HP cp1525nw can't connect to wireless network after getting new router

[zgeist]

After getting a new router from comcast I could not get my hp cp1525nw printer to connect to the new wireless network. I had configured the network name and password to be the same as it was before.  After lots of searching and trying things that others had done, I finally found a solution for me and I want to share in case it helps someone else.  (Shame on you HP for not posting this yourself!)

First, I had to clear the existing wifi settings on the printer - otherwise no matter how many times I ran the wireless setup software the new settings just wouldn't "take".  To do this, make sure the tiny screen on the printer says "Ready" - if not press the curly back arrow button until you are back to the top-level "Ready" screen.  

Then click on the Left or Right arrow until it says "Setup Menu Service", then click "OK. Then click on the Left or Right arrow until it says "Service Restore Defaults", then click "Ok".  It will say something like "saving settings", just wait until it's done.

After doing all that, then you can Download and run HP Easy Start from here.  You will need to connect to the printer with a USB cable in the back for your computer to see the printer.  Walk through the steps, and unplug the printer when it tells you to.

Now, there is one other thing I did, largely due to something else I'd read and I'm not sure if it's true or necessary.  Somewhere else, someone said that this printer can only connect to a wireless network on 2.4 GHz.  Most modern routers will broadcast in both 2.4 and 5.0 GHz.  This other poster said this printer will only connect to the 2.4 and that you should configure the two networks to have different names.  So I have actually setup my router to have the 2.4 band network use a slightly different name. But I did all that before I figured out how to wipe the network settings on the printer, so I suspect having a different name for the 2.4 network isn't really necessary.

I sincerely hope this post helps someone out.

[ShlomiL]

Hi,

Having a different name for the 2.4 network isn't really necessary for the printer to connect to the network, however, this is necessary to prevent printing problems after connecting the printer.

When the bands share the same name you cannot control which band the computer is connected to, and if it is connected to the 5GHz band, you will get print problems, with no option to ensure the computer is connected to the same band, so generally, separating the names will prevent many printing problems in the future.

Shlomi

[zgeist]

So are you saying that a computer that is connected to "MyNetwork 5GHZ" won't be able to talk to a printer connected to "MyNetwork 2.4Ghz"?    Can you explain in technical terms what is happening in that situation? I actually did have "print problems" yesterday after I thought I had everything working - and indeed my computer was connected to the 5GHz network in my house, and my printer was connected to the 2.4Ghz one.  The computer could "see" the printer, and it acted like it sent the job successfully, and the display panel on the printer say "printing document" - but nothing was printing and after several minutes the computer would eventually show there was an error - but not a useful error of course.  But what exactly is going on that causes this behaviour? 

Before I got a new router from comcast and had to change my network setup, I didn't have any of these problems. I had my own cable modem connected to an apple Airport Extreme.  It too broadcasts on 2.4 and 5.0.  And I'm pretty sure my computer was connected to the 5.0 side of the network.  So why did that work?

Wouldn't it be cool if you could just upgrade the network card in the printer?

Thanks for your help.