Cannot connect HP Photosmart C410 to new network/router

[wyldephang]

Hello,

Our ISP recently upgraded us to a wireless D-Link DSL-2750B modem. Because the new modem supports wireless connectivity, we had no use for the old router (to which our printer was originally connected). So, we set up the network around this new modem, and so far, we've had no trouble connecting any devices (e.g., computers, cell phones) except for the printer. The model in question is an HP Photosmart Premium C410 and it used to work flawlessly on our old network. Now, when I run the Wireless Setup Wizard, it finds the network, but no matter how many times I enter the WPA password, it gives me the same error message: "Cannot connect to network. Press OK to print report." When I print out the results, it tells me that MAC address filtering may be preventing my printer from connecting. The problem is that I do not have MAC address filtering enabled on the new wireless modem. I had it set up on my old router--I'm not sure if that makes a difference--but regardless, it's not in effect now. Our modem's security is currently set to WPA and WPA2.

I thought if I restored the printer's network settings to default that it might resolve the issue. But even after resetting the network settings, I cannot connect using the WPA password. I've tried resetting the printer to factory default settings, too, but that hasn't gotten me anywhere. Also, I briefly took down the modem's firewall to see if that would help the printer connect to the network. No luck with that, either. Finally, I disabled the WPA/WPA2 security entirely, but the printer was still unable to connect. Both of our computers run on Windows 7 (64-bit). Again, we had no issues with the printer until we set up the new modem. Now, other devices seem to be able to connect, but the printer is left behind. If there's anything else I can provide in the way of information, let me know.

[wyldephang]

I reset the modem, but to no avail. Any advice would be much appreciated. Maybe I'm missing some detail.

[wyldephang]

I tried some more things today, just in case this rules out some possibilities. First, I bought a USB printer cable and linked my computer directly to the printer. I attempted to run the HP wireless setup on my PC, but when it came time to test the link between the printer and computer, I got a message claiming that MAC address filtering may be interfering with the connectivity. Once again, MAC address filtering is disabled on my modem, but just to be sure, I enabled it and added my printer's MAC address to the list of allowed addresses. That didn't help, so I disabled the filtering and went back to square one.

Today, I saw a recommendation on HP's FAQ to unplug the Internet phone cable (I have DSL) and try to set up the printer's connection to the router when there is no Internet signal. This didn't help things, either. I'm still getting the same error message, and I'm out of ideas. My impression so far has been that the HP Photosmart C410 is totally incompatible with this line of modem.

[sabretooth04]

ISP Gateway devices are notoriously terrible for wireless connection. My advice is for you to put that Gateway unit in Bridge mode and reconnect your old router for better performance and connectivity.

[wyldephang]

Thank you, Sabretooth. The odd thing is that earlier today, the printer suddenly achieved a wireless connection to the wireless modem without us touching it in any way. I had given up on it. Then, out of nowhere, the blue network light stopped flashing and it was connected to our network. When I went into my modem's page (192.168.1.1), we could find the printer in the list of devices. The printer even started to print old documents that were cued up days ago, as if it finally received the command to print. Unfortunately, the printer became unplugged later in the day due to some overzealous cleaning, and when it booted back up, it was once again disconnected from the network. Shoot. At this point, we're just hoping for another happy accident to fix the connection. I'd rather not hook up the old router, but we'll keep it nearby just in case. I'm about ready to mark this thread solved, but before I do, is there anything else I can do to get this printer working with my ISP-provided wireless modem?

[sabretooth04 · Accepted solution]

These settings are for setting up your wireless printer to stay connected to your router, keep wireless devices better connected and makes your router secure and hack proof.

1. Set a static IP in the printer (click here) outside the DHCP range of the router (check your manual).

   This is for Linksys routers but can be used for all routers. Verify your DHCP range and change this

   first if needed. More Wireless Printing help is here (Windows solution 4, static IP).

2. Verify in the printer that 'Auto Off/Sleep' is disabled.  Use the Embedded Web Server (EWS) by going

   to the printers IP address in your browsers address bar, click Settings Tab/Auto Off. Or use the Printer

   Assistant, Printer Home Page (EWS). Also check your Printers Properties.

3. If the printer supports and has IPv6 enabled, turn off IPv6 in the printer.

4. If needed and you assigned a static IP address, try using 8.8.8.8 for the Preferred DNS server and

     8.8.4.4 at the Alternate DNS server.

In the router: (Refer to your router manual for information)

5. Use a fixed wireless channel like 1, 6 or 11, never 'auto', try channel 1 first then the rest. 

6. Set router to 20Mhz only, or 145Mbps depending on router. 

7. Always use WPA2-AES (Personal) encryption, but you can try ‘mixed’ mode. 

8. Disable WPS and never use it and disable UPnP for the routers security. Nobody can hack your

   system now and helps with wireless connectivity (if you want to know why, search the web).

9. If you have a dual band router (2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz bands), make sure the SSID’s are NOT the same,

   they must be different for all bands, even for any Guest networks.

10. SSID broadcast must be enabled.

11. Save all settings. Power off both, wait 2 mins.  Power on router wait 2 mins. 

12. Power on printer and verify it reconnects to router. 

Windows 7/8/8.1   Is Network Discovery on or off?

1. Control Panel/Network and Internet/Network and Sharing Center/Advanced sharing settings.
2. Under Home or Work (current profile) / Network Discovery.
3. Select "Turn on network discovery" and save changes.

[wyldephang]

Thanks for all the recommendations. What we decided to do was hook the printer up to the modem via network cable and assign the printer an IP that way. With the printer connected to the modem, I'm able to access it just fine over the network. Turns out I had an old IP assigned to the printer on my laptop, so we manually added the new one. I'll go ahead and mark this question solved.