HP Smart Tank 7005 Wi-Fi Issues

[SidCowans]

I'm having major issues connecting my Smart Tank 7005 to my network. I have 1GB broadband and the printer is close to the router.

All I get is constant flashing of the blue wi-fi indicator but how do I get it to connect with my network ? My phone does not see it and there seems to be no way to force any connection.

I can set up Wi-Fi Direct okay and that works but I need to connect to my main network.

Have tried everything I have seen but the indicator just flashes and that is it !

Any help would be hugely appreciated.  

[BeemerBiker]

Try the video that shows the router connection

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The below is all know about your InkJet: 7005.  Hope I am not oversharing!

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Watch the reset video or perform the steps. After resetting, you generally have 2 hours to complete the setup. Decide if you want to connect the printer to the router or to print directly to the printer and bypass the router.

Many HP and other OEM printers have problems with the router when the router has two bands and both bands have the same name (SSID). Log into the modem and rename one of the bands. Alternately, contact your ISP and have them rename a band.

Or simply use Wi-Fi direct (but read note below about Instant Ink).

If English is not your native language or if you wish to get additional information not covered below, then use the HP and Microsoft support assistants. The latest HPSA supports 36 languages and can be downloaded here. Microsoft's AI assistant is in the latest Windows 10 and 11 releases and there are instructions here on how to enable the AI. Microsoft's AI assistant (Copilot) has a microphone button and supports natural language processing.

Do not call any phone numbers shown in any of the videos or revealed by a Bing or Google search. You may need to reset your printer.

Disconnecting the USB cable may still leave the printer in the wired or Wi-Fi mode. Connecting an ethernet cable may still leave the printer in Wi-Fi mode. The Wi-Fi reset is used to put Wi-Fi printers into setup mode. Some resets are simple and others require a video to understand. Factory resets cannot be revealed in this forum. To do a factory reset of your printer, you must contact HP.

Click here for world-wide contact info

Wi-Fi reset instructions and videos (if any) are shown below. Generally you have 2 hours to connect your printer after performing the Wi-Fi reset. Note that a reset video may show a slightly different model than yours. Do not call any phone numbers revealed in any video or site.

Microsoft's Copilot may have more recent videos.
Watch this video to see how to reset your printer: 7005.
The steps below are Wi-Fi only and do not perform a factory reset.
Microsoft's Copilot may provide alternate solutions.

7005

1. On the printer control panel, press and hold the Information button for 5 seconds until all control panel buttons turn on.
2. Open ink access door.
3. Press and hold the Information and Cancel buttons for 3 seconds.
4. After about 20 seconds, close the ink access door.

Wi-Fi connection

Ideally, your Wi-Fi printer should connect to the modem or router. If your network has multiple boosters / repeaters, it is possible the printer may connect randomly to any of the units. The router needs to provide the same IP address on every connection. This rarely happens with random connects. An alternate Wi-Fi connection is Wi-Fi direct. Your laptop or smartphone prints directly to the printer and does not go through the router. Note that if you signed up for instant ink or internet printing your printer must also be online through the router. Do not call any phone number revealed in any video or site.

This video shows how to connect to the router: 7005
Wi-Fi Direct can be used to avoid configuring the router. Watch this: 7005
A simple connection to the router can be done by using the WPS pushbutton method. This is explained on page 19 in this User Manual.

Software

HP updates software periodically. Downloads shown below may be old. You should always visit the Software and Download page to look for new releases. You may need to select an operating system (OS) first. If windows 11 is missing then use 10. You can go as far back as Windows 7, 64bit to get missing drivers. After selecting the OS click the blue Open all button to view all downloads.

You can find all of the software here. You should select the OS and then look for the phrase "Open All" and click that. 7005

Documents

All documents are available at the below HP site. The user and reference manuals show how to get status reports and analyze error indicators on printer that have no control panel.

All HP manuals are here: 7005

Support Videos - Parts - Disassembly

HP has a YouTube site and there are a number of video in English and other languages. Typically unboxing, clearing paper jams, and cartridge problems. You may also find instructional disassembly videos from other users.

Printer problems could be cleared by one or more of these HP YouTube videos 7005

Printer Reference

One or more printer reference is listed below. Typically your printer may be part of a series and use the same software and manual. The exact spec may be different.

Specifications for your system: 7005

Let me know if a problem

[JamesM5]

Hi Sid, this is a well-known issue with the HP Smart Tank 7000 series. Please follow these steps to solve Wifi connection issues: First, reset your Wifi connection on your printer (see printer manual). Next, temporarily connect your printer to the Wifi using the WPS button method (again, see printer manual). Alternatively, use the HP App via bluetooth or an USB cable. Next, use your PC to connect to the printer via its IP address and configure the Wifi connection once again manually using the Wifi password. Only then will the Wifi stay connected permanently even after the printer is restarted. Make sure not to disable the printer bluetooth connection, as this will crash its firmware and Wifi connection. Cheers, James

[stefantimm]

This is the worst firmware I have ever seen on any device. I have a 7005 printer. I know TCP/IP inside out and had to deal with hundreds if not thousands of network connected devices throughout my life. This printer tops it all.

I set up my 7005 wifi dozens of times, every time successful. Router is a 2.4/5 GHz.  When I try to print via WiFi, the printer is just not there. Ping also fails. I wake it by pressing some button, it shows WiFi connectivity (no exclamation mark next to the Wifi symbol), but no printing and Ping still fails.

The only way to get it to accept the print job is by pulling the power cord and reinstalling it.

I can reproduce this problem under lab conditions. Whoever write the firmware for those devices should be lifelong banned from doing any software development.

[SidCowans · Accepted solution]

Working fine now with WI-FI DIRECT ....... all other attempts to connect failed miserably ! 

Thanks for all your suggestions.

[JamesM5]

Yes, the firmware is really poor. To make Wifi work, first reset the printer network settings, either through the EWS (if you're already connected) or through the setup mode on the printer (described in the manual). Simply restarting the printer is not enough. After the reset, use WPS mode to temporarily connect your printer to the Wifi (described in the manual). Next, use your computer to access the printer EWS web interface via its IP address and configure the Wifi again, adding the Wifi key manually. If you don't do this, the Wifi connection will be lost during the next printer restart. You can disable Wifi Direct if you don't need it, but you can't disable Bluetooth, as this will crash the network settings... 

[stefantimm]

I did all this (and much more).

The printer connects to the Wifi and keeps the configuration after a printer restart.

My problem is that when I try to print, sometimes it does, sometimes (even after a day or so) it plays dead. I cannot wake it up by pressing any of the keys. When I ping it, there is no response. The only way to get it back into the Wifi is to pull the power cable and put it back in. The time it takes to power up is also way beyond anything acceptable.

What I would like to do is throw it out of the window (and hopefully the guy who wrote the firmware happens to be walking by at that very moment). Maybe I put it on ebay.

Like I said: I can reproduce the problems under lab conditions: fresh router, no other devices except the HP 7005 and a fresh MacBook Pro. Firmware on the 7005 is current according to the printer (web based, there is no updater for macOS).

I'm kind of sceptical about the solutions provided here. There are multiple threads supposedly providing a solution to the certificate problem on macOS using airPrint. I have a number of macOS based machines here, the 7005 is installed on every one (using airPrint, of course, which is the default) and NONE OF THOSE MACHINES SHOWS THE MENTIONED KEY OR ANYTHING SIMILAR IN THE KEYCHAIN. As mentioned in another thread I was able to solve it by disabling IPv6 on the HP 7005.

Also I would like to state that providing lousy workarounds (like using Wifi direct) is poor advice and should be removed and under no circumstances be flagged as a solution.

I am 100% sure if someone analyses the communication with the printer using WireShark it will become evident that whoever programmed the firmware has rudimentary TCP/IP understanding at best.

[JamesM5]

I see. Personally I'd recommend to disable auto-off and keep the printer on stand-by or sleep mode. This way, it should keep Wifi connectivity and respond immediately if it receives a print job (the printer doesn't wake up automatically if it is turned off). I must add I only tested this on PC and IOS, not Mac. If your printer still has warranty, consider having it replaced. I really like the Smart Tank concept and cost efficiency, but it's a real pity the firmware is so lousy and it hasn't been fixed in three years.

[stefantimm]

I did some further analysis and asked ChatGPT for a solution.

After telling ChatGPT that of course there is no isolation and there are no repeaters:

The result is unambiguous:

• ping to the printer gets timeout and sometimes "no route to host".
• route -n and arp show a perfectly correct configuration
• Power savings are all disabled on the printer
• the network is in pristine condition 
• arp properly resolves the printer Mac address

This means that the printer simply does not respond, neither on layer 2 nor layer 3

ChatGPT states: this is a documented and widely reported error, in particular for the 7000 series

It also gives a recommendation:

• disable IPv6 (had done that already because of the certificate problem on macoS
• disable the 5 GHz band (which I did earlier today)

It works for now, I will report if this is a permanent solution. I'd even consider this an acceptable workaround (most of the solutions proposed here like using Wifi direct or power cyclce the printer each time one wants to print are by no means acceptable workarounds).

I stand by my statement: the firmware of the 7000 series is total crap, I have about 50 other devices on my network (most of them dual band) and have never had any connectivity problems.

Whoever is in charge of the 7000 firmware should be banned lifelong from software development. Maybe someone could kindly let them know.

I can confirm that I had no connectivity issues whatsoever after forcing the printer to use only the 2.4 GHz band. That means that with IPv6 and 5 GHz disabled I can now happily print without Wifi connectivity issues and certificate problems. What a relief, I actually liked the Smart Tank concept very much. Would have been a shame having to sell the printer.