My printer lost connection and could not connect again

[gislaslozada]

Hello. I have had my HP Smart Tank 515 printer for three years and I had never had any problems until a few days ago. I tried to print four sheets wirelessly and the second one stopped printing and disconnected from WiFi and can no longer connect. I have followed the same procedure that I did the first time and also when I changed the router but it does not connect. I also cannot print via WiFi Direct because, although the icon appears on the printer display, my devices cannot find the network. What can I do?

[A_Gayathri]

Hi @gislaslozada,

Welcome to The HP Support Community.  

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

I understand you are facing an issue with your HP Smart Tank 515 printer is facing WiFi connection issues and also trouble with WiFi Direct. Since it worked fine before, the issue could be related to network settings, the router, or the printer's configuration. 

To assist you better:

• Since when are you facing this issue
• How far is the printer located from the WiFi router?
• Do 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.
• Have you made any changes on your printer post that this issue raised and have you observed any light blinking on the display and error code? 
  
  Here are some steps to troubleshoot and resolve the problem:

1. Restart Printer, Router, and Computer

• Turn off the printer, unplug the router for 10 seconds, then reconnect it.
• Restart your computer and turn the printer back on.
• Try reconnecting to WiFi once the network is back up.

2. Check Network Connection and Printer Status

• On the printer’s control panel, print a network configuration report. This will help verify if the printer is connected to the correct network and if there are any issues with the network settings.
  • Go to the printer’s settings → Network settings → Print Network Configuration.
• Review the report and check the printer's IP address, signal strength, and whether it's connected to the WiFi network.

3. Reset Printer Network Settings

If your printer is unable to connect, resetting the network settings can help:

• Press and hold the WiFi button and the Cancel button on the printer until the power light starts blinking. This will reset the network settings to default.
• Use the HP Smart App to reconnect your printer to your WiFi network:
  • Open the HP Smart app on your computer.
  • Follow the steps to add a new printer and choose your WiFi network.

4. Reconnect Using WiFi Direct

Since WiFi Direct isn’t being detected:

• Make sure WiFi Direct is enabled on your printer. Hold the WiFi Direct button for 3 seconds to print a WiFi Direct details page, which will include the network name and password.
• Try connecting your device (phone or computer) manually by searching for the WiFi Direct network from your device's WiFi settings, and use the password provided on the printout.

5. Router Settings

• Ensure that your router is using 2.4 GHz frequency (most printers do not work on 5 GHz).
• Disable any router features like MAC address filtering, or add the printer's MAC address to the allowed devices.
• Ensure WiFi isolation (if enabled) is turned off, as this can prevent wireless devices from communicating with each other.

6. Update Printer Firmware and Software Update the firmware on an HP printer

• Ensure that your printer firmware is up to date. You can do this by going to the printer’s settings or using the HP Smart app.
• Update or reinstall the HP Smart app and drivers on your Windows 11 PC.

7. Re-add Printer to HP Smart App HP printer setup (HP Smart app)

• Remove the printer from the HP Smart app and re-add it to refresh the connection.
  • Open the HP Smart app → Click on the printer → Remove printer.
  • Add the printer back using the Add Printer option.

8. Assign a Static IP

If the connection issues persist, assigning a static IP address to your printer might help:

• Access your router's admin settings (consult the router manual for details).
• Find your printer under connected devices and assign it a static IP.

9. Factory Reset the Printer (Optional, if other methods fail)

If nothing works, you can consider factory resetting your printer:

• This will reset all settings back to default, and you will need to reconnect everything from scratch.
• Consult the manual for factory reset instructions.

Refer to this document: HP Smart Tank 515 Wireless All-in-One User manual 

Troubleshoot a Wi-Fi connection to an HP printer
HP printer setup (Wi-Fi network)
 

I hope this helps. 

Take care and have a good day.

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