Well, my old monochrome laser has taken a powder on the WiFi = new laser printer time?

[Box Brownie]

A couple of days ago I found that I could no longer print to the HP P1102W printer.

Now, it has always been on the home network via WiFi and seems the WiFi in the printer, though the blue light flashes as in seeking or making the connection, has failed.

It is no longer seen by the router (I rebooted the router in case there was a glitch) what little details I could find for resetting the printer has not helped.

FWIW and for clarity, before I rebooted the router, I tried & checked the settings on the PC (also on WiFi) in case it was a driver and/or port issue and tried again via this phone (also on WiFi) so it is not a PC or other device issue.

In general, if a device like the printer is sending out it's WiFi 'i am here' so to speak, I can see the device in the router GUI but the printer is now AWOL hence the conclusion of a failure

I have had the printer for something over 12 years and I status page report tells >50,000 pages printed in that time. It cost £90 so have had my monies worth from it including printing narrow card

I cannot recall if it even has USB connection but even if it has, we need it on the network as we both print to it and the inkjet as needed.

So, if/when I replace with another mono laser.....I need one that can handle >210gsm card A5 sized card and last time I looked there did not seem to be many that handled card...... Brother was one IIRC that did list card.

TIA for any suggestions and ideally under £200 would be great

 

[Snapsh0t]

It almost certainly will have USB so you could connect it to one PC and share it for the other to access. The only downside being that the PC with the printer needs to be on for it to be accessible.

>210gsm card is a pretty tough demand for a home printer. My Epson ink tank printer won't manage it even with a straight feed.

 

[Box Brownie]

It almost certainly will have USB so you could connect it to one PC and share it for the other to access. The only downside being that the PC with the printer needs to be on for it to be accessible.

>210gsm card is a pretty tough demand for a home printer. My Epson ink tank printer won't manage it even with a straight feed.

Thanks for the reply.

Personally I don't like shares on a PC plus in the case above trailing cables are unwelcome.

Re: the card weight......it has been a while since I looked into it and will check again the weight I bought. I know for sure the P1102W won't take A5 but did cope with a narrow strip, I think it was 80mm wide

The Brother I mentioned finding has a rear single feed path for the thicker weight card.

Edit ~ the A5 card I bought is 250gsm......!
I naively thought it would be okay but clearly not once

Moving forward I will have to buy a lower weight closer to what the new printer can handle reliably and longer term.

 

[sphexx]

Thanks for the reply.

Personally I don't like shares on a PC plus in the case above trailing cables are unwelcome.

Re: the card weight......it has been a while since I looked into it and will check again the weight I bought. I know for sure the P1102W won't take A5 but did cope with a narrow strip, I think it was 80mm wide

The Brother I mentioned finding has a rear single feed path for the thicker weight card.

Edit ~ the A5 card I bought is 250gsm......!
I naively thought it would be okay but clearly not once

Moving forward I will have to buy a lower weight closer to what the new printer can handle reliably and longer term.

I have a Brother mono laser probably 10 years old and has worked well over WiFi (Apple AirPrint) but it is a pain to set up if you change iso or password etc and the display doesn’t help by being dim. It does have a single feed slot at the back which I have used for caed but can’t comment on the weight.

Not much help really except to say it’s been reliable. There aren’t so many makes around, my previous one was a Samsung with refillable cartridges and I would have bought again but they gave up making laser printers.

 

[ecoleman]

The wifi boards on these printers are more often than not separate boards. May be worth opening up the printer and looking for the part number. May be able to source a part on eBay.

The board should be easily identifiable as it will have a one or more antenna wires connected.

 

[sphexx]

It almost certainly will have USB so you could connect it to one PC and share it for the other to access. The only downside being that the PC with the printer needs to be on for it to be accessible.

>210gsm card is a pretty tough demand for a home printer. My Epson ink tank printer won't manage it even with a straight feed.

I guess the OP has a Windows PC but it’s a big frustration that you can’t do as you suggest if you want print from an iPad /iPhone to a Mac USB shared printer and can only use AirPrint assuming it’s built into the printer unless using 3rd party software or extra hardware. It’s obscure why Apple doesn’t allow this!

 

[Box Brownie]

I have a Brother mono laser probably 10 years old and has worked well over WiFi (Apple AirPrint) but it is a pain to set up if you change iso or password etc and the display doesn’t help by being dim. It does have a single feed slot at the back which I have used for caed but can’t comment on the weight.

Not much help really except to say it’s been reliable. There aren’t so many makes around, my previous one was a Samsung with refillable cartridges and I would have bought again but they gave up making laser printers.

Good to know that Brother lasers are reliable and long lived

As for Air Print I am glad that does not affect me on PC. The number of threads on various fora I have read that criticise Air Print as being oh so troublesome.

The wifi boards on these printers are more often than not separate boards. May be worth opening up the printer and looking for the part number. May be able to source a part on eBay.

The board should be easily identifiable as it will have a one or more antenna wires connected.

An interesting suggestion.....more Googling required

I guess the OP has a Windows PC but it’s a big frustration that you can’t do as you suggest if you want print from an iPad /iPhone to a Mac USB shared printer and can only use AirPrint assuming it’s built into the printer unless using 3rd party software or extra hardware. It’s obscure why Apple doesn’t allow this!

Yes, PC here

 

[Box Brownie]

@ecoleman

I have done some digging and found a guide to disassembly and indications of the WiFi board identity.

So far, other that AliExpress new part but horrendous delivery charge, only one on eBay as used part and no way to be sure it is working!

 

[sphexx]

As for Air Print I am glad that does not affect me on PC. The number of threads on various fora I have read that criticise Air Print as being oh so troublesome.

Actually I have no problem with airprint and fid it works perfect at the iPadOS end and the printer works with well. My only problem is entering the WiFi hubs details into the printer which is down to Brother and the current models *could* be brilliantly easy for all I know

 

[Box Brownie]

I have an update......

The one thing I had not tried was a complete uninstall of the printer from my PC and reinstall as appropriate as a wireless connection only.

Well, that worked AOK as in it made the connection was re-established via the router i.e. the router 'knew' is was there again and vice versa the printer 'knew' it was now connected.

I can print again from my phone.....just need to ensure the the OH's iPad and laptop can indeed do the same.....though as now 'available' again on the network I would think no more issues

I still no idea why the printer lost connection in the first place but it lives another day before it becomes WEE waste ~ phew!

 

[Faldrax]

Just to add another recommendation for Brother if someone is looking for a home B&W laser printer, ours is probably 5+ years old, and gets a fair bit of use.
I'd also agree that it appears printer manufacturers go out of their way to make WiFi setup as painful as possible - we've also got an Epson Ecotank colour printer, and it was truly awful when it came to getting it online - the seem to assume everyone will have a WiFi Password such as "123", as that's about the limit before you start to hate the abysmal interface they provide!

 

[sphexx]

Just to add another recommendation for Brother if someone is looking for a home B&W laser printer, ours is probably 5+ years old, and gets a fair bit of use.
I'd also agree that it appears printer manufacturers go out of their way to make WiFi setup as painful as possible - we've also got an Epson Ecotank colour printer, and it was truly awful when it came to getting it online - the seem to assume everyone will have a WiFi Password such as "123", as that's about the limit before you start to hate the abysmal interface they provide!

I see they want to avoid the cost of putting a keypad in but I would have thought (no tech knowledge!) that it should be possible to set the WiFi up via the USB and then disconnect the cable if not wanted.

 

[Faldrax]

I see they want to avoid the cost of putting a keypad in but I would have thought (no tech knowledge!) that it should be possible to set the WiFi up via the USB and then disconnect the cable if not wanted.

Yes, they could either allow a setup over USB, or they could use WPS - where the device sends out a request, you then press a button on your Router, and the two devices then exchange all the required info. The same applies to a mass of electronic devices - they cut corners on things they hope no-one will find out about until after they've bought it.

 

[Sangoma]

I see they want to avoid the cost of putting a keypad in but I would have thought (no tech knowledge!) that it should be possible to set the WiFi up via the USB and then disconnect the cable if not wanted.

Most devices now you can set up over wifi using factory defaults, then log in again with the new details after changing them.

 

[Box Brownie]

I see they want to avoid the cost of putting a keypad in but I would have thought (no tech knowledge!) that it should be possible to set the WiFi up via the USB and then disconnect the cable if not wanted.

That is the exact method used by HP.....

As for @Faldrax experience with his Epson Ecotank, all I can say was that I don't recall my ET-8550 being too hard to setup directly on WiFi not using WPS but manually.

PS the one thing IIRC as found this before.....as I use Mac filtering I set that in the Router GUI beforehand (all devices either have the Mac address on a label i.e. the ET-8550 of in the device settings like the Android phone or iPad).

 

[sphexx]

or they could use WPS

Yes, though my current router (Three’s 5g home broadband) doesn’t have WPS I think (certainly not a button) and I don’t think the Brother will do it that way either as I wouldn’t have bothered with the tedious system.

I’m not clear how it works but my security camera for example seem to broadcast their own WiFi at setup which you connect to via a phone and enter your details via thei app. I presume printer could do it the same way

 

[sphexx]

That is the exact method used by HP.....

As for @Faldrax experience with his Epson Ecotank, all I can say was that I don't recall my ET-8550 being too hard to setup directly on WiFi not using WPS but manually.

PS the one thing IIRC as found this before.....as I use Mac filtering I set that in the Router GUI beforehand (all devices either have the Mac address on a label i.e. the ET-8550 of in the device settings like the Android phone or iPad).

I think that’s MAC address not Mac . I’ve never managed to use those.

 

[Box Brownie]

I think that’s MAC address not Mac . I’ve never managed to use those.

Yes, I am sure you are right......MAC address filtering

It is not considered to be particularly robust as IIRC the MAC address can be spoofed but I see it as an available extra layer of security is always useful. The GUI on this current router and the two previous (over some years) ones has been quite straightforward to configure.