Setting up a network printer

Hey, I've not had experience first-hand setting up a networked printer and have a question...

The office is setup with a cable modem which the linksys wireless modem is connected to. I've hardwired the HP networked printer to the router and installed the proper drivers on the laptop which is connected via wireless. However, since the wireless router the printer is connected to is setup with DHCP, I'm wondering when the router is reset (power failure) what will happen if it's assigned a different IP than what the wireless laptops are looking for.

FYI: There are no other hardwired devices connected to the router, just 2 PC's connected via wireless.

Do you understand my question?

Thanks!

 

You can use the printers network name. If you did a browse and selected the printer it went by the name. If you used an IP address if may change. I always have printers and servers on static IP's . I do not want these moving. Using a static IP for the printer it would not matter if the router got reset.

Normally the dhcp will assign the same IP address. But some times it's based on boot order. Have your router connected to a UPS, can share with a pc. This will prevent the power from dropping off. DO NOT CONNECT YOUR PRINTER THROUGH THE UPS. These generate noise and can pull a lot of current if a laser.

Once it setup test it. Unplug the router for a few minutes then power backup and see what happens.

 

Thanks. The office is using a linksys WRT54G. I'm looking for a way to assign a static IP for the printer based on a MAC address, but I'm not sure if this is possible. I'm still googling around for some answers...

Thanks for the help

 

What HP printer are you using?

 

Some routers have a feature called reserved IP. It does what you want, assign IP based on mac address. The other option is to assign a static IP to the printer outside of the DHCP range. Either one will work.

 

HP CP3505dn

By assigning an IP outside the DHCP range -- does this mean on the printer itself? I don't appear to have any options in the routers control panel do attempt such an action.

CT

 

Yes, you set it on the printer. If your DHCP range is 192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.50, set it above 192.168.1.50 like 192.168.1.100.

 

Have you read the user guides for your printer, available from HP? According to the HP Color LaserJet CP3505 User Guide, you have the ability to set a manual IP address for the printer.

 

Okay. I've gone ahead and setup a manual IP for the laser printer outside of the routers DHCP range. It works fine for a time, but at a later point, when you go to print something, the print job will hang at the spooling stage -- this is on a T61 running vista. Any advice of what troubling shooting steps I need to take?

 

After the printer was set up on the network, was it installed onto that computer? (I.e., go to the add a printer control panel and then make sure that you've added the printer to the computer).

If that's already been done, can the computer "see" the printer? E.g., can you ping the printer from the computer?

 

May want to see if the printer is going into a sleep mode. I know my 4100DN does, but it does not have any problem waking up. I have had to update the firmware in my network card once. So you may want to see if there is any firmware updates for your's. If not report the problem to HP tech support, they may have a solution. If you do not report problems it's hard to get solutions sometimes.

Like shyster1 said, you must add the printer as a network printer, other wise you will get errors.

 

Okay. I was able to stop in the office today, and you are correct, it does not wake up from sleep mode. I printed a document while it was on sleep mode, and the printer status on the T61 stayed on spooling. So I canceled the document, and then pressed a button the printer to wake it up, and then tried printing, and it worked fine.

The printer was installed on each machine in the office after I setup an IP on the printer itself.

Thanks for your help, and any suggestions are appreciated.

CT

EDIT: When the printer was on sleep mode, and the laptop was stuck on "spooling," I did ping the IP address of the printer, and the pings were successful FYI

 

Thanks for your help guys. I ended up googling around a little bit and found some people with similar problems which led me to update to the latest firmware as someone had mentioned.

I appreciate your help!

CT