LaserJet Intermittent Connection

[TimHartIsMe]

I recently purchased an M281 printer. I got everything set up and connected to my wifi. However, I'm finding that the connection is intermittent even though the wireless status page says the connection is excellent. I have it connected to my 2.4 gHz wifi. I've given it a static IP from the router. I've even tried specifying the Link Speed on the printer (tried all the speed options before reverting back to "Automatic".) It never says that it disconnects, but when I run a ping test from my system (macOS Catalina) there's consistently 30-50% pings dropped. Because of this, I can't set up the printer on my desktop (also macOS Catalina) and printing takes forever to transfer documents.

Please help!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I did update to the latest Firmware as well.

[TEJ1602]

@TimHartIsMe, Welcome to HP Support Community!

Let's try the below steps to see if that helps -

1.) Remove All Barriers: Certain building materials can get in the way of weaker signals like Bluetooth. Metal, bulletproof glass, concrete, and plaster are particularly bad, and marble, plaster and brick aren’t great easy. So if you’re really struggling with interference, your first step should be to move your Bluetooth devices away from these materials. That means no brick walls between you and your devices, and definitely no metal desks!

2.) Change Router Channel: If you have an Apple router and you’re constantly getting interference with your WiFi, try rebooting it. Upon restart, the station will search for a new channel. Specifically, a different channel than the one your Bluetooth devices is using to communicate. If you don’t have an Apple router, you may need to instead go into your router settings and try changing the channel manually. Experiment with different channels to see which one works best.

3.) Move Closer to Your Router: If you often find that you’re getting interference when talking on a wireless headset while on a WiFi call (you’ll know because you’ll hear static), try moving closer to your router. This will give you a more robust WiFi connection, so the Bluetooth frequency can’t overpower it.

4.) Get Away From Microwaves and Fluorescent Lighting: Both emit frequencies of 2.4GHz, and moving away from them will distance you from the source.

If the printer has stable connectivity and if you still face the printer offline issues, I'd like to know the following to isolate the issue further-

1.) Are the printer and Mac connected to the same network?

2.) Is your router dual-band enabled i.e., both 2.4GHz and 5GHz? If yes, make sure the dual band has different SSIDs for 2.4G and 5G networks.

3.) What is the distance between the router and the printer?

4.) Is there any antivirus software installed on your Mac?

5.) Could you perform a ping test using the Mac Network Utility and let me know the results? Use the printer IP address to perform a ping test, the printer IP can be located by selecting the wireless icon on the printer display.

The wireless status menu on your Mac should also give us quite a lot of information that would help us identify the issue. You can press and hold option-click the WiFi icon and then use shift-command-5 to take the screenshot. Press the space bar when the icon turns into a camera. Share the ping test results and the screenshot with us.

Also, check with your Internet service provider if your router is able to forward 'Bonjour packets'.  Bonjour locates devices such as printers, other computers, and the services that those devices offer on a local network using multicast Domain Name System (mDNS) service records. The software comes built-in with Apple's macOS and iOS operating systems.

Keep me posted for further assistance.

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[TimHartIsMe]

Thanks for the info @TEJ1602! To answer some of your questions:

1- The printer and Mac are connected to the same network.

2- My router is dual band enabled. The printer and the Mac are both connected to the 5gHz band. (I did have the printer connected to the 2.4gHz band because it has greater distance, but I noticed the 5gHz has less interference on its channel, so I've kept the printer on there.)

3- The distance between the printer and router is about 30 feet.

4- There is no antivirus installed on my Mac

5- I'm attaching screenshots of my ping test (which consistently shows about 15-20% packet loss) and the wireless status menu. 

Ping Test:

Wireless Status Menu:

Thanks in advance for your help!

[TEJ1602]

@TimHartIsMe

I appreciate your efforts in trying to resolve the issue. I see connection issues and I'd request you follow the steps below

Change Router Channel: If you have an Apple router and you’re constantly getting interference with your WiFi, try rebooting it. Upon restart, the station will search for a new channel. Specifically, a different channel than the one your Bluetooth devices are using to communicate. If you don’t have an Apple router, you may need to instead go into your router settings and try changing the channel manually. Experiment with different channels to see which one works best.

Move Closer to Your Router: If you often find that you’re getting interference when talking on a wireless headset while on a WiFi call (you’ll know because you’ll hear static), try moving closer to your router. This will give you a more robust WiFi connection, so the Bluetooth frequency can’t overpower it.

Keep me posted.