Most organizations can simply connect their iPad to their usual network Wi-Fi network and be good to go. Some organizations may choose to use other configurations or require information on configurations; this article is designed to help those folks get started!
Common Network Configurations
Below are the three most often used network configurations, going from most common to least common. We provide summary information to compare your setup against, as well as provide details to the URLs our application will attempt to access. Please ensure your network/firewall does not block access to these Internet resources. If access is blocked it can sometimes cause what appears to be intermittent or certain features just not working at all.
Note: Because we host our web application on the Heroku and Amazon S3 platforms, we can currently only provide hostnames for you to allow from your firewall as the IP addresses of these services can and do change quite frequently. Additionally, we require a WPA or WPA2 connection, not WPA3, especially if you plan to use a badge printer.
Guest Wi-Fi Access
This is the most common way people connect the iPad and/or printer to their network.
Both the iPad and badge printer (if needed) are connected to the guest Wi-Fi network
If an Ethernet-capable Brother printer is being used, it is possible to connect it to your network via Ethernet as long as that Ethernet connection is able to communicate with the iPad on the Wi-Fi network.
Only the iPad will connect to the Internet. If desired, you can restrict access to specific URLs via a firewall (static IP Addresses cannot be provided as those regularly change). All access will go over port 443, and the URLs the iPad will contact are:
1. https://*.thereceptionist.com (we use different subdomains for creating visits, doing lookups, and printing badges)
2. https://reception-prod.s3.amazonaws.com (for accessing photos and/or badges)
3. wss://ws.pusherapp.com (a bi-directional web-socket connection that enables our two-way chat functionality and allows our server to publish configuration change notifications to the iPad)
4. Apple App Store (for getting updates for the OS and our app)
5. Microsoft App Center (for reporting any crashes or errors that the app experiences)
6. If you are printing badges for your visitor, the iPad will need to be able to communicate to the internal IP address of the printer via UDP port 54925 (for discovery) and TCP port 9100 (for actually printing the badge).
Dedicated Wi-Fi Access
This configuration option is less common but is used by customers who want to isolate the iPad and/or Printer on their network and ensure that no other guest or employee devices conflict.
The iPad and badge printer (if needed) are connected to a dedicated Wi-Fi network.
SSID broadcast can be turned off if you are interested in providing additional security. A more secure password can also be used since people won't be accessing this Wi-Fi network.
Only the iPad will connect to the Internet. If desired, you can restrict access to specific URLs via a firewall (static IP Addresses cannot be provided as those regularly change). All access will go over port 443, and the URLs the iPad will contact are:
1. https://*.thereceptionist.com (we use different subdomains for creating visits, doing lookups, and printing badges)
2. https://reception-prod.s3.amazonaws.com (for accessing photos and/or badges)
3. wss://ws.pusherapp.com (a bi-directional web-socket connection that enables our two-way chat functionality and allows our server to publish configuration change notifications to the iPad)
4. Apple App Store (for getting updates for the OS and our app)
5. Microsoft App Center (for reporting any crashes or errors that the app experiences)
6. If you are printing badges for your visitor, the iPad will need to be able to communicate to the internal IP address of the printer via UDP port 54925 (for discovery) and TCP port 9100 (for actually printing the badge).
Ethernet Access
Ethernet access is our least common connection type, but can also be the most reliable and secure connection option. To get the iPad to connect via Ethernet, a USB to Ethernet adapter can be purchased separately.
Only the iPad will connect to the Internet. If desired, you can restrict access to specific URLs via a firewall (static IP Addresses cannot be provided as those regularly change). All access will go over port 443, and the URLs the iPad will contact are:
1. https://*.thereceptionist.com (we use different subdomains for creating visits, doing lookups, and printing badges)
2. https://reception-prod.s3.amazonaws.com (for accessing photos and/or badges)
3. wss://ws.pusherapp.com (a bi-directional web-socket connection that enables our two-way chat functionality and allows our server to publish configuration change notifications to the iPad)
4. Apple App Store (for getting updates for the OS and our app)
5. Microsoft App Center (for reporting any crashes or errors that the app experiences)
6. If you are printing badges for your visitor, the iPad will need to be able to communicate to the internal IP address of the printer via UDP port 54925 (for discovery) and TCP port 9100 (for actually printing the badge).