Macbook and HP ENVY 5050 not seeing each other despite being on same network. iphone prints fine.

[lalitaraja]

I have a macbook pro running Mojave, using HP smart to connect my new ENVY 5050 I started setup, the printer showed in the setup window but I got taken away on a call and when I came back and subsequently the laptop can't find the printer. I have been through all the options with the virtual assistant. You should know that my iphone 7 connected right away and I've been printing from that. My Partners macbook pro also found and connected with the printer no problem. I'm finding lack of human technical support deeply frustrating as I suspect that there might be a simple fix that eludes me

[asmita6658]

Hi @lalitaraja

Welcome to the HP Support Community. I'd be happy to assist you with the connectivity issue. 

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 using the Mac Network Utility 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.

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.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

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!

Have a great day! 

[lalitaraja]

Hi Asmita

Thanks for picking this up. Hope these help us figure things out.

Best wishes Lalitaraja

1) printer is connected to router which is about 3m with direct line of site I'm sitting with macbook between them

2) it's a single-band Plusnet router, not sure how to change channels but I can figure out if you think that's needed. My phone and partner's macbook both connected up to the printer without a hitch.

3) no interference experience and I have tried set up with macbook on the same shelf as router.

4) no fluorescent lights or microwaves here

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

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. Router is a single-band model

3.) What is the distance between the router and the printer? Less than 3 metres with a clear line of sight

4.) Is there an antivirus software installed on your Mac?    Yes Macfee Antivirus plus

5.) Could you perform a ping test using the Mac Network Utility 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.  

10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 6.911/63.896/166.205/45.437 ms

 

[asmita6658]

@lalitaraja

Try rebooting the devices - 

1) Turn off the Router, Printer, and the computer/ mobile devices.

2) Wait for 60 seconds.

3) Turn on the Router first and wait for all the lights to stabilize.

4) Turn on the printer and allow it to configure itself.

5) Turn on the computer/ mobile devices.

Update the Mac - How to update the software on your Mac

Also, try updating the printer's firmware - HP Printers - Updating or Upgrading Printer Firmware

If the issue still persists, try adding the printer using AirPrint - 

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

2.) Check if your printer name displays in the Printers list, If your printer is listed, click the printer name, click the minus sign to delete the printer.  

3.) If you see multiple printer queues for the same printer, remove all extra printers by selecting them one at a time, and then clicking the minus button at the bottom of the list.  

4.) Click the plus sign click Add Printer or Scanner, click the printer name.  

NOTE: Make sure that the printer Kind is Bonjour or Bonjour Multifunction, or USB. 

5.) Click the Use or Print Using menu, select AirPrint in the pop-up menu. Then click Add. Select AirPrint from the Use menu 

6.) Try to print.

[lalitaraja]

Thanks Asmita

I've added via AirPrint, although step 4 doesn't make any sense as the printer doesn't show up when I search and doesn't show up in printer menu so can't click on it. However clicking the network button I was able to add the printer's IP address and check AirPrint was selected. It now appears as it's IP address but I am able to print but not scan. HP Smart still does not see the printer so opening the system preferences and selecting printer and scan I get the error message. I'm wondering whether to return the printer to John Lewis and start again...

[asmita6658]

@lalitaraja

Update the Mac to 10.15.4. 

Also, wake the printer up before scanning.