hp officejet pro 8600 connected wirelessly but not recognized

[TimCRNA]

I had exactly the same problem. And I figured it out - at least for me.

I had two names setup on my router, one for 2.4G and the other for 5G.

I have an Apple Extreme and it should switch automatically, but I made two separate connections.

The main network name was <Example> and the other was named <Example>5Ghz.

I went in and removed the 5Ghz name and my problem was solved. 

I think the 5Ghz network name was too close to the main name and created the "There are two networks with the same name" error.

Now all my Macs and all of my PCs pick up the printer instantly.

What gets me is that all of these were working until last week.

Must have been some kind of new security update???

I notice here one of the posts had a name for 5Ghz with the number 10 added to the main network name.

That may be the problem.

Give the 5G a completely different name. ???

[robertjm]

There's no such thing as "too close to each other" when it comes to computer naming conventions. One difference in letters will mean a new network will be seen 100% of the time.

i.e.:

Netw0rk

Network

N3twork

N3tw0rk

Those are four distinct networks.

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@TimCRNA wrote:

I had exactly the same problem. And I figured it out - at least for me.

I had two names setup on my router, one for 2.4G and the other for 5G.

I have an Apple Extreme and it should switch automatically, but I made two separate connections.

The main network name was <Example> and the other was named <Example>5Ghz.

I went in and removed the 5Ghz name and my problem was solved. 

I think the 5Ghz network name was too close to the main name and created the "There are two networks with the same name" error.

Now all my Macs and all of my PCs pick up the printer instantly.

What gets me is that all of these were working until last week.

Must have been some kind of new security update???

I notice here one of the posts had a name for 5Ghz with the number 10 added to the main network name.

That may be the problem.

Give the 5G a completely different name. ???

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[TimCRNA]

From robertjm "There's no such thing as "too close to each other" when it comes to computer naming conventions. One difference in letters will mean a new network will be seen 100% of the time."

Robert, that is exactly waht I thought as I read these posts. But no matter what I tried I could not get my recently working MacBook Air(or any other computer) to "see" my printer wirelessly. 

I just thought, why not try getting rid of the 5Ghz network and use one network name?

And it worked!

I admit I can't explain it. I do not really know how these things work.

Do you know why what I did worked? I really am curious and you seem to know more than I do.

What I did was pure trial and error - or in my case, success.

I appreciate your thoughts.

[TimCRNA]

Let me add this.

I did do a Wireless Network Test from the Network Setup screen on the Printer (HP Officejet Pro 8600 N911a).

I got this message on the printout:

"ATTENTION More than one access point/wireless router has been found that matches your network name (SSID).

Your HP printer may connect to the wrong network. To avoid this, change your SSID to be unique."

In the Configuration Description on the printout there was only ONE Network SSID listed. And it was the name that I had made for my Apple Router. In the router setup I had also created an extra 5G name, simply adding the 5G to my network name. Now, I did leave a space between the name and the 5G, like this "Example 5Ghz". The main SSID was  "Example".

Why does the Network Test only show ONE SSID, and tell me there are TWO with the same name?

Why does eliminating the -5Ghz SSID solve the problem?

Is it because both SSIDs come from the same router?

The next time I did an Wireless Network Test, the ATTENTION message was gone. All is well.

[robertjm]

What you're doing by giving the same name to both  bands is to put them on the same network. A network (i.e.: domain, working group, etc.) can have multiple bands, providing your router supports it, and devices can talk to other devices on different bands.

The reason they saw each other was because they were both within the same domain. When you gave them two different names, they were on two different domains basically. I may not be using that term correctly. But, I think it illustrates what I was saying.

Perhaps a better analogy is a multi-lane highway. You have fast lanes and slow lanes. As long as they're both on the I-205 the drivers can wave to each other. However, if one is on I-205, but the other one is on US-101, they're not going to see each other.

Hope that helps.

[TimCRNA]

I need to learn more about Networks. I am close to finishing my CompTIA 220-801/2 Course, but it does not delve into networking deeply enough. Maybe I should do the Network course after I pass (I hope) the CompTIA test.

I am going to mess around with the Apple Router settings and see what kind of configurations work or don't work with the HP setup. 

Thanks for your answer, Robert. I kind of see it, but then maybe not. It reminds of Geometry. I need an A-HA moment.

[msorem]

I have had the same problem with my HP Officejet Pro 8600.  Happened about the same time as this other person.

Worked OK before, now they will not communicate.  Nothing else has changed???

Try to reinstall the software and it just sits at the TCP/IP trying to connect??

Can someone help?

[alexfin]

I have had the same problem. No problems whatsoever for years. Then suddenly printing stopped, the same error message regarding SSID, that somebody before reported.

I just restarted the Airport Extreme and router – everything works now.

I've had weird problems with Playstation 4 wireless connection (to mobile phones, as controllers to games). 

[officejetuser86]

My printer was working fine and did the same as others.

I Happen todo a full reset and noticed firmware upload on the printer.

I suspect a recent firmware push caught us.

I have a Linksys router.  I could ping my printer from the router but I could

not print or ping the  printer from any wifi attached device.

I changed my 5Ghz name from SSID_5gz to 5SSID and did not even need to 

reset my printer to get things working again.

My printer is on a static IP outside the dhcp range of the router.

[Pinewood4]

 I have the same problem. The printer works some of the time. Sometimes it will respond quickly to print requests and then a few minutes later I'll get an error message that the computer is not connected. This has happened with two computers. After trying a few things like restarting computers and finding all other wireless functions working properly, we have concluded it is a printer problem and most likely not a network problem.

A couple of times yesterday I was able to go to the online printer site from the printer setting, which said the printer was connected. Then it would suddenly start printing again. But today, the link for that site didn't even show up in settings. 

Again today, the printer suddenly printed what I had sent five minutes before. This time it happened when I woke up a different computer. All computers are connected wirelessly through a network.

I would appreciate any suggestions you can give me.