printer communication problem

Question

my computer says that my printer is off but it is on. it is wireless. Last time i found a window by accident that said reset ip address, so i did and it worked, but i can't find it again. Can you help?

Answer 1

It would have been better if you had provided the exact text of the error message.  Typically, the problem with wireless printers and IP addresses doesn't produce an error as you describe.  Rather, the job appears to print but nothing happens at the printer.

A wireless printer typically is connected on your "local network" and that local network is managed by your wireless router (which you may think of as your "modem").  Each device on the local network has an "IP address" so that other network devices can find and communicate with it.

Most wireless printers are configured by default to have their IP address automatically assigned by your router.  When you first install the printer, the router assigns it an IP address, then your computer "discovers" the printer at that IP address, and then the Windows printing system is configured to send print jobs to that IP address.

If for any reason (and there can be several), the router assigns a different IP address to the printer, print jobs sent by your computer to the printer's old IP address never get to the printer.

Resetting your computer's IP address (which is what the link suggested to you does), will have absolutely no effect on the above problem.

If following the instructions at that link do not help, please post back with the following information:

1.  The complete text of the error message, if any, that you receive when you try to print.

2.  The IP address assigned to your printer.  You can determine this by using the printer's front panel controls.  The process you need to follow will be described in your printer's User Guide.  If you can't figure it out, provide the make and specific model of your printer.

3.  The IP address that your computer is configured to use for the printer.  You can determine this as follows:

• Go go Devices and Printers, right-click on the icon for your printer, and select "Printer properties"
• Select the "Ports" tab
• Report the value in the "Port" column for the line that is highlighted and checked.  You may have to click and drag on the faint vertical line in the header row of that table between "Port" and "Description" in order to see the full width of the "Port" column

4.  Your computer's IP information.  You can determine this as follows:

• Open a Command Prompt window by clicking Start, typing cmd.exe in the Search box, and pressing Enter
• type the following in the black Command Prompt window and press Enter after each line

   ipconfig /all > "%userprofile%\Desktop\ipinfo.txt"

      notepad "%userprofile%\Desktop\ipinfo.txt"

      exit

• In the open Notepad window, click Edit > Select All (or press CTRL+A) then click Edit > Copy (or press Ctrl+C)
• In the body of your Reply here, Right-click > Paste (or press CTRL+V) the data from the Notepad window
• Close Notepad and delete ipinfo.txt from your Desktop

Answer 2

Hi Michael,

Releasing and renewing IP address is a technical procedure whereas the system will reset the IP provided by the ISP device. In order to perform this, we suggest checking sohailkhan's post on this thread. The post contains steps on how to reset and renew your computer's IP address.

If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Answer 3

Hi Michael,

IP address is a unique string of numbers separated by periods that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network. To address your concern, it would be best to contact your Internet Service Provider who can walk you through resetting your IP address.

If you have other queries, feel free to ask us.