HP Officejet Pro 8725 Concurrent Ethernet and wireless connectivity?

[FalvinP]

I’m not sure in which section of the HP message boards to post this question as there is apparently no section dealing with generic HP all-in-ones.

I volunteer at our local museum. We recently bought a new Oficejet Pro 8725 All-In-One from Costco.com, replacing an old Photosmart 7200 series All-In-One.

I wasn’t involved in the initial setup of the unit. Being interested in computer hardware setup, I was asked to come in when the unit wouldn’t print or connect to the wireless network. I’m certainly no expert, but I got the unit up and running, but not in the way I would have preferred.

I’ll have more questions best left for another post, but for now I have one basic question: Can the 8725 (which I know is the same as the 8720) be configured to be connected to a wireless modem/router combo (from the cable company) via an Ethernet cable while retaining the wifi signal for wireless devices like phones, ipads, laptops etc? The Getting Started guide states:

“Wireless does not work if the printer is connected to the network through an Ethernet cable.”

This seems strange to me. If this is the case, why would HP limit the functionality in this way? I imagine other users would have the same issue, unless I’m missing something.

Our old 7200 had the printer connected via Ethernet to the modem/router, while retaining the signal for wireless devices. I had to set up the new unit via usb to retain the wireless signal, but I’m pretty sure the software loses some functionality when not connected to the network.

I had to connect the museum desktop computer to the router via usb because it doesn’t have a wifi card installed in it, and thus cannot connect wirelessly.

One thing I didn’t do was connect via Ethernet and then try to run the wireless setup manager because I took the disclaimer in the Getting Started guide literally. If it turns out that I can turn on the wireless signal after connecting via Ethernet, I’ll have to uninstall first, and then reinstall, because I saw no way to convert from a usb connection to an Ethernet connection.

BTW, I updated the firmware to the latest version.

If there is a more appropriate section of the forums for this post, please advise. Thank you for your assistance with my question.

[sabretooth04]

When the Ethernet cable is connected, the wireless is automatically disconnected.  You can not use both at the same time.

Why?

Only 1 IP address is allowed.  One for Ethernet or one for Wireless, not both. 

[ShlomiL]

Indeed the printer can only be connected with a single connection, either wirelessly or with an ethernet cable.. once an ethernet cable is plugged wireless functionality is disabled, the exact same apply for any HP printer.

If your wireless devices are connected to the same router as the printer it will be discoverable, eitehr if the printer is conencted with an ethernet cable and the mobile device is connected to the same network wirelessly, as long as both are connected to the same router printing can be done.

If you have 2 different routers, one for the computers and one for mobile devices it will not work, the printer can only be connected to a single network as mentioned.

For such a setup you may enable WiFi direct for the printer and connect the mobile devices to your printer's WiFi direct conenction as a workaround, a wifi direct connection can be used regardless the main network connection of the printer, that allows connecting the wireless devices directly to the printer for printing:

https://support.hp.com/rs-en/document/c04577030

Regards,

Shlomi

[FalvinP]

Thank you for your replies.

ShlomiL, I don't understand the first sentence. We did, in fact, have our previous HP All-in-one connected to the router via Ethernet and then were able to connect wirelessly to the same network with my laptop etc. I had the same setup at home as well. I'm probably missing something because I'm perplexed when you say this is not possible.

I'm unsure what you meant in the second paragraph, since there is a jumbled word (eitehr f ) from which I can't figure out your meaning. I think it might say "if either" or "either if" but either way, then the sentence makes no sense to me. Could you please clarify this sentence for me?

If I interpret the rest of your post correctly, I can have the printer plugged into the modem/router with the Ethernet cable and then have the wireless devices connected to the same network and everything will be fine. That's exactly what I wanted to do.

We are not usig Wifi Direct.

We only have the one modem/router.

Thanks again.

[sabretooth04]

Again, no you can not do that.  You can have Wireless or Wired Ethernet but not at the same time.  When the Ethernet cable is plugged in to the printer and then the router, the wireless is automatically disabled.