c309a wireless radio not functioning

[mjay1037]

To all of you that are having this problem. you will have to change the wireless card in the printer. They go bad after about a year 2 max. If you check page 17 there is a diagram showing you how to do this. Problem is finding the wireless card replacement. you need card number 1150-7901. I brought tow but now the place where i got it from can no longer get them from the supplier..

[debb5006]

I'm having the same problem and each time I try to print I get the offline message.  Have been unplugging the router and printer and when plugged in again, it works. The diagnostic said the wireless radio was not functioning though so I'm thinking the days are over for it.   Thanks for the pictures!

[digi123]

I am not sure what I did.  My c309a wireless quit working 18 months ago, and I have read forums, tried lots of things, and finally just gave up, hooked it up with USB and then bought another printer (epson) for our network printer.  I really liked the many features and the quality of the 309a, so didn't want to get rid of it, but really needed a wireless one.  Just today, I thought I would see if there were any new fixes for it, or places I could find a reasonably priced radio, so it took me to this forum and I noticed the post about the phantom usb and also disabling the bluetooth.  I do believe I have messed around with the blue tooth before, and that I had noticed that usb issue.  So I disabled the bluetooth, (it must turn on by default on installation-and I have uninstalled and reinstalled the printer, drivers, software many times) then tried to run the wireless, without luck.  I then printed out a couple of things (USB connected) and got a USB error, but it still printed ok.  I then did stick in a usb flash drive in my computer, ejected it, turned the printer off then on, printed again, and then ran the hp full install on my computer, added a wireless device and shockingly, it found my network and installed the printer wirelessly.  Oh, at some point I also turned the wireless radio off then on.  I had previously ran the wireless network wizard from the printer, but it couldn't find the network.  I don't know if it will keep working, but I have printed out several things with the wireless.  I did hear the wireless radio click when it installed it, so somehow the radio decided to work again???  Seriously, I have tried for 18 months to get it to work.  Mine quit working after a power outage in Sept. 2011. 

[riverbee1]

i have had this printer for 4 or 5 years now. the wireless radio died, couldn't find a replacement radio card.  the printer is still a good printer. didn't want to buy a new one. don't like hassles, uninstalling, reinstalling, resetting, calling hp, spending hours of time etc.......doesn't work.  this works. simple fix.
wireless now working.

SOLUTION, THIS WORKS.
i am running two laptops, one on vista, one on win 7. cable modem, router.
you want your printer to work wirelessly without replacing it in less than 20 minutes?

1. go buy one of these:
NETGEAR WNCE2001 Universal WiFi Internet Adapter
(best buy, amazon, etc, less than 50$.)
it's very small, and works flawlessly to get your printer up and running with all functions, wireless to any desktop/laptop. and it's simple. download the pdf file and follow instructions. it has a smart wizard. this is what i did:

2. go to printers/devices. delete the existing printer, or the printer you have uninstalled and reinstalled countless times.  right click on it, remove printer. no need to uninstall and reinstall the printer and hp software.

3. run cc cleaner. if you don't have it, download it, and run it to clear all the temp and registry files on your pc for the printer. don't skip this step. restart your pc.

4. if you use mac filtering on your router, add the mac address of the net gear wifi adapter to your router. (mac address is on the net gear adapter).  if you don't use mac filtering, skip this step, follow netgears instructions, still simple.

5. plug the net gear wifi adapter into your desktop or laptop with the ethernet cable provided. go to the website. the net gear wifi adapter smart wizard will walk you through, and all you have to do is add your SSID and password for your network. done. uplug. (if you cleared this from the printer, then add it back SSID, and password).

6. hook up your pc to your printer via an ethernet cable.

7. go to your start button, all programs, find the hp files. the photosmart c309a series is listed there.  the first file is ADD A DEVICE.  click on it and run it.  from the options of how to hook up your printer. choose WIRED ETHERNET CABLE. it will add your printer back via ethernet and wired.  unplug the ethernet cable, after the hp files have finished and  your printer has now been installed.

8. get a cocktail, beer, or other favorite beverage.

9. power up your netgear adapter. plug you new netgear wifi adapter in either with the included power connection (to power it)  to a plug in,(wall outlet), or with the usb adapter, (also included) to the usb connection to the front of the printer, the printer will power this through the usb port. connect the included ethernet cable , into the ethernet connection on the back of the printer, to the ethernet connection on your netgear wifi adapter. power your printer on if it isn't. take a slurp of the beverage.

10.  hit the button on the net gear adapter. take another slurp of your beverage.  wait until the adapter finds your network and all the lights are lit. go to your pc, or any other on your network.  PRINT, SCAN. BE HAPPY. WIRELESS.

cheers. hope this helps someone out there.

ps, you can also use any of the wifi extenders or powerline adapters.

[mjay1037]

The problem is your wifi card isn't working any more. That's the problem with the printer. it's crap. Try finding a card if you can. i picked up one on ebay for like 50 bucks. but that one stoped working shortly afterwards also. Hp makes junk now.  the card you need is 1150-7931. If you go back to around page 17 or so here. someone posted pics on how to change it

[debb5006]

Thank you!  What I did was remove the program and reinstall.  For some crazy reason that worked.  Its only a matter of time though, until we need to replace the printer.  Will have to check out Consumer Reports to see what is the best one to purchase. 

[jgmjgmjgmjgm]

To people having problems with the wireless: I got mine to work... oddly.

I did everything here short of replacing the wireless card.

However, I move the printer around as I do different tasks... so it's not realistic to keep moving the wireless extender to connect, too.

So... I found a few sites, including this one, that talk about bluetooth...

That worked the first time.

I had it fail again about two weeks later.

So I did the following:
1) Unplug the printer (C309a)

2) While holding down OK and CANCEL, plug it back in

This resets the printer - not to full defaults, and doesn't go through setup again, but it resets ALL the hardware.

3) While it's showing the grid and moving colors on the screen, press Power

4) Turn off Bluetooth

5) Set up wireless - the card is working again.

I've done this twice, about six months apart.

Thought I'd share, for those of us schmucks who believed HP would be a good buy.

Incidentally, if you want to play PONG, press OK and CANCEL, or the # and * keys; when it prompts for the "Special Key Combo", enter 7664 (P, O, N, G)

Press OK to drop the ball, and left/right to move the paddle.

Other key combos:
123

124

125

127

329

555

62637

9

(9 just prints the fax failure report.  The others let you get into diagnostic menus, settings, etc. etc. etc.)

Hopefully that fix works for other people, too... 🙂

[debb5006]

Thank you so much.  I'm going to try this the next time it goes wonky on me which could be any time. 

[Meissbachslady]

Well, I'm having the same problem. Windows 7 system, wireless radio is not functioning. The funny thing is, a few months ago I had the same message, so I hooked the USB cable up and just used it that way. Then all of a sudden I kept getting these messages to unhook the usb cable so I did, And I followed the steps about resetting the network defaults and then I used the software to make the print wireless and it worked again. Don't know why.. But later we had a change in routers with a new network name. So I use the control panel on printer and it found the router and I connected no problem just like it is supposed to.

Well we then had a power failure and every since then, when choosing to connect to a network on the front of the machine The system can not find any routers. and the report is again saying the radio is not functioning. I think there is a Internet switch that keeps getting tripped. I tried turning the radio off and one and the light go on and off but it still isn't working.

So for me it is a usb connection. All other functions on the printer work.

[jgmjgmjgmjgm]

Make sure Bluetooth is off.  I've had odd things happen when both are on, and turn it on only when I've need to print via Bluetooth.
For some reason, mine turns ON when I start the printer up, and I have to turn it off every time.

I can't find a way to turn it off - I even cleared all the settings, and it still turns on.