HP Color LaserJet not connecting to WiFi network or imac

[JC83]

Set up this with my mac. Downloaded the latest drivers. Everytime I want to print - the mac tells me that there is no printer on the network. I have tried to reset the printer and the wifi router. There is something else going on and it's very annoying. Please help. It is also not being recognised as a printer on a PC or my iphone. 

Thanks

[John_Getzke]

The first step is to confirm your printer is connected to the network or not.  

Connect the printer to your network via Ethernet cable or WiFi.  Then print off a configuration page from the control panel of the printer.   There should be a section that confirms the current IPv4 address of the printer.

Take the IPv4 address of the printer and try to ping it from your PC.  If you can ping the printers IP address then you are good to go.  If not then there may be some kind of network configuration issue between your PC and the printer. 

For normal installations the PC and the printer should be on the same subnet as only one home router is involved.  However, if you are using any kind of multi home router situation it is possible the NAT firewall from one router is blocking communication into the other.  You would then have to reorganize your home network so that both home routers are on the same subnet, instead of two separate ones.  Once the communication is opened up between the two home routers your PC and Printer will be able to talk.  A good way to verify that you are hitting a NAT is to try pinging the printer from both home routers.  If it works from one, but not the other then you know it is a NAT issue.

[JC83]

Thanks for the reply. 

VEry simple home set up. Not sure I fully understand all this though!

IT works and then stop working the next time I try and print something

[John_Getzke]

The next time the problem happens then try the first 3 steps I provided.  Hold onto this information and see if anything changes the next time the problem occurs.  

It could very easily be a dynamic IP address issue with your printer.  Some home routers remove the dynamic IP of devices that do not chat after a certain period of time.  When the printer wakes up it has to request a new IP, which would break software installations looking for the old IP.  You can work around this situation by configuring a static IP address for the printer on your home network and the printers control Panel or Embedded Web Server.

[JC83]

This sounds plausible. How would I do this?

[John_Getzke]

You will need some information from your home router.

1. Look up your PCs current network information:

a. IPv4 address

b. Subnet mask

c. Default gateway

2. Log into your home router and try to verify the DHCP range.  In most cases a home router will set aside a 100 or so IP addresses on the subnet for DHCP or automatic IPs.  Anything outside of the DHCP range but within the subnet is fair game for a static IP address assignment.

- or - 

3. See if your home router has a feature called DHCP reservation. If so then use that feature.  Your home router will search for devices that match the MAC ID of the printer and ensure that it always gets the same DHCP address every time.  This one is much easier but is not always a feature offered on home router models.

General process of configuring a Static IP address on the printer is as follows:

1. Print off a network configuration report from the printer

2. Confirm the current IPv4 address of the printer

3. Type the IPv4 address of the printer into a web browser and navigate to it as if it were a web page

4. This should bring you to the printers Embedded Web Server, or Admin web page

5. Log in if necessary and navigate to the Networking area

6. Configure a static IP address in the IPv4 Address area instead of DHCP/Automatic

a. Must be inside the current subnet

b. Must not be taken by another device

c. Must not be in the DHCP range found above

7. Reboot the printer

8. Check the new IP address from your PC to verify the address change was successful