HP Photosmart C4780 Won't Connect (Wirelessly) to Mac or Wireless Network

[mvpmich]

er 12 hours of searching and reconfiguring I found your post. Although I had had an initial issue of accessing the printer's portal, I was eventually successful and made the changes . All is working now. Many thanks to you. I has no such luck with the basic info the HP "experts" provided. There seems to be a flaw in the design or software of the printer that forces it to change to some default network and there is no install wizard that works with Mac OS 10.9!

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@thirst_strong wrote:

Hope this helps for those with C4780 or similar. Before proceeding, make sure to write down your router wireless settings. (Please note: this was done on MacOSX 10.9)

1. On printer, go to Scan > Wireless Menu > Wireless Settings > Restore Network Settings.
2. On printer, Print Network Configuration page. From the details, go to the router settings and rename SSID to the default printer’s SSID (e.g. SigmaplusEOL1). Also, turn off any wireless security.
3. On printer, you should see the signal bar now. Print Network Configuration page again. In General Information section, type in printer’s URL on web browser.
4. In printer’s portal site, go to Network tab > Connections > Wireless (802.11) > Wireless Setup. Configure settings exactly as what it was originally before (SSID and WEP password). Click Apply/Confirm.
5. Go back to router setup and put back original SSID and WEP settings. Save settings.
6. On MacOSX, go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners. Click + to add printer…should see a listing for the network printer – click on it.
7. Click on +, the HP printer should also say Bonjour as “Kind”. Set as default printer.

Now the printer is working on my wi-fi network without USB connection. Unfortunately, HP "partially" sunset the Mac support for previous models.

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[BaseballFan1]

I cannot connect my Mac to the wireless connection on my HP Photosmart C4780 Printer.  My wireless rounter does not have a WPS button, so I the instructions to push this button within 2 minutes is not useful.

 I have reloaded the software and it defaults at the end of downloading when I make the selection to connect to the wireless.  I am using the Yosemite OS on my Mac.

Thank you for your assistance.

[mvpmich]

Use this approach:

thirst_strong wrote:

Hope this helps for those with C4780 or similar. Before proceeding, make sure to write down your router wireless settings.

1. On printer, go to Scan > Wireless Menu > Wireless Settings > Restore Network Settings.
2. On printer, Print Network Configuration page. From the details, go to the router settings and rename SSID to the default printer’s SSID (e.g. SigmaplusEOL1). Also, turn off any wireless security.
3. On printer, you should see the signal bar now. Print Network Configuration page again. In General Information section, type in printer’s URL on web browser.
4. In printer’s portal site, go to Network tab > Connections > Wireless (802.11) > Wireless Setup. Configure settings exactly as what it was originally before (SSID and WEP password). Click Apply/Confirm.
5. Go back to router setup and put back original SSID and WEP settings. Save settings.
6. On MacOSX, go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners. Click + to add printer…should see a listing for the network printer – click on it.
7. Click on +, the HP printer should also say Bonjour as “Kind”. Set as default printer.
8. It appears that some event causes the printer to default to the SigmaplusEOL1 network name and the only way to undo it is to reconnect using this default network name and then change the network name back to what it originally was. Hope this helps. It took me over 15 hours of effort before I found thirst_strong's and was successfull. The HP "expert'" suggestions were of no help.

[straps]

I found this thread after tweaking my Mac-based wireless network, losing wireless communication with the C4780, and finding that the software CD is no longer recognized by my current Mac OS.

For those with Apple Airport wireless routers (or any wireless router with WPS services), the solution is hiding in plain sight.

As several previous posters indicated, the device is presumably installed the CPUs (Print and Scan). USB installation is self-explanatory. In the process of trying to unscrew all this, I RESET the HP's wireless networking to "Default."

The key is the WPS solution referred to as the mysterious "WPS button" in HP's literaure. Recent routers support WPS, as do relatively recent Apple Airport routers. The "button" is hidden in the router's management software (or web applet).

WPS will probably appear in a tab or dialog box in the router management utility or web applet. To access WPS on an Apple Airport, go to APPLE AIRPORT UTILITY. In the Window, click ONCE to select the Airport you want the HP printer to affiliate with.

Ensuring that the Airport Utility is active go to the Menu Bar, click on "Base Station,"  and scroll down to "Add WPS Printer."

The window that comes up offers the choice between "PIN" and something else. Choose PIN. I'm pretty sure everyone who's gone from end to end of the C4780's rudimentary interface knows where I'm going, but I'll continue....

ON THE HP PRINTER, touch the "Scan" button, then "Wireless Menu," then "WPS," then "PIN." The HP's front panel display will show the WPS PIN, an 8+ digit number.

Record that number, go back to your Airport Utility/router management utility and enter the "PIN" in the dialog box.

This worked like a charm right off the bat. Hope this helps.

[Anthogras]

I have been without wireless printer for 1 year; Came across your help and it worked. I am wireless again; Thanks!!!