Connecting Printer to Wireless Mesh

[ImThinkin2019]

Sharing this in case anyone else encounters difficulty connecting their printer to a wireless mesh.

We just installed a TP Link Deco M5 mesh system. Our Brother HL-2270 DW wireless laser printer would not connect to it. We had been using this printer for years with our old router and it worked fine, but just could not get it connected to the new system. We tried it wired to the router and it did not work. Wired to a computer it worked fine, but only for the computer it was connected to.

Bought a new Brother printer - HL-L2370DW - because reviews said it connected to the mesh easily. It did.

Will box up the old printer and give it to a nephew or son when they move into their new apartment....

 

[Animorph]

The printer may have been set up with a static IP address. If that address was not compatible with the new router's default IP address range a connection would have been impossible. The solution in this case is to ensure the printer is using DHCP to automatically get its IP address from the router, or change the static IP address to one that matches the router's default IP range.

 

[OldShooter]

That's a pretty good guess IMO. The default subnet is usually 192.168.1.xxx. If the printer is set up on a different subnet, like 192.168.2.xxx it will be completely invisible to the router and vice-versa.

If the printer has a static IP that fact could flummox another network, son or nephew, as well. A voyage through the printer menu hierarchy will tell the tale, painful though that will probably be.

I always set my printers with static addresses. That used to be more important than it is now, but unnecessarily adding DHCP to the stew gives me no benefits. There is a piece of tape on the top of each printer listing its IP address.

 

[thefist]

I recently had a similar problem when my router crashed. I have a separate router and wireless mesh. I used an old router until I bought a new one. The printer was on ethernet, but still needed to obtain a new IP address to be found. It did not run DHCP on its own so perhaps reset it or disable networking and enable again.

 

[jollystomper]

I always set my printers with static addresses. That used to be more important than it is now, but unnecessarily adding DHCP to the stew gives me no benefits. There is a piece of tape on the top of each printer listing its IP address.

Another option, if the network router supports it, is to use address reservation. The DHCP function will always assigned the desired IP to the designated device. I have lots of stuff on my network and this makes it easier than going into each device and assigning a static IP, as well as making it easier to move a device to a different subnet.

 

[OldShooter]

Another option, if the network router supports it, is to use address reservation. The DHCP function will always assigned the desired IP to the designated device. I have lots of stuff on my network and this makes it easier than going into each device and assigning a static IP, as well as making it easier to move a device to a different subnet.

Yeah. I should try that. I have seen it in the setup options. When I started using Ethernet it was mostly cabled with RG-59; I first heard of it in a presentation by Bob Metcalf at an invitational computer conference at Lake Arrowhead around 1974. Alan Kay also showed a movie (!) of a Xerox PARC computer called an "Alto" playing music (!) and controlled by a thing called a "mouse." So there is a lot of momentum in my approach to networks.

 

[eytonxav]

I am having a problem keeping my HP printer connected to the mesh network. It works for a while and then will not connect again unless the printer is turned off and on. It seemed to work ok before my last Apple system upgrade. I have no idea what is going on.

 

[OldShooter]

I am having a problem keeping my HP printer connected to the mesh network. It works for a while and then will not connect again unless the printer is turned off and on. It seemed to work ok before my last Apple system upgrade. I have no idea what is going on.

Marginal WiFi signal strength? How far from the WAP is it? Maybe move closer as a test? I have an Android app called "WiFi Analyzer" (free) that shows WiFi networks that it can hear and their signal strength. That might help with troubleshooting.

 

[donheff]

Yeah. I should try that. I have seen it in the setup options. When I started using Ethernet it was mostly cabled with RG-59; I first heard of it in a presentation by Bob Metcalf at an invitational computer conference at Lake Arrowhead around 1974. Alan Kay also showed a movie (!) of a Xerox PARC computer called an "Alto" playing music (!) and controlled by a thing called a "mouse." So there is a lot of momentum in my approach to networks.

Some of you folks are true dinosaurs. Metcalf was a knowledgeable guy. I used to enjoy his columns. Douglas Englebart (the guy who invented that mouse) once tagged along at a vendor presentation on something or another in the 90s. He was an interesting and amusing old guy.

 

[eytonxav]

Marginal WiFi signal strength? How far from the WAP is it? Maybe move closer as a test? I have an Android app called "WiFi Analyzer" (free) that shows WiFi networks that it can hear and their signal strength. That might help with troubleshooting.

Wifi signal is outstanding and that is not what is going on. I did not turn off the original wifi network from my router, so perhaps that might be causing an overlap issue, but what has me confused, this was not an issue until one the more recent Apple system updates. My mesh network ID and password are also still present in the printer from when I first installed the mesh network.

 

[OldShooter]

... I did not turn off the original wifi network ...

I would certainly kill that old network as a first step in troubleshooting.

 

[eytonxav]

I would certainly kill that old network as a first step in troubleshooting.

I will give it a try, thanks. Still confused why it worked before with both router wifi and mesh wifi signals working concurrently.

 

[OldShooter]

... Still confused why it worked before with both router wifi and mesh wifi signals working concurrently. ...

Hard to say. My Windows 10 box, when connected both direct via CAT5 and via WiFi, will preferentially use the direct connection even if that connection has no internet and the WiFi connection does. Then it complains that it has no internet.

 

[eytonxav]

I will give it a try, thanks. Still confused why it worked before with both router wifi and mesh wifi signals working concurrently.

Unfortunately turning off the routers wireless did not solve the problem. These wireless network issues are perplexing.