Mac to HP, Hello?
Mac to HP, Hello? a reader asks…
Hi Chris, I have a 2011 Macbook Pro with OS X Mavericks and an HP Officejet 6700 all-in-one inkjet printer. I installed the HP software on the Mac. Up until a week ago, everything worked reasonably well, I was able to print (but not scan) from the Mac. I also have a Windows PC that was able to print and scan. After coming back from a weekend away, I found that my Mac couldn’t print or scan, and that my PC won’t scan anymore (but will print). After playing around with it for awhile, I’ve found that I can both print and scan from both computers, but only for the first few minutes after turning on the HP printer. After about 5 minutes, everything stops working right anymore. My Mac shows a communication error with the scanner, and/or the printer is not connected. Everything is wireless, connecting to my almost-new XFinity router, and everything else works just fine. I’ve tried all the things I can including removing and replacing the HP software, using the Mac without HP software, and even running the Disk Utility First Aid on my Mac. What do you think is the problem?
Based on your excellent and detailed description of the problem, enough clues point to the probability that your HP printer is malfunctioning. I say this because you have two different computers that are having trouble communicating with the printer, and everything else is working ok (so likely not a router going bad). The other informative clue is that restarting the printer fixes the problem, but only for a short while. That points to a potential problem with the printer’s memory, firmware or other internal electronics.
HP is notorious for neglecting to update software and firmware on their older products, and for using the cheapest electronics in their low and mid-level printers. I would hazard a guess that the printer’s communications problems can be traced to the internal electronics, and either in the wireless networking or in the main printer processing parts. These are really not replaceable, the cost of doing so would probably be greater than what you paid for the printer originally.
One thing you can try might work if your router is near to your HP printer. You can connect a standard Ethernet cable from the jack on the back of the HP 6700 and plug the other end into a jack on the back of the Comcast XFinity router, then restart your printer. You might have to remove and then reinstall the printer from your Mac and PC, in case you had originally connected them via IP address (which might change when you change from wireless to a wired connection). If this solves the problem, great! You can continue to use the HP 6700 until something else goes wrong, and then replace it.
If that quick-fix doesn’t work, then it’s time to go shopping for a replacement printer. You can find all-in-one printers at any office supply store (like Staples), or computer store. Despite the above, I find HP printers to be reasonably reliable and worth the money, although I generally stick with their higher-end product lines. But for a mid-priced to bargain all-in-one, you’ll be fine going with any of the major brands: Epson, Brother, Canon, or HP.
I would suggest that you think about the short-term versus long-term investment in a replacement. Ink for inkjet printers can run you quite a lot over the life of your printer. Laser printers (even color laser printers) also have expensive toner cartridges, but the toner cartridges last a lot longer than inkjet (and don’t dry out if not used all the time). You’ll pay more up-front for a color laserjet all-in-one, but I think you’ll end up happier in the long run (as long as printing photos isn’t on your list of uses).
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M277dw gets a good rating and will run you about $380 up-front. Replacement toner cartridges (you’ll need 4: black, cyan, yellow, magenta) will run you under $100 each and the cartridges give you over 2,500 printed pages (give or take, depending on your print jobs). Sounds like a lot of money for toner, but the inkjet cartridges in your Officejet 6700 cost about a third and yield less than a third of the number of printed pages, so the total cost of supplies is about the same or less.
Other good choices include the Canon imageClass MF227dw, the Dell E525w Wireless Color All-in-One Laser Printer, and the Samsung – Xpress C1860FW Wireless Color All-In-One Laser Printer. What do I use? the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdw, but now we’re talking over $600.
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Author: Chris Gardner
Your Tech Coach at PosiTek.net
There are currently 1277 reader comments on published articles, care to join in? Use the Leave a Comment form below/at the bottom of any existing comments. This is a good place to ask follow-on questions on this subject.
Thanks for this answer which addresses a problem I’ve been having with connecting wirelessly to inexpensive HP All-in-one printers, and for your recommendations. I have related question: since I don’t need an all-in-one, is there a cost or reliability advantage to buying a printer that just prints?
Yes to both, with a whole slew of fewer moving parts and a simpler paper transport, there’s less likely to go wrong with a standard printer than a multi-function device. As far as cost goes, it’s somewhat of a toss-up because the manufacturers often discount certain models so heavily that they can get priced just below some much-better-quality models. Some things to consider:
1. Do you need color or is B&W enough?
2. Do you need to print photos? normal sizes (up to 8.5×11″) or do you need larger?
3. Do you need wireless connectivity or is the printer location close to a wired ethernet (router, switch, etc.)
4. If wireless isn’t a priority, do you need multi-computer connectivity (e.g., a network printer) or will the printer only be used by a single computer (e.g., a USB connected printer)?
You may find a nice color laser printer like the Brother – HL-3170CDW Color Laser Printer ($200 @ Best Buy, includes wireless, automatic duplexing, 23 page per minute speed) to be perfect for your needs. If your budget is tighter, then the Canon – imageCLASS LBP7110CW Wireless Color Laser Printer (about $130 at Best buy, includes wireless and ethernet) might fit your needs. The HP – LaserJet Pro m452dn Color Printer is about $250 at Best Buy, doesn’t have wireless (but does have ethernet and automatic duplexing) and boasts a 28 page per minute speed.
If you need to print photos, then inkjet printers are your best bet. Such as the Canon – PIXMA iP8720 Wireless Photo Printer that does up to 13″x19″ and is a six-cartridge device (so you only replace the ink cartridge that’s run out, rather than a multi-color cartridge which wastes more ink), $222 at Best Buy.
If you want to print pictures good enough to frame, then consider the Epson Artisan 1430 Inkjet Printer which uses special ink that’s smudge and water resistant, about $300.
Chris,
I have very similar conditions to those posted above with just a few differences:
I am using 2 MacBook Pros, one with OS 10.9.5 and another (not mine and not updated in awhile) with OS 10.7.5.
I have 2 printers that are’t cooperating: HP Photosmart Premium and Brother MFC-2707LDW.
I’ve gone through the same experiences reported above– you can send a print job to either printer, but you have to restart the printers to get them to work, otherwise both printer dialogue boxes simply say printer is offline. Once you get the printers printing, for a very short time you can still send print jobs and they work–for about 15 seconds. Just so odd that these are printers from 2 different manufacturers. My Comcast internet wifi connections work just fine. I’m baffled. I’ve done just as Ed did– deleted printers, reloaded drivers, did wifi set up on the printers (entered SSID in process). Is it a Comcast xfinity router issue or Mac connection issue?
Hi Sharon, I’m assuming that this problem has not been going on for as long as you’ve been using those printers and your Macbooks, one recent change might be what kicked off the problem. Here’s some ideas:
It could be a communication problem. In particular, multi-function printers require a lot of 2-way communication, whereas simple printers don’t need much. You might want to check that the MacOS firewall didn’t get turned on inadvertently (by itself or by someone). Here’s what you do on your Macbooks:
1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click the Firewall tab.
2. Click the lock icon, then enter an administrator name and password. Then click Firewall Options.
3. Deselect the option “Block all incoming connections” and select the option “Automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections.”
If you have some 3rd party internet security product (Norton Internet Security, Sophos, etc.), then that software could be blocking communication. Let me know which product (and version) you have and I can help you figure out how to allow full communication between your Macbook(s) and your printers.
Make sure both the Macbooks and printers are on the same Wi-Fi network – if they’re on different networks, they can’t talk to each other. Sometimes your Macbook can switch networks without you noticing, particularly if there’s another network you’ve previously connected to in range with a stronger signal.
Since you’re having trouble with two different Macs and two different printers, it’s less likely to be a problem with either Mac or either printer, and more likely to be the common feature between them all, your home network. If you’ve verified that everybody’s using the same Wi-Fi network (the SSID is exactly the same), then there may be a problem with your Comcast/Xfinity router. It might be as simple as unplugging it, counting to 30, and plugging it back in, or it might be more serious. I should note that last year, Comcast instituted a new ‘internet everywhere’ feature for Comcast customers by turning Comcast home routers into hotspots so that anytime a Comcast customer is near any Comcast router, they can connect through it. They say that it shouldn’t affect your own use of your own router, you get the internet speed you paid for. Other people who connect through your router use a separate antenna/network on your router, and their bandwidth use won’t impact yours. So they say… It also means if you’ve ever used this feature elsewhere, your Macbook(s) might mistakenly connect to the Comcast customer hotspot instead of your home network.
It is also possible that someone nearby has hacked into your router, they are notoriously bad on security. You should be able to log into your router and change the default control panel access password – these default passwords are common knowledge among the hacker community. And if your router is older than a couple of years, it’s also possible the router is giving spotty performance – consumer routers are made with the cheapest components. So replacing your router with a new one could help, contact Comcast about that.
Finally, since you’re having issues with two Macs and two multi-function printers, it’s less likely, but possibly a coincidence and each Mac is having its own separate problem. I’ve found my 80/80/20/20 rule to really help out. Both of your Macs are using older versions of the MacOS operating system (OS X). Currently, El Capitan (OS X 10.11) is the current version, and runs on any Mac from 2011 or newer. Unless your Macs are very much older, you should update them both to El Capitan.
fyi, my 80/80/20/20 rule goes like this: 80% of the time, restarting or repowering (unplug and plug the electrical cord) your consumer technology device will fix whatever problem you’re having with it. Of the 20% of times that doesn’t work, 80% of the time the problem will be fixed if you update the software, operating system, firmware or driver software for the device(s). Of the 20% that’s left (we’re now talking about 4% of all consumer technology problems), you probably need expert help.