MFP M281fdw has problems with wifi passwords containing spaces

[zotacno]

I was having issues with the Wireless network interface on my Color laserjet MFP M281fdw.  The printer is reachable at startup, but only for a few seconds. Then all pings to the IP address are lost. My Wifi network still sees the printer on the network, but no IP traffic is coming through.

Connecting the printer to the network using a cable, then every thing is fine.

After some tweaking of my Wifi network, I discovered that connecting this printer to an open wifi network (no password) also works fine... This triggered me to change the wifi password to something shorter, and not using spaces.  Now it also works fine!

I had no problems with the firmware that was installed in the factory. I don't know what that version was.

Upgraded the firmware to 20190716 and the issues started.

Upgraded to the latest firmware 20200612, and the issues remained.

This looks like a bug in the Wifi Firmware of the printer.

[Kumar0307]

@zotacno, Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Ideally, there should be no spaces in a password. You may either use a number, letter, or a special character. A 'space' cannot be read by the printer language.

We can try resetting the printer to its factory settings as there is no option to downgrade the printer firmware. However, as you have changed the wifi password(with no spaces) and it is working fine now, it is upto you if you want to reset the printer. I would not recommend it.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

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Have a great day! 

[zotacno]

Hi,

My problem was solved by choosing a different password for my wifi. No need to reset the printer.

However, of all the devices connected to my wifi, only this printer was having issues with a 'space' in the wifi password. Even my crappy IOT power plugs were working fine with the old password.

I would highly recommend to have the firmware of the printer updated to allow spaces in the wifi password. That should be a relative easy fix. Can you initiate a firmware bug ticket for me?

Either way, at least the documentation should be updated, because I could not find any limitations about the wifi password.

Thanks for helping.

Kind regards. 

[Kumar0307]

@zotacno

Thanks for the feedback, I will put it across to the respective team in HP. Keep us posted for any other 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!

Have a great day!