How do I enable keep-alive on HP Officejet Pro 8600?

[decartes]

My HP Officejet Pro 8600 disconnects from network after being in sleep for a while. I have to reboot the printer to get it back on the network. How do I enable keep-alive on the printer?

[wilhouse]

in the menu on the printer there is an option to keep the wireless icon on. Just because the icon doesn't light up doesn't mean that the computer won't see it.

[rekrapg]

I think the issue here has not been resolved, and wont be by info like that.  What actually happens with this printer (and software is fully updated on mine) is that after the printer goes to sleep, it drops your network connection completely.  I have tested both ethernet and wireless, and it has the exact same issue both ways.

The lights on the LED display show that it is still connected, and in fact if yo go into settings to view, it still has whatever IP address you gave it or dhcp gave it, same hostname, etc.  But printing is N/A, web config is N/A from your PC (tried Win 7, Win XP, Fedora, Ubuntu) so for all purposes, then printer is OFFLINE but still appears on the printer itself as if it's online.

2 ways to get it back - a) reboot, or b) disconnect/reconnect network connectivity type.  I've gone through all settings and can't see anything relating to keeping the printer on the network even in sleep mode.  

My question is this HP - what good is a network/wireless/eprint printer that won't stay connected to the internet/network?  If I have to go stuff around with it each time I want o print, i'm gonna get real pissed real soon.  This printer has fantastic features, but this is the most annoying problem a network printer can have!

[decartes]

I found a workaround. Instead of DHCP, I assigned a static IP address in my printer's network setup. Then in my router config, I reserved the same IP address for my printer's MAC address. Now the printer is always able to maintain network connection.

HP seriously needs to implement keep-alive if it wants its network connection to be maintained under DHCP. Otherwise, most routers will de-allocate the IP address and remove the connection if the printer sleeps long enough.

[rekrapg]

Nice - i'll give it a crack and see if that fixes it, I had it set to DHCP but statically assigned on my router. cheers, updated now 🙂

[dotsme]

I do not see that option

[rekrapg]

Worked for me, thanks 🙂

There's no option so to speak.  You set up on your router that the printers MAC address is permanently associated with a specific IP address.  Then, on the printer, you 'Manually' assign the IP, using the IP address you originally set up on the router.

[Meeshka]

Mine is doing the exact same thing and even when I re-enter my security code, I still can't get it to print most of the time.   Mine is an HP 6500A plus and my laptop is a Toshiba Satelite with Windows 7.    My printer shows offline most of the time on the computer, but shows being connected to the Rogers Turbo Hub all the time.    Not sure what to do and like you, I am getting very frustrated with this machine.   It is only 2 months old and has been very frustrating to work will.   Thinking of hooking it up with an ethernet cable but I bought to be wireless and that would defeat the purpose.   Any help by anyone who has patience to deal with someone who is not computer savvy would be very appreciated.   Thanks in advance.

[phantasmny]

Same problem. Already set up the static IP within the network. Its a pain to have to reset the router everytime you want to print though. Haven't found a solution other than powering down the printer (don't want to do that) or powering off the router (also a pain).

[Meeshka]

Well said, rekrapg. I feel exactly the same way. I got this new printer at Christmas and have been searching for a fix since day one. Not happy with this unit at all. Should have stuck with my old printer cables and all. 😞