Hello and good day to you all, sorry for the long title,
Today I have a question about using a wireless printer, connecting it to the network by adding it to the print server then using the print server to connect the printer to the office it goes to.
I’m using an HP LaserJet Pro P1102w. Right now we’re testing it in the main office to make sure that using this printer will even work, and as of right now…. It’s a flop.
My boss and I are scratching our heads about it because, for all we can figure, it should work.
The IP address doesn’t conflict with anything, the subnet mask is in the right range, and hey, I even got the right gateway this time. We added the port to the print server, and added the printer to the print server. It can see the printer; the printer can see the network (as far as we can tell).
Where it stops is, when I designate it as my printer and try to print something, going through the print server, nothing happens. The print server shows that it received the document, that it’s printing the document, and that it printed. But the printer just sits there and blinks at us.
What we noticed, is that when we do print something using the print server as the medium, the ready light, the error light, and the wireless light all turn off for about 2 or 3 seconds, then they turn on again giving a blink code that HP says is the Initialization code and that the machine is just turning on, it’ll be ready in a minute.
Now for the confusing part.
So, to try and figure out the issue now, I added the printer locally, I didn’t add it to the computer through the print server. This time when I tried to print to it, everything worked just fine.
So, my reasoning, there must be a setting somewhere that is not letting it work. My boss and I think it could be driver related, but we’re using the same HP universal print driver that it recommended when I installed it in the beginning. We suspect the drivers could be out of date, but, it shows the same drivers both through the server, and through the local connection.
The reason why we can’t just use it as a local connection is that the nurses who will be using this printer all use thin client machines, and can only see and access printers as they show up from the print server. It’s how they were set up from before I got here. We would also like it to stay on the print server so it’ll be easier for people to find it.
Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions? Or has anyone had experience with wireless printers on a print server before?