Samsung M2070 loses WiFi connection

hjbreese · ‎05-29-2018

I have had this problem ever since my printer was brand new. Samsung was never able to figure out why this happens. In a nutshell, if I don't print every day, my printer will lose it's WiFi connection to my router. It can "sleep" for an undetermined amount of time, and then wake when a document is sent to be printed, but if the time period between print jobs exceeds about one day, the WiFi connection between the router and the printer is lost. I am using TCPIP IPv4.

If I power the printer off and back on, the connection will re-establish and any print jobs that were pending will print. Unfortunately, there is no wired Ethernet port on the printer, or I would connect it with an Ethernet cable. The printer is only about 10 feet from the router. I have had the same problem using 3 different manufacturer's routers.

The printer has the latest firmware update installed, and is less than 20 feet from my router. This issue existed in our old house where the printer and router were in the same room. The current location configuration is there is an adjoining wall between the router and printer. There are no other electronic devices except for a computer in the same room as the printer. In the router room, there are no other electronics except for the router.

I have the printer configured to use a static IP address, and the router has a static IP address reserved for the printer, so I know this is not a DHCP lease error.

If the connection is lost, and I manually wake up the printer, the blue WiFi LED on the printer panel will be lit, but there is still no connection to my WiFi. When the printer is in this state, I can't ping the printer from any PC on my LAN.

I have verified that no other device on my network is assigned the same IP address as the printer.

In the SyncThru interface, WiFi Settings > Custom > Power Save is "Off". I assume this is a setting that is supposed to keep the WiFi hardware "awake"?

When the printer is connected and printing .. the SyncThru Link Quality shows to be excellent. I don't know if it is possible to check this when the connection to the network is broken?

I suspect there is some issue with either the WiFi hardware in the printer, or the firmware allowing the WiFi hardware to sleep and not wake up when a new print job is sent. I have had the printer for a few years now, so I know it is no longer under warranty.

sabretooth04 · ‎05-30-2018

You said you have a static IP set for the printer, let's verify.

What is the starting DHCP address in your router?

What is the ending DHCP address in the router?

What is the static IP address set in the printer?

Make and model of router?

hjbreese · ‎05-30-2018

@sabretooth04 wrote:
You said you have a static IP set for the printer, let's verify.

What is the starting DHCP address in your router?
What is the ending DHCP address in the router?
What is the static IP address set in the printer?

Make and model of router?

Thanks for your response.

Make and model - Pace 5268AC. It's an AT&T router.

The DHCP is set up using AT&T standard configuration:

Starting DHCP - 192.168.1.0
Ending DHCP - 192.168.1.253
Static IP for the printer is 192.168.1.69

In the router setup, the IP address 192.169.1.69 is set to be reserved as a static IP.

Here is a copy/paste of the printer's information in the router's connected device table:

Current Address 192.168.1.69

Device Status Connected Static IP

sabretooth04 · ‎05-30-2018

OK, sorry that is not a static IP in the router. Static IP have to be outside the DHCP window of the router. As you can see that is inside. This is against simple networking 101 rules and confuses the router. Try here...

These settings are for setting up your wireless or wired printers to:

* Stay connected to your router
* Fix printer ‘offline’ status
* Wake from sleep mode
* Speed up wireless printing

While DHCP is convenient, devices such as printers (wired and wireless) should always be assigned a static (fixed) IP address manually to avoid conflicts on your wireless network and MUST be outside the DHCP address range of the router. This is because printers are the only external devices that do not have the ability to automatically interrupt the router for a new DHCP address once the least time expires. Again, do not have the printers static IP within the DHCP range of the router as this is against Networking 101 rules and will confuse the router. Make things simple – In the router, set starting DHCP address range 192.168.1.100 (or 192.168.0.100). Ending DHCP address range 192.168.1.150 (or 192.168.0.150). Set Printer Static IP to 192.168.1.10 (or 192.168.0.10).

After setting the static IP, the computer(s) must be updated under Printer Properties/Ports to show a Standard TCP/IP port with the printers’ new static IP address.

1. Set a static IP in the printer outside the DHCP range of the router (check your manual). This Static IP is important as DHCP IP addresses will change upon different power up sequences of your devices. You always want your printer to come up with the same IP address all the time. See how to do this here:

http://www.watchingthenet.com/linksys-tip-assign-static-ip-address-to-printer-while-using-dhcp-on-yo...

This is for Linksys routers but can be used for all routers. Verify your DHCP range and change this first if needed. Then after setting the static IP in the printer, the computer(s) must be updated under Printer Properties/Ports to show a Standard TCP/IP port with the printers IP address.

To see why this problem exists and how to fix it, watch this video here for Windows. Scroll down for MAC information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEqvUKxWmq4

How to set a Standard TCP/IP port. This is important.

a). Click Start/Devices and Printers. Right click on your Printer. Select Printer Properties. Select the Ports tab at the top.

b). Select Add Port. Select Standard TCP/IP Port. Select New Port.

c). Follow the Add Port Wizard. Under Printer Name or IP Address, input the Static IP address you just set from the above information. Example: 168.1.15. The IP address will be copied under Port Name. This is OK to leave this alone or you can put in your Printer Model.

d). Select Next and Finish the Wizard.

If you create a TCP/IP port without a static IP above, you may lose your TCP/IP connection and have the same issue. This is because your network has powered up differently giving you a different DHCP address to the printer that does not match the TCP/IP address above. This could occur at anytime just like the video shows.

For MAC PCs perform the above Static IP setting in the router and then watch here on how to perform your IP setting for MAC computers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5tNFjEBDOw

By performing the above, the printers Embedded Web Server (EWS) will now work all the time by going to your Printers Static IP address in your browser.

2. Wireless connection only, turn off the Wired LAN in the printer.

a). Login to your printers EWS from a web browser using your Static IP in the address bar.

b). Go to the menu item Network at the top.

c). On the side menu expand WIRED network settings.

d). Click on advanced.

e). Set the Network Interface to off.

3. Verify in the printer that 'Auto Off/Sleep/Energy Saving Mode' is disabled and/or the System Mode Time Out is set to zero (0) if your printer supports this. Use the Embedded Web Server (EWS), if this is a HP printer, by going to the printers IP address in your browsers address bar, click Settings Tab/Auto Off, or use the Printer Assistant, Printer Home Page (EWS). Also check your Printer Properties. This feature is automatically disabled when the printer is connected to a computer or mobile device, a network, or a fax line (if supported). However, you may not find this setting.

4. If the printer supports and has IPv6 enabled, disable IPv6 in the printer.

5. Make sure printer is plugged directly into a wall outlet and not into a UPS, power strip or surge protector. This may cause the printer to intermittently drop offline and disconnect.

6. Make sure your printer and router are at least 5 feet apart from each other.

7. Check your printers web site for your printer to see if there is a Firmware Upgrade that affects the wireless operation. If yes, update the firmware via USB cable only. Never wireless.

Additional steps to be taken if you continue to have the problem (if they are posted)…

IvanTech · ‎05-30-2018

What I usually do is:

• Through the Easy Printer Manager i clear network settings and make sure that the wifi direct is off.

From the sync through web service ( you go in here by typing in the IP of your printer on a browser) you go to:

Network settings> IPV4 options and change the IP from automatic to manually.

I am an HP employee

hjbreese · ‎06-01-2018

Thanks for your response. I replied to your suggestion 2 days ago, but for some reason it did not post. So, I am going to post my reply again and also add my latest results to the end of this response.

Before implementing any changes, just for GP, I reset the printer back to factory default settings, and removed all printer software from all PC's.

Based on your suggestions, here is a list of things I preformed:

I set up a smaller DHCP range on the router.
I restarted the router.
I restarted all network devices connected to the network so they would be assigned new IP addresses from the new DHCP pool.
I assigned the printer to an address in the newly created static IP range outside of the DHCP pool.
I left sleep mode turned on, but disabled power off mode in the printer EWS.
I installed the latest printer/scanner drivers on the PC's from the HP website.
I verified that the printer port assigned to the newly installed printer in Windows is set to the IPv4 static IP address.
I reconfigured cloud printing.

Here is a list of your suggestions I did not do (I am assuming you suggested these things more as diagnostic steps than permanent solutions?):

Disable IPv6 (why do this? IPv4 and IPv6 should be able to play nice.)
Turn off WiFi direct printing (why do this? This should be able to play nice with IPv4 and IPv6.)
Plugging the power directly into a wall outlet (Not possible due to other devices in the area requiring plugging directly into the wall.)

Here is a list of things I had already described in the OP:

Made sure the firmware in the printer is the most current firmware available.
Described there is no wired port available, only WiFi.
The router is at least 10 feet away from the printer.

While you did not speak to this, I also left NFC enabled.

My finding so far:

The printer has not had any print jobs sent to in in two days now. I just now verified that I can still ping the printer successfully even though the printer has been asleep for two days. In the past, when the printer would be offline, I could not ping the printer until I would power cycle the printer. I was able to successsfully print a document. So, it appears, "So far, so good."

Thanks for your suggestions.

hjbreese · ‎06-20-2018

Update ... everything is still working perfectly. I did not have to turn off IPv6, NFC, or Direct Network.

Wrecclesham · ‎04-16-2019

Sabretooth04,

With the greatest respect, you don't know what you're talking about. You also pontificate on IT matters in a way that sounds like you know what you're talking about (to a non-techy), but most of what you say is WRONG!!!! You like to throw IT jargon around, but you use terms incorrectly and don't know what some basic terms mean. I'll get to that in a minute.

I made my HP account just to dispell all the misinformation you're writing here. That's how bad it is. My goodness!

First off:

PLEASE learn what a reserved IP address is.

The OP clearly stated the following:

"In the router setup, the IP address 192.169.1.69 is set to be reserved as a static IP."

The OP clearly stated "IN THE ROUTER", an IP address was RESERVED as a STATIC IP.

Read what people say. Properly. Take time to Google things you don't understand.

It seems that you don't know that reserved IP addresses on a router even exist. Your "advice" to the OP, that he had to change his network settings (he didn't) was factually incorrect and misleading.

Please note that you can EITHER set a static IP on a device (in which case it needs to be outside the DHCP scope of the router, as you said multiple times)...

...OR you can go into a router's web interface, and tell it to RESERVE a particular IP for a particuar device. The device technically receives its IP address via the DHCP protocol, BUT it actually always keeps one IP. It uses the DHCP protocol but its address isn't dynamic. It won't actually change. When using a "reserved" IP address, in the device's network settings, you would see "DHCP", not "Static", HOWEVER in the router admin console, you would see "Reserved", instead of "DHCP".

To illustrate my point, here is a screenshot of my own router's web interface. As you can see, some devices on our home network have "reserved" addresses; others are listed as "DHCP". The DHCP addresses are subject to change, whereas the "reserved" addresses DO NOT change. My reserved-address devices are a WiFi printer, a NAS (Network-Attached Storage device), and the third is my cell phone, which I connect to from my PC's web browser in order to pull my cell phone's photos to my PC across the network, using an amazing Android app called Sweech:

Your rather lengthy post, which preaches about "Networking 101" shows that you actually need to brush up on your own "Networking 101" knowledge, as you apparently have no idea that it's possible to reserve an IP address for a device on the router. How do you not know this by now?

The OP already effectively had a static IP. He did NOT need to change anything.

Again, a reserved IP does not change. It's a static IP that's simply assigned at the router, instead of at the device. The OP had told his router to force this particular printer (uniquely identified by its MAC address), to keep using 192.168.1.69.

A reserved IP is SUPPOSED to be INSIDE the DHCP scope. The IP is still being assigned by the router to a device using the DHCP protocol, so it MUST be inside the DHCP scope.

Please learn first, then TEACH!

Learn the basic difference between a static IP and a reserved IP. Stop telling people about "Networking 101" as if you're some sort of guru, when you still have much to learn about the BASICS of networking yourself. It's not my intention to come across as discourteous, but there is more wrong with your post than right, and someone needs to point this out.

Here are some resources so you can fill some gaps in your Networking 101 knowledge:

Static IP vs DHCP Reservation

https://serverfault(dot)com/questions/544619/static-ip-vs-dhcp-reservation

Static IP addressing is recommended in most access point deployments, is it okay if I set my access point to obtain IP address and reserve it on the router setting?

One can also use the DHCP service for "Reservations", where a client device is always assigned the same static IP address. This is typically used for printers or other devices that may not support being programmed with a static IP address, but a static IP address for the device is desired for monitoring or access.

https://helpcenter.engeniustech.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004072868-Static-IP-addressing-is-recommend...

Address reservation is one of the methods used for a PC to have a static (unchanging) IP address, so essentially the answer to your question would be "yes". The PC still receives its address via DHCP, but it will always be assigned the same address from the router.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/static-ip-vs-reserved-ip.3086357/

Sorry for coming across as snarky, but I had to create an account just to set the record straight on this, as you are spreading your own confusion on the forums, and it's only confusing other people.

Also, another problem:

"This is because printers are the only external devices that do not have the ability to automatically interrupt the router for a new DHCP address once the least time expires"

You're just making things up as you go along here.

1) Firstly, "Interrupt" a router for a DHCP address? Absolute nonsense. You mean REQUEST the router for a new DHCP addres. This isn't even IT knowledge, it's just being able to use English properly. You confuse people when you use the wrong word. Please don't do it!

2) Don't refer to a printer as an "external device". It's a NETWORK device, not an "external" device. "External device" is a vague and utterly meaningless term in this context. Is a USB printer an external device, or just a network printer? Use the CORRECT terms please.

3) Most importantly, printers are the only external devices that do not have the ability to automatically interrupt the router for a new DHCP address once the least time expires this is 100%, ABSOLUTE, TOTAL NONSENSE.

The typical lease time for a DHCP address is 7 days, with all devices attempting to renew their IP address half way through the lease (so every 3.5 days, for something which is always on the network). You have no CLUE about any network fundamentals. This is a false statement. Network printers renew their IP address half way through their DHCP lease time, just like any other DHCP client on the network.

It's still recommended to use a static (or reserved) IP address, I agree, but don't make up fictitious reasons, such as claiming that every printer in the world will lose its network connection because it can't renew its DHCP lease. I've never heard such nonsense before and I have two network printers using DHCP at home right now (both with reserved addresses at the router), not to mention I support literally hundreds of network printers at work.

Every network printer since the 1980's has been able to renew its DHCP lease. I've never heard of ANY device, printer or otherwise, which "can't ever renew a DHCIP address!" Please, for the love of God, stop making things up as you go along. People who work in IT for a living see straight through it.

Source: I am a network engineer.

hjbreese · ‎04-16-2019

Update ... everything is still working perfectly.

Wrecclesham · ‎04-16-2019

That's great news.

For anyone else coming here looking for help, please note that the only step that could have made any difference to the low-level connectivity problem (failure to ping) was the following, so I believe this is what fixed it:

disabled power off mode in the printer EWS

Updating the printer drivers is irrelevant as you can ping a network printer without having its drivers installed at all, let alone out-of-date ones.

"I verified that the printer port assigned to the newly installed printer in Windows is set to the IPv4 static IP address."

This is 100% irrelevant as well. You don't need to install a printer to be able to ping it by its IP address. There is no way these steps could help. Most of these steps are trying to solve a problem that didn't exist. The person who suggested them failed to realize that a reserved IP address is effectively a static IP address already, so there was zero possibility of an IP address conflict to begin with. He was attempting to solve a problem that did not exist.

Just to reiterate my earlier point, changing a printer, or any device on a LAN from a reserved address inside a DHCP scope (set at the router) to a static IP outside a DHCP scope (set on the device) makes ZERO difference.

Nothing!

The whole point of a reserved address is that it is just that: reserved. It stays the same forever (until you remove the reservation from the router).

Even if someone were to have a static IP inside a DHCP scope, it wouldn't "confuse the router". It would eventually cause an IP conflict, as the router would inadvertently give the same IP address to another device, causing BOTH devices to lose connectivity. I've seen it happen. The router wouldn't be confused, or even aware of the conflict.

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