Unable to verify the printer on your network

[markles]

I have a Mac and all the software and hardware drivers are up-to-date. I can connect the printer to the wifi network router, and the Mac does SEE that printer on the network.  But when I try to ADD that printer, I get an error: "Unable to verify the printer on your network … Unable to connect to ‘HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 [A92A3E]._ipp._tcp.local.’ due to an error. Would you still like to create the printer?"

[Jay_G24]

Hi @markles,

I'd like to help!

I understand you are unable to add the printer to your mac.

Let's try the below steps to see if that helps -

1.) Remove All Barriers: Certain building materials can get in the way of weaker signals like Bluetooth. Metal, bulletproof glass, concrete, and plaster are particularly bad, and marble, plaster and brick aren’t great easy. So if you’re really struggling with interference, your first step should be to move your Bluetooth devices away from these materials. That means no brick walls between you and your devices, and definitely no metal desks!

2.) Change Router Channel: If you have an Apple router and you’re constantly getting interference with your WiFi, try rebooting it. Upon restart, the station will search for a new channel. Specifically, a different channel than the one your Bluetooth devices is using to communicate. If you don’t have an Apple router, you may need to instead go into your router settings and try changing the channel manually. Experiment with different channels to see which one works best.

3.) Move Closer to Your Router: If you often find that you’re getting interference when talking on a wireless headset while on a WiFi call (you’ll know because you’ll hear static), try moving closer to your router. This will give you a more robust WiFi connection, so the Bluetooth frequency can’t overpower it.

4.) Get Away From Microwaves and Fluorescent Lighting: Both emit frequencies of 2.4GHz, and moving away from them will distance you from the source.

I'd like to know the following to isolate the issue further-

1.) Are the printer and Mac connected to the same network?

2.) Is your router dual-band enabled i.e., both 2.4GHz and 5GHz? If yes, make sure the dual band has different SSIDs for 2.4G and 5G networks.

3.) What is the distance between the router and the printer?

4.) Is there an antivirus software installed on your Mac?

5.) Could you perform a ping test  and let me know the results? Use the printer IP address to perform a ping test, the printer IP can be located by selecting the wireless icon on the printer display.

Perform a ping test to check the connectivity

1. Click Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

type ping "IP address" and press enter

Wait until 10 pings have been performed and then press ctrl c on the keyboard and hit return. 

The results will appear .

Share the ping test results.

The wireless status menu on your Mac should also give us quite a lot of information that would help us identify the issue. You can press and hold option-click the WiFi icon and then use shift-command-5 to take the screenshot. Press the space bar when the icon turns into a camera. Share the ping test results and the screenshot with us.

Also, check with your Internet service provider if your router is able to forward 'Bonjour packets'.  Bonjour locates devices such as printers, other computers, and the services that those devices offer on a local network using multicast Domain Name System (mDNS) service records. The software comes built-in with Apple's macOS and iOS operating systems. 

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

And, Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

Please click “Accept as 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

[markles]

Here's the ping results:

PING 192.168.0.163 (192.168.0.163): 56 data bytes

Request timeout for icmp_seq 0

Request timeout for icmp_seq 1

Request timeout for icmp_seq 2

Request timeout for icmp_seq 3

ping: sendto: No route to host

Request timeout for icmp_seq 4

ping: sendto: Host is down

Request timeout for icmp_seq 5

ping: sendto: Host is down

Request timeout for icmp_seq 6

ping: sendto: Host is down

Request timeout for icmp_seq 7

ping: sendto: Host is down

Request timeout for icmp_seq 8

ping: sendto: Host is down

Request timeout for icmp_seq 9

ping: sendto: Host is down

Request timeout for icmp_seq 10

ping: sendto: Host is down

Request timeout for icmp_seq 11

^C

[Jay_G24]

Is your router dual-band enabled i.e., both 2.4GHz and 5GHz? If yes, make sure the dual-band has different SSIDs for 2.4G and 5G networks.

Then try the below steps-

Restore wireless settings and reconnect the printer to the network.

1. Place the printer near the network router.

2. Make sure paper is loaded in the main tray, and then turn on the printer.

3. On the printer, select Restore Network Defaults from the Wireless, Settings , or Restore Settings menu.

4. Get the network name and password. Go to Find the wireless network password or PIN to connect an HP printer for more information.

5. Select Wireless Setup Wizard from the Wireless, Settings, or Network Setup menu.

6. Select the name of your wireless network, and then enter the password.

   NOTE: 

   If the Wireless Setup Wizard is not listed, select Wi-Fi Protected Setup or WPS, select Push Button, and then follow the steps to connect to the network.

Run the ping test, if the packet loss is 0, then try and add the printer to your computer with airprint

1. Open the Apple menu , click System Preferences, and then click Print & Scan or Printers & Scanners.

2. Look for your printer in the Printers list.

   • If your printer is listed, remove the printer before you add it with AirPrint. Click the printer name, click the Minus sign , click Delete printer, and then click the Plus sign  to open the Add window.

   • If your printer is not listed, click the Plus sign .

3. In the Add window, select your printer.

4. From the Use menu, select AirPrint or Secure AirPrint.

   If an AirPrint option is not listed in the menu, select Generic Postscript Printer (preferred) or Generic PCL Printer.

   

5. Click Add to complete the setup.

Let me know how this goes!