John Rodgers on thu 7 aug 08
Is anyone using a laptop with wireless connection for their credit card
point of sale operations at shows?
I have heard that you can use a credit card scanner connected to a
laptop through a USB port to connect to the internet through a cell
phone. I am wondering if anyone is doing this. I like the idea much
better than the wireless terminals that are out there. They don't quite
meet my needs. I have found a scanner for under $100, the laptop is
already available. I just need to understand how the rest of it works so
I can put it together. IE, the connection between the laptop and the
cell phone - and from there on to the merchant services.on the internet.
If anyone knows how this works, I would appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
Eleanora Eden on sat 16 aug 08
I was doing this at my shows for the last few years. I always meant for
Fred to write up the whole thing for clayart and that just didn't happen. We
used Payfuse. We paid for web access over our Unicel phone. That was
very unsatisfactory as Unicel would provide unlimited access only through
their own lines and they would never tell you in advance if where you would
be had service from their lines.
We did a show with Linda Blossom in Ithaca a few years ago and afterwards
we got this whopping bill from Unicel for excess use by milibyte or whatever
it is. We hit the roof and refused to pay and they backed down. But after
that I was always very nervous. I remember talking to Clayart about wireless
coverage in Ann Arbor during last year's fair. BTW that wireless is only in
the few blocks of downtown, so if you are in the State St fair you are covered
but if, like me, you are on campus in the Street Art fair you are out of luck.
As it happened we did have unicel coverage but didn't find that out until the
last minute, very hair-raising.
Other phone companies have better web access deals but they don't have
service in Vermont. I wish I could tell you more about the set up I was using.
Fred engineered it all himself. It wasn't cheap. We used a Mac Mini and a
tiny screen and a little teeny card scanner. We had it set up to use with a
battery when there wasn't juice available. And of course the cell phone as
modem. Payfuse is the program to run the charges.
We were very unhappy with the high monthly rates charged by the wireless
terminal systems. We looked into it. But they didn't work in Vermont anyway.
Eleanora
>Is anyone using a laptop with wireless connection for their credit card
>point of sale operations at shows?
>
>I have heard that you can use a credit card scanner connected to a
>laptop through a USB port to connect to the internet through a cell
>phone. I am wondering if anyone is doing this. I like the idea much
>better than the wireless terminals that are out there. They don't quite
>meet my needs. I have found a scanner for under $100, the laptop is
>already available. I just need to understand how the rest of it works so
>I can put it together. IE, the connection between the laptop and the
>cell phone - and from there on to the merchant services.on the internet.
>
>If anyone knows how this works, I would appreciate hearing from you.
>
>Thanks,
>
>John Rodgers
>Chelsea, AL
--
Bellows Falls Vermont
www.eleanoraeden.com
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