Photosmart 6525 Internet Not Connected about 3 minutes after turning on

[rodavis44]

I bought a Photosmart 6525 on 11/20/2012 and have been trying ever since to get it to work wirelessly.  There are hundreds of posts in HP forums about this problem,  as well as in Windows 7 and Netgear forums.  I've tried everything I could find in all of the forums but I can't fix this problem.  This printer definitely needs a firmware update to fix it!  The printer always loses its internet connection about 3 minutes after turning the power on.  My workaround is a USB connection to my Laptop and selecting the Wireless Direct Connection on my iPad for AirPrint.  AirPrint only works from my iPad over my normal Wi-Fi network during the first few minutes after the printer is turned on.  After that, it will only work over the Wireless Direct Connection and I have to turn off the printer's 802.11 wireless OFF or the iPad can't find an AirPrint printer.  That's because the printer status is "Internet Not Connected" to the 802.11 network.  But that status doesn't show on the printer's display...you have to print out a Network Configuration to see that the printer has lost the internet connection.  My workaround gets me by for now but the situation is certainly not satisfactory.   I don't have a wireless printer that works wirelessly even though I just bought one.  Also, iPad printing is klutzy since I can't just print from the iPad as I should be able to over my normal Home Wi-Fi network.  Instead I have to select the Network Name for the Wireless Direct Connection, then print and then go back to my Home Wi-Fi network.  I have four other devices that connect to my Home Wi-Fi network without losing their internet connection and this printer should be able to do so as well!  That's why I cannot believe it's a problem with Windows 7 or my Netgear router.  I believe the problem is the firwmare in this printer (and probably all Photosmart 6520 series wireless printers).  Mine has Firmware Revision PKM2CN1230AR.

[sabretooth04]

Printer does not maintain wireless connection.  Follow these steps and try.

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02817031

[rodavis44]

I spent the better part of four days going through all of those steps and many more I found in various forums.  The HP test lab needs to use a protocol analyzer to find out what the problem is with this printer.

[sabretooth04]

Try to connect to a different router at a friends house.  See if that helps.

[rodavis44]

I might try that if I didn't have a Laptop, an Android smartphone, an iPad and a Blu-Ray DVD player and ALL of them can stay connected to the internet for a lot longer than 3 minutes.  None of them have ever needed any serious setup work like this printer.

[sabretooth04]

Static IP right?  WPA2-AES?  Router make and model?

[rodavis44]

Rputer is Netgear WPN824v2.  It uses authentication type WPA-PSK, encryption type TKIP.  It's now set for channel 1 and 802.11b/g.  I set a static IP address for the printer outside the range of IP addresses assigned in the router for DHCP.  Also, days ago I turned off this routers MIMO 108Mhz and extended range capability as I thought that might be affecting the internet connection.  None of this router re-configuration should have been necessary because of this printer, as I said before, it wasn't necessary with any of my other devices.  I really can't emphasize that enough.

[sabretooth04]

Let's try this.  Turn off all wireless security for a test.  Connect with no security to see if it can stay connected.

[rodavis44]

I saw a few posts recommending turning off security but, again, it should not be necessary.  I definitely won't turn off my router's hardware firewall protection.  Not even for a minute.

[rodavis44]

Just to be clear, regarding wireless security, neither the Windows 7 firewall nor Norton's Smart Firewall have to be in the picture when it comes to losing the internet connection.  I'm checking the printer's internet connection by either pinging it's IP address or attempting to connect to it through a browser.  Even if I don't have my laptop powered up I can power up the printer, print out the Network Configuration and it will be connected to the internet.  A few minutes later it is not.  Today I downloaded the Microsoft Network Monitor 3.4 tool which will allow me to analyze the protocol myself.  It's complicated so this might take awhile.  Luckily, Sam's Club has a 90-day return policy!