C410a -wireless will not connect to Verizon FIOS router - fails MAC filtering

[bjh7621]

I just bought an HP Photosmart Premium C410a All-In-One printer.  It will not connect to the Verizon FIOS Actiontek MI424WR router, fails the MAC filtering test.  Spent a half hour on the phone with Verizon (no resolution as they verified MAC Filtering is turned off in the router) and 3 hours with HP (no resolution).  Sharing the printer in a home network defeats the purpose of wireless and is not acceptable as I do not want to have another PC powered on on just to get to the printer.  Has anyone been able to resolve the "MAC filtering" wireless failure?

[TreeFrog · Accepted solution]

Failing the MAC address filtering test indicates the problem does not match other error messages available.

It may of may not be an actual filtering problem.  I've seen this message related to WEP secutiry key mismatches and a host of other issues.

How far did you get on the install.  We can work from there.

Foster

P.S.  I've seen messages asking people to try disconnecting the router from the internet while doing the printer configuration.  Have you tried that?  Sometimes the router checks with the service provider before it will allow a device to join the network.  This gets around that check.

[bjh7621]

Thanks for the response.  The time spent with HP support went through quite an extensive debug list. including a router reset, factory clean reset on the printer etc. etc. Through the Wireless Setup Wizard it consistantly fails while trying to connect to the router.  All other house devices connect to the router just fine.  We changed the router from WEP to WPA security - again all other devices (while having to be reset and new WPA key entered) reconnected ok  but not the printer. The final step before HP gave up and "escalated the problem" was to temporarily turn on MAC filtering in the router, enter the printers MAC address, click apply, then turn off MAC filtering.  Still no go.

[TreeFrog]

Guess we might repeat some of the thing support had you do.  To begin with, can I get some information about your environment?

Router brand (Verizon FIOS) model and firmware version

Devices on your network - Computer(s) brand, type (laptop/desktop) and connectivity (ethernet or wireless), other printers...

We will start there.

[bjh7621]

Thanks.  I will try the "internet disconnect" when I get home and will respond with all other information as requested.  Just a curiousity though, what difference does any other device, a PC , laptop or whatever make?  The issue is the printer itself and it's wirless connectivity.  For now though I do have the printer connected via USB to a desktop PC running WinXP.  The PC is connected direct to the router via Ethernet.  I need the printer wireless capability to be able to connect via laptops and a wireless PC in another room - I don't have the luxury of running Cat5 wires all over the house.

[bjh7621]

Not sure if you will believe this but here goes.  I tried Wireless Setup again - no go.  Went down to the router and unplugged the internet input as you suggested.  Went back up to the printer and tried wireless setup again - still failed.  I figured I tried so nothing gained - nothing lost.  I went back down to the router and plugged the internet connection back in.  Powered off the router, powered it back on and went back up to the printer.  The wireless light was on and STEADY ????????????????????????????????????????????????  it was connected and now everything works correctly.  Two PC's and two laptops all connected to the printer and printed as expected to.  Wow ...thanks for THAT tip.

[epbean3]

Internet disconnect method worked for me too (after several frustrating hours and eventually just going wired).

[Andy_Schmidt]

HP really needs to work on this issue. Like everyone else, the Verizon FIOS wireless router supports two different Dell laptops from different eras, a Samsung Notepad, even my smart phone - it does NOT have MAC filtering enabled! Yet, the HP printer insists that it can't connect due to MAC filtering.

I had ASSUMED that a blinking blue light on the C310 implied that the wireless connection did NOT succeed. So when I powered down the router, unplugged it from the Internet, then powered it back up, reconnected the Internet, then went downstairs, turned the printer on and off and still saw blinking blue and ASSUMED it was still not working (maybe it did, maybe it didn't).

In any case, I decided to try again. This time I did leave the Internet UNplugged, restarted the router, when downstairs, power-cycled the printer, THEN went into the Network Wizard, reentered the WEP password - and go the message that the connection was SUCCESSFUL. Yet, the blue light was still blinking. In disbelieve, I printed the Network Report - and sure enough, DHCP had an IP address assigned, etc.

I went back upstairs, reconnected the Internet to the router and configured my desktop for wireless printing and it worked.

So - this REALLY seems to "circumvent" the HP bug (sorry, gotta call a horse by its name). Whatever issue HP thinks it has with the connection clearly is NOT with MAC filtering. There is no good/logical reason why every other device everyone's trying in their house will pair nicely with the Verizon FIOS wireless routers, but with HP's printers you have to go through hell and back to make it work.

But - thank you for the tip!

[TreeFrog]

The biggest problem with troubleshooting these kinds of issues is getting the right configuration.  Most corporate businesses have large internet pipes and enterprise level connections.  It is hard to reproduce a real customer situation with that.  I wish I had a FIOS router and internet connection at home to try this.  Would make it much easier to help.

It there are some volunteers out there who would like to help test printers before they are released, reply to me with a private message and I'll see if I can get you connected to the Beta or Delta program.  In the Beta and Delta programs someone from HP would come to your home with a pre-release printer, watch you install it and if problems occure try to determine the root cause of the problems.

There are some qualifications to participate - usually around making sure you are the type of user that the printer is expected to sell to.  Not everyone is selected to participate and some programs are location specific, but I can forward your names and see where it gets us.  Private replies only.  Thanks.

Foster

[EricVan]

Foster... you should REALLY escalate this. Your unplug the router worked for me as well (Thanks!)  Like others posted here, no other devices except HP printers have an issue with my FIOS internet (including 2 HP laptops and a cel phone.) Note that I never got my prevous HP wireless printer to work wireless because I didn't have the patients to trudge through this stuff)

I'm an electrical engineer that designs chips for a living and it took me a frustraighting 3 hours to get this fixed. Its concerning to think how the rest of HP Printer customers are faring. The HP Printer Engineering team really needs to get this fixed.

Regards,

Eric