Printer unable to get an IP address from EE Smart Router

[JamieDow]

Hi,

I'm trying to configure a Samsung printer (Xpress M2825ND) - wired (NOT wireless) - so that it will be given an IP address by the DCHP on the EE Smart Router. No matter what options I try, it doesn't seem to work. I've tried.

1. Setting the printer to Automatic assignment of IP via DCHP (both with and without "Auto IP" ticked).
2. Setting the printer to Manual assignment of IP - specifying an IP within the range assigned by the router, and I've tried with an IP outsider that range. I've always set the default gateway to 192.168.1.254, the address of the router.
3. I've attempted to set the router to fix the IP of the printer as some particular IP address matching the IP I've set at the printer end, but to no avail. The router doesn't seem to want to assign the printer anything other than weird things like 169.254.160.170 -- addresses that seem to come (somehow!) from the printer itself: the printer seems incapable of accepting an IP address it is assigned by the router.

Can anyone please help?

I've had some excellent tech brains on this (albeit those not specifically familiar with EE's router), and we've drawn a blank.

Cheers,

Jamie

[Mustrum]

@JamieDow  which router do you have?

Is it working OK and connecting to the internet?

You are not trying to use thw WAN port are you? Have you tried another LAN port?

Are any of your devices able to see the printer?

[JamieDow]

@Mustrum thanks for engaging!

Router doesn't give me any more useful information than "Smart Router". It's white ... I'll look on the back of it in case there's anything more useful.

I'm using a LAN port on the router.

That LAN port and cabling work for other devices (e.g. laptop).

Internet connection is fine. Router is in every other respect working beautifully.

No other devices can see the printer.

Thanks, Jamie

[Mustrum]

@JamieDow   OK, sounds like you have covered lots of possibilities..

On the settings on the first post, was that on the router or the printer?

Has the printer ever worked?

Going back to basics, have you tried a factory reset of the printer and router?

[JamieDow]

HI, @Mustrum ,

On my original post, under #1 and #2, where I said "Setting the printer to ...", I was talking about settings on the printer; and under #3 where I said, "...set the router to ...", I'm talking about using the Smart Router's web interface to adjust settings for the smart router.

The printer works. We can print from USB to it. It also shows up perfectly when I connect it directly (via an ethternet cable) to a laptop and adjust the laptop's IP / subnet settings to match the printer's. When I do that, in fact I get a whole load of notifications on my laptop that there is a new network printer available: this suggests that the printer is able to "talk" to the network perfectly, once it has an IP that is recognised by another device on that network. What I can't work out is how to set it so that it will do this with the Smart Router. The printer seems incapable of being allocated an IP by the router's DCHP. And the router is seemingly incapable of recognising a static IP set by the printer (and it seems to be impossible to set a static IP at the router).

Very frustrating.

There is no sign at all that either the router or the printer is malfunctioning (i.e. broken). The challenge is to configure them in some way so that they communicate in such a way as to settle an IP for the printer.  I just can't see any settings that will help us here.

The only thing I wondered about is somehow setting the printer's "domain". But what to? And why would that help?

Cheers, Jamie

[Mustrum]

@JamieDow   It sounds like your printer is too smart for its own good.

I suggest turning off DHCP and any other functions, and just let the router do IP allocation.

[JamieDow]

Yes. But that's what I've tried to do.
Printer offers me manual ip, or automatic.
Under automatic, I can choose BOOTP or DCHP.
With DCHP, I can select/unselect "Auto IP" but it doesn't work either way, as far as I can establish. I don't even know which of those options let's the router establish the IP (I've tended to assume that "Auto IP" means roughly: let the router determine the IP).


sent from my mobile device

[JamieDow]

Been away for a few days. I'm still stuck.

I'm trying all these options again. I just don't know what else to change - particularly on the printer interface to make it accept the IP that it is allocated by the router.

But equally, suppose I set an IP using the printer interface of something like 192.168.1.20 or 192.168.1.90 (either outside or within the router's set range of IPs to dish out) ... I don't understand why the router couldn't just accept that IP and use  it.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Jamie

[JamieDow]

I am able to access the printer (and print from it) if I plug an ethernet cable between it and my laptop, and set my laptop manually to an IP address in the same subnet, etc.. If I do this, then I can access the printers SyncThru control panel, but it is also noteworthy that ALL of the functionality that I want from the printer works for that laptop. In effect we have a tiny LAN between the printer and the laptop. The laptop respects the IP address from the printer, and the printer recognises the laptop as belonging to the same subnet.

Why will the router not play nicely with the printer when the two are connected?

The router doesn't seem to be capable of recognising the printer and allocating it an IP, despite being connected (and despite the printer's being sometimes semi-recognised by the router - it appears on a list of "My Devices", but with a weird IP address on a different subnet .... and none of the printing functionality works). And it doesn't even seem capable of recognising a fixed IP address specified manually at the printer end.

V frustrating.

[JamieDow]

Here's a new piece of information from an HP printer forum, in response to a query with some similarities to mine (though not exactly the same). It seems an important insight!
"If the IP Address [that the printer reports e.g. when you print off its "network configuration"] starts with 169.254, the printer is not obtaining a proper IP Address from your router. Contact your internet provider or whoever provided you with your router to determine why the router is not assigning proper IP Addresses."

This is EXACTLY what I get when I set the printer to accept an auto IP from the router. It just doesn't seem to find the router, and thus doesn't get allocated an IP properly. Its addresses starting 169.254 seem to be some kind of default subnet that it uses when it hasn't received an IP from the router.

When I set the printer to "Automatic" for DCHP, this is what happens. It doesn't allow me to specify a default gateway (I can do that when specifying an IP manually at the printer control interface -- but that then doesn't seem to be recognised by the router when I connect it back to the router).

I'm wondering whether I need to do a "factory reset" of the network settings, yet again, and (since this takes effect from reboot) while the printer is switched off, move it downstairs so that it is literally right next to the router and connect it by cable directly into the back of the router, so that the first thing it "sees" when it does its factory reset is the router.

Ridiculous procedure to be thinking of, but I've tried everything more sensible that anyone has suggested.