I have a super-simple network, everything is connected by wired Ethernet back to the Sky modem/router which, in turn, is the only router, the DHCP server, etc. No multi-tier routing or networking, nothing complicated at all.
For reasons I cannot fathom I am having a helluva time getting my HP laser printer to behave in a stable, reliable way with my Mac (at home in a fixed, wired environment). I have a hunch the issues link back to the problem that, whenever I run the HP software installer, it reaches a point where it tries to 'find' the printer on the network using the Apple network protocol Bonjour -- it always comes back saying Bonjour could not find the printer.
I have reserved all addresses on my network (in the Sky router's DHCP config) above x.y.z.200 and assigned the printer a fixed address so it's not an IP addressing issue.
To get the printer working, I can give the Mac the IP address and then point it to the driver, set it to the type of printer I think it is ("Jetdirect"), and it does work. Kind of. But it's slow, and sometimes I get data transmission errors which is insanity given the proximity and the simple network it's running on.
I'd like to be able to run the HP setup as intended which requires Bonjour to work but there's so little to it, I don't know why it doesn't... it's enabled by default on the Mac... there is one tickbox on the printer to enable it (which is ticked)... there really isn't anything else except the router itself not passing the traffic.
Any ideas?
Thank you.
