Printing OK with USB but printer will not connect to home wifi network

[hartmisc]

For well over a week, I have been trying to find a solution for this very same problem on Windows 10, but with a different printer. I have already attempted ALL of the usual recommended fixes (many times over), but none have worked. Tonight, for the first time, I actually saw a real-time fail between the HP Web Services and the RPC Windows Service on an HP Envy 17 laptop. But, I don't know how to fix it.

[Bob_Headrick]

OK, this is curious....  especially if your computer can ping your wife's computer and vice-versa and your computer can get to the printer's EWS but her's cannot.  One thing to check - try a PING of the printer's IP address from both computers.  (Yours to make sure the printer responds to a ping, hers to check if her computer can see the printer.)  

I would suggest the following on your wife's computer - go to the control panel, devices and printers, right click on your printer, Printer properties,  Ports, Add Port, Port, New Port..., Next, [in the enter "Name or IP Address" put 10.0.0.174], Next, Finish, Close, Check the "Enable bidirectional communication if it is not already, Apply, OK.

I am wondering if you have some sort of internet security on your wife's computer that is different than on yours.  Perhaps something like Norton 360 or Windows Defender Firewall? 

The above will change the port to the IP address.  For some reason Windows 10 prefers to set the printer up with a WSD port, I have seen many cases where this causes issues that selecting the TCP/IP port corrects.

[Bob_Headrick]

@hartmisc -  I read your other thread and do not have any ready answers.  I would like to keep this thread focused on @SkeeterB767's issue, then I will take a closer look at yours in the other thread. 

[hartmisc]

Thank you very much, Bob, for your acknowledgement. I thought mixing the two cases in one thread might be an issue, so I completely understand. I will continue to watch this one in case something applicable to my problem occurs, but I will stay out of the conversation. Again, I sincerely appreciate your kindness. I wish you and the OP much success with his problems!

[SkeeterB767]

Hi Bob, I will be back home later today and will have access to my wife's computer at that time.  Thanks for your patience and great assistance!

[Bob_Headrick]

@SkeeterB767 - I will be looking for your response later.

One additional thing - what exactly is the error message on your wife's computer when trying to access the printer's EWS?  If the browser is complaining of a security issue it may be because of recent changes in Windows 10 to block non-https sites.

[SkeeterB767]

Hi again, Bob - I was able to get back for about an hour and here is the latest:

1.  When I try to access EWS on my wife's computer, the message is "Site cannot be reached.  The connection was reset" And below that is:  "err_connection_reset", and then the standard "check proxy and firewall, run Windows diagnostics, etc."

2. Regarding Pinging of the printer's IP address:  on my computer it immediately found the printer and the message was "packets sent 4 , received 4".  However on my wife's computer,  the message was at first "request timed out".  Then it said "packets sent:  4, received = 1, lost = 3 (75%) loss)

3.  When I added the IP address to the new TCP/IP port as you suggested, it said "Device not found on the network"

4.  I checked my wife's computer security settings for Windows Defender Firewall, it said "these settings are being managed by Avast Premium Security", but I did see that Windows Defender Firewall is on.   Last week, one of the recommendations for my problem was to uninstall Avast and see if that helped with the connection problems.  I did the uninstall and was still not able to connect the printer wirelessly through her computer.  At one time, my wife's computer was able to print wirelessly (a few months ago) and when we had problems, we always unplugged the printer and then plugged it back in and that seemed to resolve the printing issue.  We haven't made any changes to our Avast or Windows Defender settings that I can recall that could cause her printing problems.  As always, thanks so much for your valuable time.  I'll be out of the house until about 6 pm Colorado time and can check for any updates at that time. 

[Bob_Headrick]

Hmm...  OK, your Avast settings may be causing issues. The search here turns up a number of possible suggestions as well as these pages on the Avast site.   You might also add the printer's IP address as an exception to the scan as shown in this link.

Have you run the HP Print and Scan Doctor on your wife's computer?  It may be able to identify firewall issues that could be blocking . 

It is strange that ping fails 75% of the time rather than 100% or 0%.  Is your wife's computer close enough to the router to have a good signal?  You mentioned earlier that there were four SSID's visible, three on channel 11 and one on channel 1.  Is yours on channel 1?  If there are three other routers on the same channel this could be causing an issue.  If your router is on channel 11 I would suggest changing it to channel 6.  (The wifi channels cause interference with adjacent channels, only channels 1, 6 and 11 do not overlap.)

Some other things I have run across in a search for suggestions:

• Disable IPv6. You can do this by going to Control Panel, Network and Sharing Center, click on the connection, uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6), OK, close.
• Does your wife's computer have a VPN?  This can disrupt communication on the local network.

[Bob_Headrick]

One more thought - I am downloading the free Avast version to see if I can duplicate your issue.  When I started the install I noticed it defaulted to the Avast secure browser.  Is your wife using the Avast browser?  If so you might try IE or Edge and see if you can access the Printer's EWS (for your case this link).

[SkeeterB767]

Hi Bob, 

I've been going through your suggestions.  By unplugging and plugging in the printer (again), I was able to access EWS on my wife's computer using our set browser of Google Chrome.  Also, you were right about proximity to the router.  It is downstairs and our computers are upstairs.  I moved my wife's computer close to the router and the ping was immediately successful: 4 packets sent and received.  I have run Print and Scan Doctor many times and it has never given us a firewall problem message. I don't know how to determine what channel my router is on so will contact Xfinity/Comcast tomorrow for their help.  I tried doing the wireless setup through EWS on my wife's computer but it said communication  between the browser and the printer has been lost.  Have not disabled IPv6 yet.  When I do that, what do I do next? Try to connect wirelessly?