Can't connect printers to wifi

[Jo-Jo70]

@Crad100 I've no idea what any of that means?

[clay0001]

Hi I have the same problem.

My printer (Kodak Office Hero 6.1) used to be connected to my Sky router (ER110) but now for somereason it will not connect. Have tried manual setup and WPS. Have also tried unsyncronising the the wifi bands.

My Printer sees the hub and its mac address but will not connect, have tried on both bands ( syncd and unsynced).

Have done the obvious, power cycled both the router and printer and am at a loss as to the cause.

[cookiemonsteruk]

@clay0001 

When you unsynched the wifi did you rename 5ghz

- Log onto router and go to wifi
- Go to 5ghz band and untick synchronise 2.4ghz and 5ghz
- Go to 5ghz ssid and add -5g at the end
- Save
- Go to individual devices and assign wifi band accordingly

[clay0001]

@cookiemonsteruk  No I didn't, I will try, many thanks, will let you lnow

[cookiemonsteruk]

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@clay0001 wrote:

@cookiemonsteruk  No I didn't, I will try, many thanks, will let you lnow

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@clay0001 

Although unsynchronised they have the same ssid. Follow the steps above to rename the 5ghz wifi.

[clay0001]

Still not connecting, both bands un synced and renamed. Tried to connect on both as they both show up on the printer. Only thing i can think of is reset router to factory settings . 

[Mike0W]

HP printer, new Sky broadband router - Not connecting with WPS

This was resolved by logging into the router's admin page, going to the WiFi setup,

and changing the WPA setting to "WPA mixed-mode" from the default of "WPA2-only".

This was probably due to the older printer not supporting the newer WPA2-only mode.

Steps:

* power off then unplug printer, wait a minute

* log in to Sky router admin page, on 192.168.0.1 using "admin" and password on back of router

* change to Wifi settings page

* scroll down to Settings of WPA mode, set WPA mixed mode

* click Apply

* power on printer, enter WPS setup mode, Start

* press WPS button on Sky router

* printer reports "Connected"

[jamesn123]

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@Mike0W wrote:

HP printer, new Sky broadband router - Not connecting with WPS

This was resolved by logging into the router's admin page, going to the WiFi setup,

and changing the WPA setting to "WPA mixed-mode" from the default of "WPA2-only".

This was probably due to the older printer not supporting the newer WPA2-only mode.

Steps:

* power off then unplug printer, wait a minute

* log in to Sky router admin page, on 192.168.0.1 using "admin" and password on back of router

* change to Wifi settings page

* scroll down to Settings of WPA mode, set WPA mixed mode

* click Apply

* power on printer, enter WPS setup mode, Start

* press WPS button on Sky router

* printer reports "Connected"

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This exposes your Sky hub to a weak security protocol that is known to have been broken. Doing this is just asking for someone to break into your WiFi network, I would not advise anyone to do this. 

[Mike0W]

However, that standard is still WPA and not WEP.

If the printer will not connect on WPS using WPA2-PSK, then their only option to use the printer, is to use the WPA/WPA2-PSK mode.

Most people will not have this issue in any case.

[jamesn123]

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@Mike0W wrote:

However, that standard is still WPA and not WEP.

If the printer will not connect on WPS using WPA2-PSK, then their only option to use the printer, is to use the WPA/WPA2-PSK mode.

Most people will not have this issue in any case.

---

WPA only lightly improves on WEP and still has massive security flaws compared to WPA2 & WPA3. There is no valid reason to be using WPA in 2022. If your device wont authenticate using WPA2 then you should be getting a new one or using cable only. 

[Mike0W]

Once the printer is connected, it should be set to request a firmware update, after which it might support the more recent protocol.

[jamesn123]

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@Mike0W wrote:

Once the printer is connected, it should be set to request a firmware update, after which it might support the more recent protocol.

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Again, no mention of this in your original post and no context given to users who might have no idea what they are doing. Allowing a weak and broken security protocol on the off chance your 5,10,15,20 year old printer might have a firmware update isnt advised and it should be checked with the manufacturer first or use a USB cable.

[marsha101]

Hi, I tried this printer still didnt connect, but once i leave the router open, i can see the printer connected.  put back to WPA mixed mode it disapears again.  is there any work around for this?  I dont want to leave my router that anyone can use my wifi without password.

Printer is a brother HL-1210w.  Thanks.

[jamesn123]

Hi @marsha101 

That printer should work fine. Have you tried using WPS to connect it or the brother software

[marsha101]

I can only connect to my printer in this way when the need for a password to sign in to router is disabled.   I can then use my printer,  but once I enable password again the printer disconnects altogether and is no longer viable on the router.