M281 fdw printer will not connect to my wifi any longer

[skidooman93]

I have a 2 year old m281 fdw printer.  Last night I tried to make a copy and the screen said error 49 or something and told me to restart the printer.  I did, once it restarted I made the copy and that was it for the evening.   Today I attempted to print something and the printer was not connected to my wifi.  I attempted to reconnect it multiple times with no success.   Restarted my router, restarted the printer, reset network defaults.  Nothing has worked. 

The printer sees the network but will not connect.   I have another hp envy 5000 that connects normally to the same wifi.  I changed my ssid and the m281 connected to thw newly named but my laptop still will not connect to the printer.  I have removed and attempted to reinstall the printer.  During reinstall the laptop sees the printer on the changed ssid but will not complete installing the printer.   If I change the wifi ssid to the previous name the laptop will not connect to it even though it has connected to it the previous 2 years.  I do not have a printer cable to plug it directly to the laptop.  After attempting a new install that failed, the laptop will no longer recognize the printer even if the ip address is typed in when it is connected to the same newly name ssid.  Please help

[Anand_Andy]

Hi @skidooman93,

Welcome to the HP Support Community

I understand you are facing a connectivity issue with your HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M281fdw. Not to worry I will help you to get a resolution to resolve the issue.

To assist better:

• Do you have a Dual Band routerDo you have a dual-band router?
• If you have a Dual-band router and both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks share the same name/SSID, the printer will not be able to connect to the network. In this case, contact your Internet service provider to assign different names to both networks.
• Do you connect your PC to any VPN?
   

While you respond to that,  please follow the below steps to resolve the issue.

Use HP Print and Scan Doctor to check connectivity

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.

Set a manual IP-

To set a manual IP and try the steps below -

--->Touch on the wifi icon ((i)) on the printer, and take down the IP address 

--->Open a web browser (ex Chrome or Mozilla) and type in the printer's IP

--->then go to network ---> general ---> network protocols ---> select IPV4 only-->apply 

--->go to wireless ---> wireless 802.11---> select manual ip ---> apply

--->Enter 8.8.8.8 for the first DNS and 8.8.4.4 for the second DNS.  

--->then go to settings on the main ews page --> power management ---> select sleep mode to max 15min

 Connect the printer to TCP/IP port

 --->Touch on the wifi icon ((i)) on the printer, and take down the IP address 

a. Click Start/Devices and Printers.  Right-click on your HP Printer.  Select Printer Properties.  Select the Ports tab at the top.

b.    Select Add Port.  Select Standard TCP/IP Port.  Select New Port.

c.    Follow the Add Port Wizard.  Under Printer Name or IP Address, .  Example:  192.168.1.15.  The IP address will be copied under Port Name.  

d.    Select Next and Finish the Wizard.

A 49 error typically occurs when the printer attempts to perform an action that the firmware is not capable of performing or might not be designed to handle. So please go ahead and update the printer firmware 

• Click here to download and install the latest printer firmware from your product
  • Click here to know different methods of updating printer firmware.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted 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!