Cannot configure HP Envy 100 for Billion BiPAC 7800n 802.11n wireless router [ Edited ]

[drfrot]

Just received lovely HP Envy 100 e-All-in-One printer today, and subsequently spent the next four hours tearing my hair out in frustration, unable to configure it for my home's router - a Billion BiPAC 7800n. I'm beginning to wonder if it's actually incompatible, as it feels like I've exhausted every avenue.

I have tried the four routes at my disposal:

1. Basic wireless wizard

2. WPS PBC method

3. WPS PIN method

4. USB Wireless setup

... and none will get past the "Configuration" stage. Note that it seems to connect just fine, but it won't configure.

Additional relevant information:

• I'm running Mac OS X 10.6.8 on an Intel iMac
• Other devices all connected happily to the router include other computers (both Mac & Windows) + iPhone + iPad 
• The SSID is wlan-ap and uses WEP security (I had problems getting any of my devices to connect with WPA2 when I initially set the router up last year, and am loathe to change this)
• The SSID is not hidden and MAC address filtering is disabled
• The SSID's communication mode is "Infrastructure"
• The printer does not provide an IP address, either on the Wireless Network Test Report (IP address = "Not applicable") or the Network configuration page (URL for Embedded Web Server = "h t t p : / / 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 ")

Ok, so going through the four setup modes, this is what happens:

1. Basic Wireless Wizard

Printer finds network and accepts WEP key, then fails setup.

When printing off the Wireless Network Test Report, the following aspects all PASS:

• Wireless on
• Wireless working
• SSID found
• Security
• Printer settings consistent with router settings

The first FAIL comes at "No filtering". I get advice to ensure MAC address filtering is disabled, and if I wish to keep it enabled, then I should add the printer's provided MAC address to my list of permitted devices. I enter the cavernous realm of the router's settings (there are many on this router!) and establish that MAC address filtering is indeed disabled. BUT, just to satisfy myself, I go to the trouble of enabling it, and adding every device in the house, including the printer. Every other device behaves exactly as you'd imagine: disconnects as soon as I enable filtering, and then reconnects once I've added its MAC address to the list. Every device that is, except the printer. Re-running setup with the printer's MAC address now permitted, it goes exactly the same way, with exactly the same FAIL at "No filtering".

I subsequently disabled the MAC filtering on my router again, as you're right, it's a pain in the proverbial.

For further information, the Configuration summary at the bottom of the Wireless Network Test Report reads:

Network name (SSID):  wlan-ap

Hardware Address (MAC):  3c:4a:92:aa:9a:1a

IP Address:  Not applicable

Configuration Source:  Not Applicable

Communication Mode:  Infrastructure

Authentication Type:  Open System

Encryption:  64-bit WEP

2. WPS PBC method

I had no idea this even existed, nor that my router offered this service, but it does. After reading the manual, I discovered a button on the back (that I'd always wondered about), is the WPS Push Button. I ran the WPS setup on the printer, chose "PBS method" and pressed the PBS button on my router accordingly - it flashes orange while it's trying to connect. However, the printer simply ran down its clock and then said it had timed out.

3. WPS PIN method

Similar story. After generating a PIN through the printer's "WPS - PIN method" route (it's a different one each time you do it), and trying entering several of these in the router's WPS - PIN Configuration mode settings, absolutely nothing happens. The clock counts down and then it fails.

4. USB method

Because the Envy 100 makes a really big deal about not requiring a USB cable for setup (and to be fair, almost every review I've read said it was something along the lines of an "effortless doddle" to set up wirelessly, straight away, with your eyes closed), I'd forgotten this was how I always used to set up my HP wireless printers. Of course! This is how I will succeed!

Or maybe not. Following instructions to the letter (I even watched the HP video!) and not connecting the USB cable before it was due, the software was first installed before moving on to configuration. When I was eventually asked to connect by USB, I did so and was asked whether or not I wanted to configure the printer wirelessly. Yes. Yes, I really do, I replied (a bit tense, by this point, if the truth be known). Similar to the previous methods, the wireless network is found easily and the network WEP key is happily accepted. However, when it comes to the picture of the little WiFi mast that says it might take a couple of minutes configuring the IP from the wireless access point.............. it just hangs. I've left it for more than 30 minutes and nothing is happening.

It seems this particular printer is destined not to configure for my Billion BiPAC 7800n router. Logically there are but three sources of this problem:

1. The two are incompatible, and will never work together (I find this hard to believe)
2. There is something in the settings of the router that is being overlooked, and preventing configuration
3. There is something wrong with this particular printer, such that it cannot configure

I'd be eternally grateful if one of the regulars would take me through some steps to identify which of these is most likely. I've now spent  more than four hours trying to set it up and have reached the end.

Many thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post - hopefully I've provided enough information for you to pinpoint the problem.

Giles

[drfrot]

Come on guys, help me out here - I've got a brand new printer on my hands that's about as much use to me as a brick!

Some more things I've tried:

• Disconnecting the router's ADSL phone input during setup
• Removing all devices from the room during setup (e.g. wireless landline phone receiver)... still no joy.

Having read some of the other posts on the forums, this seems to be a printer-having-no-IP issue, does it not? I've never seen anything but 0.0.0.0 in any of the settings or printouts from the printer itself. I've tried assigning an address manually, but it won't accept it. Everything on the touch panel has "No link" against it, and when I try assigning new addresses, they just all revert to 0.0.0.0 straight away.

Inside the router's settings, the DHCP table gives no mention of the printer's MAC address - just all the other hardware in the house. There's not even mention of any requests from the printer's MAC address at all in the system log.

Have I got a duff network interface controller inside the printer here?? Can anyone think of anything else to test to establish whether this is the case?

Anyone.....?

G

[Bob_Headrick]

The page here has sometroubleshooting information.  In one section it says:

-] Why might Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) change my wireless network name and security settings? Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) uses only WPA encryption because it is considered more secure. If your wireless network does not currently use WPA encryption, then invoking the WPS mode on your wireless router may cause it to reconfigure your wireless network. If you used WPS to setup your wireless network originally, then you should already be using WPA encryption, and using WPS again to add a device to your network should not change any of your wireless network settings.

This may be part of the issue, since you are set up with WEP.  THis is an area outside my expertise, you may need to Contact HP.

[PrintDoc]

The first thing I would do would be to ditch the WEP encryption.  Use WPA if WPA2 is too advanced for some of your devices.

[drfrot]

Thanks both for having a look and responding - much appreciated.

Ha! The one thing I didn't fancy doing... I shall gird my loins and attempt reconfiguring my wifi for WPA2 some time this evening.

Will keep you posted as to the results.

G

[PrintDoc]

You may want to try just WPA, not WPA2.

You can just change it and then attach the printer and computer to test.  If if fixes the problem, attach all the rest of your devices later.

Besides causing these kinds of issues, WEP can be broken in about 10 minutes with freeware from the Internet, so it provides vritually no security.

[drfrot]

"WEP can be broken in about 10 minutes with freeware from the Internet, so it provides virtually no security."

Sure. I remember being incredibly hacked off that I couldn't get the new router set up with WPA/WPA2 when I first got it, last year some time. For no apparent reason. But after wasting an entire day, I had to compromise and settle for WEP - it was the only way to get anything to talk to it! Has been working fine ever since.

I will of course try setting up with WPA/WPA2 again before requesting more advice - with all the recent printer shenanigans I've a little more experience of the settings now! But I shall leave it to the weekend, when I can get stuck in without being up into the small hours.

As something of an aside, the printer is supposed to work with WEP too, and while it might be ideologically correct to set it up with WPA/WPA2, it's still not connecting with WEP, when every other machine in the house (and any guest's machines) all do so effortlessly. Just sayin'...

I shall come back with more feedback.

Thanks

G

[drfrot · Accepted solution]

Well, well, well. The strangest thing just happened...

I dug out my old o2 Wireless Box II router, as I thought I'd give the printer a go connecting to that, without it being hooked up to the phone line. Thought it was worth a try as an experiment, prior to doing battle once more with WPA encryption.

I switch the printer on for the first time in several days....

...and it's connected. To my existing BiPAC network router. I did NOTHING!! 

It's all working perfectly. Just printed a double sided document directly from my iPad. Wonderful.

Heaven only knows how that happened, when I started, restarted and rebooted ad infinitum the other day when I was trying to get it set up. It's just decided it wants to work today! Crazy.

Thanks again for the advice (I shan't be messing around with any more router settings - will live with WEP, thanks!)

G

[nsutton2011]

I just bought a Billion 7800N router and ran into the same problem connecting it. Though the issue I had was with a Samsung 1865W wireless printer.  I think with the HP it might be the same issue at the level of the Billion router.

I tried all the various connection methods, WPS, PIN etc.

I also tried the direct configuration method.  I MANUALLY entered the SSID name, encryption method WPA2  (AES) and the password.  I did not work.

However I noticed another button on the same page that allowed for TCP/IP configuration.

I clicked on that and noticed that my printer was assigned a STATIC IP address as default - bizzare that this was the default !

I changed that to dynamic and presto !  my printer connected to the router with WPA2 security.

I then had to go through the normal windows routine (find printer, install driver (was on disk) etc.).

I hope this helps anyone with a Samsung 1865W problem and that it may be helpful for connecting an HP printer if the same issue with TCP/IP settings is the case.