Printer constantly going Offline

[ghill18]

We're on an Xfinity WiFi network which the printer is also on. Printer has worked great since the day we bought it then about 4-6 months ago it started going offline all by itself. There are 3 computers in use here. Two are on WIndows 10 and one on Windows 8.1. The printer shows offline on all three computers. It appears to happen when the printer goes to sleep but I don't really know if that's true. When you send a print job from any computer it won't wake up and you have to either unplug it and plug it in again or turn it off and on again - you know the drill. Just waking the printer up won't bring it back online. Looking at the printer's screen, it knows it is connected to our WiFi and signal strength is great. It thinks it's online. Router is literally right next to the printer. We've tried resetting the router a number of times and that doesn't fix it. Nothing has changed here in the last 6 months. Same router, same computers, same WiFi, no new additions to the network and nothing taken off of it. Is there a factory reset or a way to keep it from going to sleep?

[Betty0610]

@ghill18

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Download a special version of HP Print and Scan Doctor specifically created to help with printer offline conditions.

1. Download HP Print and Scan Doctor.

2. Run HPPSdr.exe from the download location on your computer.

3. Once HP Print and Scan Doctor opens, click Start, and then select your printer.

   • If your printer in not in the list, turn it off and on, and then click Retry.

   • If there is a connection problem, follow the instructions in HP Print and Scan Doctor.

4. If a screen prompts you to turn on printer updates, click Yes.

5. If a screen prompts you to make your printer the default printer, click Yes.

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Thanks!

Have a great day!

[ghill18]

That didn't fix it. Worked fine yesterday afternoon then this morning it's offline again. Started Scan & Print Doctor and it was unable to communicate with the printer. Says to power cycle the printer. That's precisely what I'm trying to fix - the need to constantly power cycle the printer. Other ideas? And, again, why has this not been a problem for nearly two years and suddenly it is?

[ghill18]

Further to my earlier reply - I printed the wireless test results and it says the printer has disconnected a total of 341 times, including once in the last 24 hours. What is making it do that?

[Betty0610]

This could happen cause of an unstable IP address. Let's set a Manual IP address:

Obtain the IP address of the printer – You can touch the “wireless” icon on the printer control panel to get the IP address.

Type the IP address on your web browser to obtain the printer EWS page on your computer.

Go to "Network" tab - General - Select "Network protocols" - Select "Enable IPv4 only" (or similar) - Apply the settings.

Go to the “Network” tab – Click on “Wireless (802.11) – Then click on “Network address (IPv4)

Click on the radio button which says “Manual IP” and then click “Suggest a manual IP address” to give a manual IP address to your printer.

Click on radio button which says “Manual DNS Server” and under manual preferred type 8.8.8.8 and under manual alternate type 8.8.4.4 (This is Google DNS server address)

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

[ghill18]

Nope - back offline this morning. Can't connect to its IP address. So on the printer I reset the 802.1X security and it reconnected. Which leaves the problem - what keeps happening and why did it just start happening a few months ago?

[Betty0610]

Once the above step is done, let's add the Printer through the below method:

1. In Windows, search for and open Control Panel.

2. Click Devices and Printers, and then click Add a printer.

3. On the Choose a device or printer to add to this PC window, select your printer, click Next, and then follow the on-screen instructions to install the driver. If your printer is not in the list, Click The printer I want isn't listed, and then select Add a printer using TCP/IP address or hostname, and then click Next.

4. Select Autodetect from the Device type drop-down list.

5. Type your printer IP address into the text box, and then click Next.

   To find the printer IP address, print a Wireless Network Test report or a Network Configuration page.

6. Wait for the computer to connect to the printer, and then click Next to install the print driver.

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

[ghill18]

All of the computers in our house are having the same issue so we can rule out a corrupted printer driver on one of them. We're suspecting a faulty router and will replace it as soon as we can. I'll let you know if that solves the problem. It's the only thing all 3 of our computers have in common.

[Betty0610]

Sure. Do keep us posted 🙂

[ghill18]

I discovered that resetting the 802.1X security puts the printer back online. Any reason why the security would get messed up every day? I ruled out the router because there's another printer in the house that has wireless access and it's never been a problem.