Need help adding printer to WiFi network

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jane
  • Start date Start date
J

Jane

I am trying to access my printer via my wireless router. I followed
the directions in my HP printer manual. I set up sharing for the
printer. I connected it to the wireless router and I installed the
network software. On my wired PC it seems all set, but on my laptop
via WiFi I can't see it. I looked at the 'help' for adding a network
printer but it isn't helpful at all.

I have looked at my network directories on the laptop and there is no
printer.

I'd appreciate some help.

My PC runs Windows XP and my laptop Windows 2000.

One problem I did have - in the instructions it said to connect the
ethernet cable from the printer to the router and to remove the USB
connection to the PC. If I do that then I can't print on my PC
either, so I reconnected the USB. That means both the USB and
Ethernet are connected.

Thanks.
 
Jane said:
I am trying to access my printer via my wireless router. I followed
the directions in my HP printer manual. I set up sharing for the
printer. I connected it to the wireless router and I installed the
network software. On my wired PC it seems all set, but on my laptop
via WiFi I can't see it. I looked at the 'help' for adding a network
printer but it isn't helpful at all.

I have looked at my network directories on the laptop and there is no
printer.

I'd appreciate some help.

My PC runs Windows XP and my laptop Windows 2000.

One problem I did have - in the instructions it said to connect the
ethernet cable from the printer to the router and to remove the USB
connection to the PC. If I do that then I can't print on my PC
either, so I reconnected the USB. That means both the USB and
Ethernet are connected.
Click to expand...

Jane-

I wonder if your HP printer's Ethernet port has a manually assigned IP
address, and the wireless router is set up to assign an IP address using
DHCP? (Or vice versa.)

Try getting it to work by connecting your PC to the wireless router via
Ethernet. Once you get that to work, the wireless connection may work
as well.

Fred
 
Jane said:
I am trying to access my printer via my wireless router. I followed
the directions in my HP printer manual. I set up sharing for the
printer. I connected it to the wireless router and I installed the
network software. On my wired PC it seems all set, but on my laptop
via WiFi I can't see it. I looked at the 'help' for adding a network
printer but it isn't helpful at all.

I have looked at my network directories on the laptop and there is no
printer.

I'd appreciate some help.

My PC runs Windows XP and my laptop Windows 2000.

One problem I did have - in the instructions it said to connect the
ethernet cable from the printer to the router and to remove the USB
connection to the PC. If I do that then I can't print on my PC
either, so I reconnected the USB. That means both the USB and
Ethernet are connected.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Here is the general instruction

1. Installing the driver to the MAIN computer that the printer connected to

2. Set the printer to SHARE

3. Installing the DRIVER to the laptop or any computer you want to print
from. Then it will have the Printer Icon added to the printer list.

Just make sure to tell Add Printer to search and add as network printer.

That's how I do at my end, and all 5 computers (desktop and laptops can
print from any printer via wired and wireless).
 
        Here is the general instruction

1. Installing the driver to the MAIN computer that the printer connected to

2. Set the printer to SHARE

3. Installing the DRIVER to the laptop or any computer you want to print
from.  Then it will have the Printer Icon added to the printer list.

        Just make sure to tell Add Printer to search and add as network printer.

        That's how I do at my end, and all 5 computers (desktop and laptops can
print from any printer via wired and wireless).
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll give it a try.
 
Jane said:
I am trying to access my printer via my wireless router. I followed
the directions in my HP printer manual. I set up sharing for the
printer. I connected it to the wireless router and I installed the
network software. On my wired PC it seems all set, but on my laptop
via WiFi I can't see it. I looked at the 'help' for adding a network
printer but it isn't helpful at all.

I have looked at my network directories on the laptop and there is no
printer.

I'd appreciate some help.

My PC runs Windows XP and my laptop Windows 2000.

One problem I did have - in the instructions it said to connect the
ethernet cable from the printer to the router and to remove the USB
connection to the PC. If I do that then I can't print on my PC
either, so I reconnected the USB. That means both the USB and
Ethernet are connected.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hiya Jane,

If you do what's been suggested and still have no luck try turning any
locally running firewalls off (in XP Start-->Control Panel-->Firewall) then
see if the machine can 'see' the printer. I've had situations where the
firewall was blocking access to the network printer in the past.

If it turns out that the machine can 'see' the printer with the firewall
down but not up you'll need to add an exception to the firewall settings to
allow the communication to happen.

kev.
 
First of all a printer on a network needs a static IP adress or everytime
you lose power to the router, your printer will 'move' which is more than
annoying. Find out how to do this in the printer manual. You will then
have to provide the SSID (the name of your wireless network) and the key you
use to secure it....... it is secured, right?

Once you have it on the network, you'll just add a network printer using the
static ip of the printer as the address of it.
 
who where said:
Huh? Every router I've used keeps the dynamically assigned IP's
untile the lease expires, which is usually set for anything from 24 to
72 hours.
Click to expand...

Unless the router doesn't keep leases in nvram...

DHCP works fine if you set up a static DHCP address for the printer
using its MAC address.
 
        Here is the general instruction

1. Installing the driver to the MAIN computer that the printer connected to

2. Set the printer to SHARE

3. Installing the DRIVER to the laptop or any computer you want to print
from.  Then it will have the Printer Icon added to the printer list.

        Just make sure to tell Add Printer to search and add as network printer.

        That's how I do at my end, and all 5 computers (desktop and laptops can
print from any printer via wired and wireless).
Click to expand...

This worked. Thanks!!
 
who where said:
I've tried fixed IP for printers and found it unhelpful and
unnecessary.
Click to expand...

That has not been my experience, but it's likely that the networks we've
set up have been different.
All the peasea's on our networks address their printers
(or their hosting print servers) as a share name such as HP690C on
\\PSERVER\PSERVER1, and the system seems to find them just fine when
they are called for.
Click to expand...

You're using static share names instead of static IP addresses. Should
be okay as long as you've got a monoculture SMB/Windows network, or at
least everything on it can print via SMB.
DHCP works fine, period.
Click to expand...

These compelling arguments have convinced me. I'm going to switch
everything over to dynamic DHCP. First, all the printers: done. The
computers, easy. Then the internet router and I'll
 
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