SOLUTION to your HP printer going offline and/or constantly disconnecting from the network

[8500doesnotprin]

Purchased a Officejet Pro 8500 A910 that now does not print without continuous intervention on my part.  Worked well for approx 3 months then the problems started.  I do not print a lot so I have dealt with it until now. Enough is enough.   I have read all solutions including yours. They do not resolve the issue. I feel it is time foe a class action lawsuit. Hewlett Packard is aware of the issues with the Officejet Pro 8500 A910 printing issues but do not have a viable fix. I do not have the time to research and fix there defective product every time I want to print. Like you and a number of others I turn the printer off and on,  uninstalled reinstalled software, downloaded the latest updates, reconfigured the wireless settings, reset ip address  and much much more. My time is valuable and to spend it constantly fixing a inferior product is not acceptable. There appears more that enough people  experiencing the same issue with this product to pursue a class action lawsuit.

[piggibrown]

thank you so much, this solved our problem which was driving me mad!!

[JSOtt]

Here are some common trouble points to watch for:

0. It is important to note here that we are not talking about a printer which is plugged into a computer via USB and then 'shared' thru Windows File and Printer Sharing. This would apply to a printer which is either plugged in via cable to the wall or a network switch (ethernet)-OR- is using wireless. Also choose only one - ethernet preferred whenever possible OR wireless.

1. You can not use both a manually assigned IP address and DHCP (dynamic) simultaneously.

 - ensure that you disable BOOTP and DHCP and AUTOIP. Some of the web interfaces make this simple in that if you choose MANUAL/STATIC, the others are automatically disabled (single choice drop down). With some you have to disable those other choices. At default, most DHCP ranges start at .100. So generally in a home or small office network, assigning a static IP between 11 and 90 is usually safe. Avoid using .0, .1, .10, and .99 for sure as these are often used on network equipment themselves so you will have a conflict. Check what the DHCP/dynamic range which is specified on your router - and assign an unused static IP outside of that range as the OP said. If your router is at 192.168.0.99, the subnet you want to assign in is probably 192.168.0.X, so for example, an IP of 192.168.0.30 (as long as not in use by another piece of equipment already). If your router is at 192.168.1.1,  the subnet you want to assign in is probably 192.168.1.X, so for example, try an IP of 192.168.1.30. 
If you check the router and DHCP is off, this router is likely acting as an AP (access point) only. Go further up the network chain - i.e. you have a master router and secondary APs. Or in a large company, perhaps there is an offsite network device handling DHCP - in which case you must request that your network admin assign an appropriate IP for you. You can't just guess.

2. Subnet mask will usually be 255.255.255.0 - if not, your network admin should certainly advise you.

3. Gateway - this is the IP address of your router usually, which is doing the DHCP assignments. If you have a master router and secondary APs off of it, usually the secondary APs should be set with DHCP turned OFF. Only one network appliance should be doing DHCP assignments for any particular subnet, otherwise you will run into conflicts.

4. After setting a manual IP, shut down and restart the printer. Also in most cases, we need to delete and re-add the printer in Windows so it now creates the connection using the new desired IP address. If you don't do this, it will continue to retry connecting to the old IP address.

5. If using a CUPS server, ensure that the IP address there is also updated to match.

[jmd11]

i guess i am too dense to figure out if th ip i manually added ip  outside the the modems dhcp range.

the ip is 192.168.1.125 and the modem is a netgear with a range of 2 to 254.

i am not sure which numbers i should be comparing?

thanks very much

John

[das187]

No John, you're not dense at all.

If you think that way when dealing with computers, printers, networks, wireless zeros and ones and all the endless stuff and myriad possible pathways between your keyboard and the printer and you'll doom yourself to self-defeat.

Needlessly.

I guess you don't have a 9th grader ready at hand to solve this for you (always seems to work), so just remember: this stuff is a LOT simpler than you've come to feel it is. And remember GIGO:  garbage in/garbage out (applies to lots of user forums too -- and company "tech" people); and Occam's Razor (the simplest possible solution...)

It's all the variables that bolux things up, like your operating system's settings and printer program settings (different for each brand, god  bless 'em) and the router and its settings (also vary by brand), etc.  You get the (ugly) picture:

Many ways through the maze, but one way in and one eventual way out. Just don't be like Jack Torrance in The Shining and let it drive you CRAZY. (Remember that huge hotel, the snow and isolation? The analogy becomes painfully clear, doesn't it? Want any insights on this, just write to Stephen King in Bangor, ME. He really does answer his mail, after the two guys from town help him sort through the bags that come in every day. He's also a very nice guy, and would probably love to ponder the analogy he didn't realize he'd created. Writers are like that. Anthony Burgess was famous for it. Who knows? He might become your new best friend. :smileywink:)

Sorry. The "Sunday afternoon getting carried away" thing took possession of my warped soul.

I've got a Netgear too;  my 3rd. I've found it helps a lot with this crap. (So does using a Mac.) So I have the same available IP range within my router's LAN ("local area network", for those who like the English language).

Remember, the LAN and its IP addresses are run not by the modem (unless it's a combined unit provided by some cable company, but that doesn't sound like your situation), but by the router -- what some call the "access point" because that's where everything on your network (computers, printers, etc.) get "access" to the network and, thereby, to each other.

Isn't that interesting?

The modem is the thing that takes the Internet crap from OUTSIDE and converts it into stuff your possessions can understand. (A different language of ones and zeros.)

I'm assuming you have a cable or optic fiber coming in, connected to a modem (modulator/demodulator), and that this mysterious thing sends comprehensible stuff to your Netgear router, which can "dynamically" assign a network IP (internet protocol) address to each thing attached to the network. (DHCP = dynamic host configuration protocol. Sounds fancy, doesn't it? Keeps IT people in business. Just like all the Greek in chemistry, according to chem professors who actually have positions: "It keeps the field limited." ) Don't confuse this with the IP address of your modem (which, as far as the Internet is concerned, is you to the outside world). If someone outside your home traces you they get THAT IP address, which comes from your ISP. THE LAN IP address comes from your router, and everyone with (for example) Netgear has a router with an LAN IP address of 192.168.1.1 (or .0.1 on some older models). Routers (gateways, access points -- call them what you like), such as your Netgear, have their own set of rules for IP addresses WITHIN YOUR NETWORK. They all seem to be "192.168.XXX.XXX", from what I've seen, and I ain't seen much. The router can, conveniently, "dynamically" (on its own) assign a local (i.e. home network) IP address to each thing in your network, depending on which lowest number is available, first come, first serve. UNLESS you manually give it an unchanging ("static") address, which seems necessary with this wonderful wireless printers. So when your Netgear thing tells you your permitted "range" is "2 through 254", it means your Netgear router has a pre-assigned address (within your local network!) of 192.168.1.1 (which is the same as saying 192.168.001.001). It can't be changed. (Or, if you do change it you'll probably muck things up -- unless you're a 9th grader.) Everything else you have is, by default, then automatically ("dynamically") given an IP address -- by the router -- between 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.254. You, John, gave your printer the address 192.168.1.125, which is within that range.

Sounds good. (Let's pray.)

NOW...during my travails, I've looked at this with the input of many faceless users: some at Netgear user forums (the major self-proclaimed experts) and some at this HP user forum; some at Netgear tech help some at HP tech help (very dubious, but occasionally useful). Sometimes they know, sometimes not. And I've posted my "successful" approach (with the help of a few other inputs) earler in this forum. Only a small handful of users in forums like this (especially one or two in the Netgear forum) say you should manually give your printer an address OUTSIDE that range (e.g. larger than 192.168.1.254 -- say .255, .300, etc.). Someone at Netgear told me there ain't no way that would work.  I tried it. The router said: "I don't know what device you're talking about" and "That number?? Uuh-uh. Not within my jurisdiction." And, lo and behold, it just didn't work. Then, again, used one between ".2 - .254" and it worked. (A little higher than the range your computer(s) get seems better, since your computers are likely to get .2, .3, etc., and then .6 the next time, then you power the router down or something and it goes back to the lower number, etc. So maybe it's bes to go up above .10 or .15 or so, IMHO. I've used .29 for my CAT5 wired printer and .25 for my HP wireless printer (the one that has caused such mirth and joy).  Someone else in this forum also said to use a local IP address OUTSIDE the router's range. Evidently, within their Stephen King mazes, this works. Who am I to say no? My blood pressure drug may not work for you. I need a calcium channel blocker, but maybe only an ACE-II inhibitor works for them? Who knows? (I haven't asked Stephen King what kind he uses. That's priviledged medical information. It would violate HIPAA law to tell you.)

The only advice I can give is this: You did give it an address within the Netgear router's permitted range for your local network. Beyond that, as I think I mentioned in a frustrated diatribe many pages up,  what seems to work for these "wireless-only" printers is to dispense with "DHCP" for the printer (i.e. w/DHCP the router randomly assigns an address each time the device and/or router goes on) and define it for the router (and for itself!) using "manual" or "static" instead (whichever term your router uses -- same basic thing, I think); tell the router your printer's MAC number (super important -- go find a 9th grader), and ASSIGN a static/manual (unchanging) address, like 192.168.1.125, which you've used, John; then do the printer set-up thing from scratch and tell it, also, that it has a manual/static identity, which will be the same address the router has for it. Manual subnet mask too, for both. (255.255.255.000 I think.) Something else to bear in mind: you're looking to make the both your Chia wireless HP Printer and your Netgear router on exactly the same unchanging page when they look for each other: they both know to meet at the southeast corner of Hollywood and Vine.

This does seem to work really well, but sometimes the printer will still "disconnect" from the local network for no good reason. If that happens, turn it off, leave it off a short while (15 seconds, 2 minutes -- take your pick), and then on again every once in while (esp. between print jobs). This seems to help to and make those disconnections from the network happen less and less less  for reasons no one but Stephen King seems to understand. (See what Caitlin says up on pg. 14 or so.) It's a little more work to get up and turn it off, wait, turn it on. But remember: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." (REDRUM)

Mind you, this is based on my own experience using a Mac and using Firefox or Chrome as the interface with the router and the printer (nothing inherently wrong with Safari -- I just don't like it). If you're using Internet Explorer or Microsoft you're on your own. (Look at Google satellite views of the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA: it looks like a big "666". Any questions?)

Beyond that, all the crap in the previous pages seems to give a lot of info to wade through like peanut butter that people have said is useful -- even mine, or so some people say. (Look for mine back on page 14 or 15 or so -- I forget. Look for what Caitlin says too.) And as you read all that crap, don't forget the toothpicks for your eyelids.

Hope that helps. (Hope you're still awake.)  - D.

[boomer50]

Hooray! I got my printer back online, thanks to you. Went to printers/properties and added new port according to your directions. Worked like a charm. Printer had been offline for several days and I had tried everyway in the world to get it back on (it had never done this before). Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[das187]

Glad to hear it!

(Oh, I forgot the part where you take a lamb to the sacrificial alter in the temple...)

[boomer50]

Hooray! I got my printer back online, thanks to you. Went to printers/properties and added new port according to your directions. Worked like a charm. Printer had been offline for several days and I had tried everyway in the world to get it back on (it had never done this before). Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[jmd11]

Das187
Thank you very much for your extremely helpful advice-I have gone through the steps and will see how this goes the next few days!!
Much appreciated!
John

[boomer50]

Hooray! I got my printer back online, thanks to you. Went to printers/properties and added new port according to your directions. Worked like a charm. Printer had been offline for several days and I had tried everyway in the world to get it back on (it had never done this before). Thank you, thank you, thank you!