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Looking for a way to resolve Acumatica's connection to Wi-Fi on handheld devices when we drop signal

  • 7 February 2024
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We are using hand-held devices to do full physical inventory using the Automated Operation Scan and Count.  Sometimes, our Wi-Fi drops connection to the handheld for a moment.  We believe this is causing Acumatica to freeze.

 

Acumatica can freeze for several minutes before it comes back online.

 

Is there something we can do to help Acumatica to resolve the connection (without losing our data) when this happens?

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Best answer by u043 10 February 2024, 18:06

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Fix your Wi-Fi  😊

Seriously, that might be the best option as it could cause other issues as well.

Could try to disable/re-enable WiFi on the handheld as that might cut down the time to come back online.  The handhelds are often configured not to constantly check for a signal, so you have to wake it up once in a while.  Another option would be to hit any other website or internet-required app.  I think the quicker you can establish the connection, the less likely Acumatica will have an issue.

What make/model handhelds are we talking?  Could be a new firmware available as well, may need to upgrade the firmware and/or upgrade the devices themselves if they are old.

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We are using hand-held devices to do full physical inventory using the Automated Operation Scan and Count.  Sometimes, our Wi-Fi drops connection to the handheld for a moment.  We believe this is causing Acumatica to freeze.

 

Acumatica can freeze for several minutes before it comes back online.

 

Is there something we can do to help Acumatica to resolve the connection (without losing our data) when this happens?

@u043 

When you say it causes Acumatica to freeze, do you mean the connection drops and it takes time for the connection to get reestablished on the handheld devices or the system itself freezes, even for anyone not using the handheld devices..?  I ask because you mention data loss…  

Another frequent issue that happens with handheld devices is when they’re roaming between access points, it doesn’t roam properly and the device is trying to remain connected to an access point too far away before releasing that connection and connecting to a closer one.  

Userlevel 1

We are using a couple of different hand-held devices all in the Zebra family.  Our ‘main one’ is the TC21 but we are reviewing the TC26 for the SIM card backup.

 

When I say it freezes, I mean Acumatica freezes.  The loading icon (Throbber?) displays on the handheld while Acumatica tries and resolve itself.  I have switched to a browser and successfully ran a speed test with no issues.  But when I go back to Acumatica, it is sometimes resolved but not always. 

 

We are currently focusing on roaming between access points.  We changed the location of a couple access points, we put all the access points on the same subnet, and we changed the preferences to turn Wi-Fi back on automatically.  Finally, we are in the process of updating all the devices firmware (a task we are scheduling to do quarterly).

 

This seems to have fixed our issue for now (not sure which changes did the trick).  However, I want to make sure we can scale.  I’m trying to identify if these issues are due to Wi-Fi traffic and accessibility or Acumatica’s inability to resolve.  

 

We are still new to Acumatica and just figuring it out.  I come from an old legacy system, and I feel like a kid in candy store with what Acumatica has to offer!

 

I’ll give an update on how this is going as we build out. 

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@u043

I’ve encountered the exact same issues you’ve described in our warehouses.  If you take a laptop to the same area you’re using the handheld scanners, I can all but guarantee you won’t have the issue on the laptop. Roaming and access point power settings as well as making sure coverage was sufficient is what solved it for us. The handheld scanners don’t have the power to maintain connections, or the roaming won’t release the connections, or the access point power levels are drowning out other access points so the device won’t move onto the next. Depending on your WiFi maybe reach out to the manufacturer, and also reach out to Zebra about scalability.  Perhaps it could have something to do with the mobile app not timing out fast enough when the connection drops before reconnecting. However, if it does timeout then any entered data would be lost. I think it’s a failsafe hoping the connection will be restored to prevent data loss on a transaction. Might be worth submitting a ticket to better understand the mobile app connection. 
 

Happy to hear it’s working for now though!!

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