My Printer Stopped Working
March 12, 2019 6:15 AM Subscribe
About a year ago, we changed our ISP, and our printer has not worked correctly since then. Sometimes I can get it to work but not usually.
My printer is an HP OfficeJet Pro 8600. My Internet router is this. (Just realized it's a gateway, not a router. Not sure what that means.) We have other smart home devices on the network that work fine, and our phones/laptops also work fine.
A few months ago, I completely reset the printer and reinstalled it on my laptop. It worked once, maybe for a day, then stopped working.
Yesterday I was frustrated and almost bought a new printer. As a last ditch effort, I logged in to my ISP website and clicked the Refresh Device option. I turned the printer back on, and it worked by printing from my phone but not my laptop. Today nothing is working again. It took forever to refresh the router yesterday, so I'm not willing to do this every time I need to print.
First and foremost, I want to be able to print again, but I also would like to understand what's going awry on my network in case something like this happens again.
My printer is an HP OfficeJet Pro 8600. My Internet router is this. (Just realized it's a gateway, not a router. Not sure what that means.) We have other smart home devices on the network that work fine, and our phones/laptops also work fine.
A few months ago, I completely reset the printer and reinstalled it on my laptop. It worked once, maybe for a day, then stopped working.
Yesterday I was frustrated and almost bought a new printer. As a last ditch effort, I logged in to my ISP website and clicked the Refresh Device option. I turned the printer back on, and it worked by printing from my phone but not my laptop. Today nothing is working again. It took forever to refresh the router yesterday, so I'm not willing to do this every time I need to print.
First and foremost, I want to be able to print again, but I also would like to understand what's going awry on my network in case something like this happens again.
I have a similar printer - HP OfficeJet Pro 6968 - on Windows 10.
Do you have the HP Smart app installed? Maybe use the 'Set Up a New Printer' and see if this works?
posted by lungtaworld at 7:05 AM on March 12, 2019
Do you have the HP Smart app installed? Maybe use the 'Set Up a New Printer' and see if this works?
posted by lungtaworld at 7:05 AM on March 12, 2019
Best answer: I would guess that the printer is getting an IP address dynamically, and that when it changes your computer is losing track of it. The phone may be using another method to locate the printer (probably Bonjour, if it's an iPhone) and so doesn't lose it when the IP changes.
See if you can configure the printer with a static IP address, either through its interface or by assigning it one in your gateway's network configuration.
posted by implied_otter at 8:12 AM on March 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
See if you can configure the printer with a static IP address, either through its interface or by assigning it one in your gateway's network configuration.
posted by implied_otter at 8:12 AM on March 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I don't have the ability for the printer to be in the same room as the gateway, so it will need to be wireless.
I'm going to keep trying to get this printer to work at least for another year if I can because we use it so infrequently (usually 3-4 pages per month) that I would hate to spend all of that money for so little printing.
I removed the printer from my PC laptop and uninstalled all of the HP software then added it all back. The printer is printing again now.
Implied_Otter: I think you might be right because the printer works for a bit (usually until the next day or until I turn off the printer) then stops. If it's not working tomorrow, I'll see if I can poke around and find some settings to configure the IP.
Thanks all!
posted by allison00 at 9:33 AM on March 12, 2019
I'm going to keep trying to get this printer to work at least for another year if I can because we use it so infrequently (usually 3-4 pages per month) that I would hate to spend all of that money for so little printing.
I removed the printer from my PC laptop and uninstalled all of the HP software then added it all back. The printer is printing again now.
Implied_Otter: I think you might be right because the printer works for a bit (usually until the next day or until I turn off the printer) then stops. If it's not working tomorrow, I'll see if I can poke around and find some settings to configure the IP.
Thanks all!
posted by allison00 at 9:33 AM on March 12, 2019
Response by poster: @Aleyn: Yes, my laptop is in the same room with the printer, and I don’t have any trouble with it.
posted by allison00 at 8:43 PM on March 12, 2019
posted by allison00 at 8:43 PM on March 12, 2019
Response by poster: Update: This morning, my printer no longer worked.
I went into the Network Settings on the printer touch screen and chose Static IP address. It was previously set to Dynamic. It immediately started working. I hope this fix will stick.
posted by allison00 at 5:38 AM on March 13, 2019
I went into the Network Settings on the printer touch screen and chose Static IP address. It was previously set to Dynamic. It immediately started working. I hope this fix will stick.
posted by allison00 at 5:38 AM on March 13, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
If they are, try that, because I've had finicky wireless on those printers before.
Also (if you're using Windows as the OS for your computer), in the start menu, in the HP or HP OfficeJet 8600 folder, there's a shortcut a lot of times that says Update Printer IP address or something similar. Next time before you need to print, open that utility and run it through to see if that's the problem where the IP address has changed. You'll need to run it if you can hook up the printer as above, for certain.
Past that, it might be time for a printer. It's 7 years old. Wirecutter suggests this one as a replacement.
posted by deezil at 6:59 AM on March 12, 2019