USB cable, and power the VAC back ON to see if the Blue Status light starts flashing normally again.
   
   If there are no extra USB cables plugged into the VAC control board, but the blue status light is still NOT flashing consistently; get in touch with our support team.
   
   
   
3. Check the other Status LEDs (App Status, and Internet Status)
   
   Check the remaining Status LEDs in the order they appear below.
   If the Status LED is NOT Green, do NOT move on to the next status LED (unless instructed to ignore it), as these Status LEDs must be troubleshooted in the following order: 
   
   1) If the App Status LED is RED;
    - contact our support team as this may indicate an application software problem.
   Note: If you've just rebooted power to the VAC/Control Board, it will take 1 - 2 minutes before the App Status LED turns green.
   
    - If App Status is GREEN, move on to the next status light.
   
   2) Completely ignore the Payment Status LED for now;
    - the Payment status LED only indicates if the VAC control board can communicate with it's attached PINpad terminal (if equipped).
   The colour of the Payment Status LED will NOT affect the VACs ability to go online in any way, so it can be completely ignored when troubleshooting a VAC Offline issue.
   
   3) If the Internet Status LED is RED;
   - there's a problem with the VAC obtaining an internet connection.
   Skip to the "Troubleshooting Internet" section below for details on troubleshooting the internet connection related issue
   
   4) If the Internet Status LED is GREEN;
   
   - If your VAC is NOT equipped with a touch screen:
   If the Internet Status LED IS Green, but the VAC is still reporting as Offline on the Laundro Portal; contact our support team for troubleshooting help with this issue.
   
   - If your VAC IS equipped with a touch screen:
   First confirm your VAC is registered to the Correct Account/Support ID and it is reporting as the Correct VAC # for the location:
   
   To do this, place a Property Management Card into the VAC's card holder;
   
   
   on the Management Login screen,
   check the top left hand corner to confirm the VAC is reporting the correct Support ID, Location ID, and VAC##:
   
   Note: If placing the Management Card produces an error (e.g. "Wrong Card") on the VAC screen, contact our support team 
   
   The VAC's information should match the Laundro Portal's Support ID, Location ID, and VAC## exactly:
   
   
   If there are any discrepancies at all between either the Support ID, Location ID, or VAC##;
   contact our support team so we can help resolved this issue.
   
   If the Support ID, Location ID, AND VAC## all match;
   Use a Property Management Card to run an Internet Test through the Management Login screen's System Status menu directly.
   
   Click on the "System Status" button, and then click on the "Test Internet" button to run the internet test:
   
   
   This will trigger the VAC kiosk to attempt to obtain an IP address, Ping 3 different websites, and preform a Download Test:
   
   
   If the Internet Test is successful, you should get the result "OK" on all 4 test screens.
   If any test fails, the internet testing will stop at the failed test, and will not continue to the next Ping/Download test.
   
   It is recommended to run this test a few times, to see if the results are consistent.
   These test results will help our support team determine the most likely cause of the VAC Offline issue.
   
   However in most cases, if the VAC control board's Internet Status light is GREEN, but the VAC is not reporting as Online on the Laundro Portal;
   it's usually the result of a network configuration issue causing some communication between the VAC's and the Laundroworks servers to be blocked.
   In most cases, the solution to this issue is to introduce a stand alone router, and use that router to properly route the VACs internet traffic while using a DHCP (Dynamic IP configuration).
   It's likely the location's modem/router is blocking select internet traffic which is critical to the VAC's operation. Introducing a stand alone router usually corrects that issue, without needing to make any configuration changes to the location's existing network.
   
   In these cases, instead of connecting an ethernet cable, from the location's internet, directly to the VAC kiosk,
   you will introduce a stand alone router in between the location's network, and the VAC kiosk:
   
   
   Almost any consumer grade router can be used for this purpose. (here's a link to one we've recommend before, just as an example of the type of router you can use for this - you do NOT need this exact one).
   Most consumer grade routers will be plug and play as they are usually pre-configured to provide DHCP (Dynamic IPs) out of the box, and won't have any firewalls preconfigured.
   
   The wireless functionality, of any router you introduce for this purpose, will NOT be used by the Laundroworks system at all.
   So if this router's WiFi network is not needed by the location, it is recommend that you disable all WiFi networks it may be broadcasting to prevent possible wireless interference issues between the VAC/Card reader communication, and the actual WiFi network the location is currently using from it's original internet equipment.
   

Troubleshooting Internet

If the Internet Status LED is RED, while the App Status LED is GREEN; follow the steps below

(note: the Payment Status LED color does NOT matter, as it's unrelated to any VAC offline issue):

Step 1 - Ensure the internet's ethernet cable is fully plugged into the correct ethernet port ("LAN" port)

The internet port on the VAC control board will have the label LAN to the left of it, and/or INTERNET below it:

The first (far left) ethernet port, labelled "AUX1" , is where a connected credit/debit card PINpad terminal would be plugged in (if equipped).
This port will NOT work to provide the VAC with an internet connection, so ensure you have not plugged the main internet into the AUX1 port.

Step 2 - Ensure the VAC board's Link Lights are ON

If the main internet's ethernet cable is securely plugged into the correct "LAN" ethernet port;
ensure the LAN port's Link Lights are turning ON when the ethernet cable is connected.

You'll find the Link Lights on the top side of the port itself, right where the ethernet cable plugs in to it
(the Link Lights will be facing the ceiling on VACs equipped with a touch screen).

Below is a picture showing where the Link Lights are located on the VAC Control Board's ethernet ports:

There will be 1 GREEN LED and 1 ORANGE/AMBER LED, on the physical ethernet ports themselves.

Both ports have these Link Lights (but we're only interested in the Link Lights on the LAN port for a VAC Offline issue).

The LAN port's Link Lights will blink from time to time, but they should not be completely OFF.

If both Link Lights, on the LAN port, are completely OFF, this usually indicates an issue with the ethernet cable plugged into this port (cable may be damaged, or not plugged in on the other end), or this could indicate an issue with the physical LAN Port on the VAC control board.

If your VAC has a credit/debit card PINpad terminal attached, you'll have a 2nd ethernet cable that connects the PINpad terminal to the VAC's AUX1 ethernet port.

If the AUX1 port DOES have Link Lights that are working and are ON/Flashing, you can test the main internet's ethernet cable, by plugging the main internet's Ethernet cable, into the VAC's AUX1 port temporarily, just to see if plugging that cable in also causes the AUX1 port's Link Lights to turn ON.

If the AUX1 port's Link Lights turn ON, when the PINpad terminal's ethernet cable is connected, but DO NOT turn ON when the main internet's ethernet cable is connected;

then it's extremely likely there's an issue with the main internet's ethernet cable (either the cable is bad, or there's an issue with the component the cable is plugged into on the other end - check your modem/router/network switch to ensure the ethernet cable is plugged into a working port that's providing internet).

Step 3 - Check to ensure your main internet's Ethernet cable is providing a working internet connection

Take the main internet's ethernet cable, that's providing internet to the VAC, and plug it into a laptop to test if you can browse the web using this wired connection (make sure you disable the WiFi on your laptop so you know it's trying to use the Wired connection for internet).

If you have more than 1 VAC, and only 1 of the VACs are reporting as Offline;

you can also try swapping the main internet ethernet cables, between the 2 VACs, to see if the offline issue follows a specific ethernet cable, or stays on a specific VAC kiosk.

 - If you're unable to browse the internet with your laptop (or any other device that can accept a wired ethernet connection), while using that same wired ethernet cable used to provide the VAC kiosk with internet;

then it is extremely likely the issue is related to the internet source/the main internet's ethernet cable.

 - If you are able to browse the internet with a laptop (or other device), while using the same wired ethernet connection, then this could indicate a network configuration issue (e.g. using Static IPs instead of DHCP (Dynamic IP)), a very unstable internet connection (e.g. using a cellular modem in a basement that gets very little reception), or an issue with the LAN port on the VAC control board itself.

As mentioned in the beginning, if you have two VACs and both VACs went offline within 10 mins of each other, you'll want to focus your efforts on troubleshooting a potential internet/network issue 

Step 4 - Possible Network Configuration Issues

Confirm that your modem/router is set to provide DHCP (Dynamic IP) - NOT static IP!
If the VAC is connected to a network that's providing static IPs, the VAC will NOT be able to report online on the Laundro Portal.

If you need to run a Static IP configuration in your location for any reason (e.g. your security camera system maybe require Static IPs), we recommend introducing a stand alone router, and putting that in between your main internet source, and the VAC kiosk;

this way the VACs are provided DHCP from a separate router, while your existing network continues to run it's original Static IP configuration:

It is also recommended that you confirm your network does NOT have any active firewalls setup that could be blocking some of the VAC's internet communications.

If you're unable to troubleshoot the cause of the VAC offline error, we recommend contacting our support team for additional troubleshooting help.

When contacting our support team about a VAC offline issue, it is best to be on location when you call as you will need to open the VAC to inspect the control board's status LEDs.

If contacting us by email, please include a picture of the control board, so we can see what the status LEDs are doing, as this will help us troubleshoot the likely cause of the VAC offline issue.