HP MFP 3301dfw – Sleep Mode Causes Network Connectivity Loss (Unreliable for Office Use)

[prouser39]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share our ongoing struggles with the HP MFP 3301dfw multifunction printer in hopes of finding a real solution—or at least confirming that we're not the only ones dealing with this.

We’ve had numerous support calls and troubleshooting sessions regarding a recurring issue where the printer seems to "fall asleep" and then disappears from the network. Once this happens, it won't respond to pings, print jobs, or even show up on the network until it’s physically power cycled or manually woken up at the device. This is a huge problem in an office environment where the device is expected to be reliably accessible throughout the day.

Here’s a quick overview of what we’ve tried so far:

• Disabled all power-saving/sleep modes (where possible)

• Set a static IP address and reserved it via DHCP

• Updated to the latest firmware available from HP

• Rebooted router and switch

• Changed from Wi-Fi to Ethernet

• Set manual DNS and gateway settings

• Verified the printer is not in any kind of error or offline mode before sleeping

• Tested on different network ports and with different cables

• Latest firmware

• And more!

Despite all this, the problem persists. It looks like some kind of power management bug is also putting the network interface to sleep—and it doesn’t properly wake up when the printer is accessed remotely.

As part of troubleshooting, HP even shipped us a refurbished replacement of the same model. Unfortunately, it exhibits the exact same behavior, so it's clearly not just a hardware fluke.

For context, we have nearly three dozen other HP printers deployed across our business network—both LaserJets and MFPs—and they all work fine. They go into power-saving mode as expected and reliably wake up when sent a print job. This issue seems unique to the 3301dfw.

In one community thread, I saw someone mention that these “Pro” series printers from HP are essentially consumer-grade devices with limited networking stability. According to that post, if you want a printer with robust and reliable networking behavior (especially in business environments), you need to step up to one of HP’s “Enterprise” models.  (We have both PRO and Enterprise models functioning fine on our network, so if this is so, it's a new feature of PRO series printers)

If that’s true, it’s disappointing. The 3301dfw is marketed as a "Pro" printer, and you’d expect basic features like stable networking and reliable wake-from-sleep to work consistently.

Has anyone else experienced this and found a workaround—or can anyone confirm that upgrading to an Enterprise-grade printer truly solves the issue? At this point, we’re trying to decide whether to continue troubleshooting or cut our losses and replace the device.  For what we've spent in time on this printer, we could have replaced it twice, not to mention the C-Suite who wants it to work when he sends a print job to it.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

[prouser39]

Slight correction of my original.  The printer will not just wake up at the device.  It must be POWER CYCLED, or the ethernet cable unplugged and plugged back in to get it to resume printing.