Cannot print with wireless Lexmark printer, help needed!

[mani99]

Hi, I have a Lexmark X4650 wireless which was working ok previously but since I changed my router it has now stopped working. The problem is whenever I go to print anything, the print status bar pops up and the print status reaches 10% and then just stops and hangs. I can cancel anything which I've sent to print but cannot get it to print anything at all, including test pages.

I have configured the printer to connect to the new router and Im presuming that it does as the connection light at the front of the machine blinks while connecting and then goes to a solid green colour to show that it has connected.

Can anyone help with this as it's driving me crazy!

Thanks in advance.

mani99 wrote:
> Hi, I have a Lexmark X4650 wireless which was working ok previously but
> since I changed my router it has now stopped working. The problem is
> whenever I go to print anything, the print status bar pops up and the
> print status reaches 10% and then just stops and hangs. I can cancel
> anything which I've sent to print but cannot get it to print anything at
> all, including test pages.
>
> I have configured the printer to connect to the new router and Im
> presuming that it does as the connection light at the front of the
> machine blinks while connecting and then goes to a solid green colour to
> show that it has connected.
>
> Can anyone help with this as it's driving me crazy!
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>

More than likely, you've changed the security setup in the new router to
use a different password and/or a different encryption mode (e.g., WEP
to WPA or WPA to WPA2) OR you didn't enter the password and encryption
mode correctly when setting up the printer OR your printer is connecting
to someone else's wifi network.

I wouldn't put a lot of faith in the green light. If you want to confirm
that the printer has in fact connected to the router, print a network
setup page from the printer's front panel controls.

1 Load plain paper.
2 From the printer control panel, press .
3 Press the arrow buttons until Network Setup appears, and then press .
Print Setup Page appears on the display.
4 Press OK.
5 Press OK again.
The network setup page prints.

The network setup page should include the printer's IP address and the
network SSID to which it's connecting (if any). Confirm that the SSID is
in fact the one you configured in your router (i.e., that the printer is
not connecting to your neighbor's router) and confirm that the IP
address is in the same network.

Note that if you left the SSID of your router at the default (e.g.,
Linksys), you have no easy way of knowing if the printer is connected to
your router or to someone else's router who also didn't change the
default SSID. This is why you should always configure your router with a
unique SSID other than your last name or address.

To check the IP address, open a Command Prompt window on your computer
and type
ipconfig [click OK]

You should get a response like this:
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Your *computer's* IP address and your *printer's* IP address should have
the same first 3 octets. In the above example, the computer's IP address
is 192.168.1.101. The printer's IP address *must* be 192.168.1.x where x
can be from 2 through 254.
--
Lem -- MS-MVP

Apollo 11 - 40 years ago:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ap...0th/index.html

[mani99]

Thanks Lem.

I have gone through everything in your post and have double checked the SSID and the I.P. address and they all match as expected. However, one thing that I have noticed when I printed off the Network setup page was the following:

Signal Strength: -85 dBm
Quality: Unacceptable
Trouble Code: Signal Strength too weak

Im not sure why this would be the case since the printer and the router are in the same place and about 3 meters away from each other.

mani99 wrote:
> Thanks Lem.
>
> I have gone through everything in your post and have double checked the
> SSID and the I.P. address and they all match as expected. However, one
> thing that I have noticed when I printed off the Network setup page was
> the following:
>
> Signal Strength: -85 dBm
> Quality: Unacceptable
> Trouble Code: Signal Strength too weak
>
> Im not sure why this would be the case since the printer and the router
> are in the same place and about 3 meters away from each other.
>
>

What is physically between the printer and the router's antenna in a
direct line of sight? If the 3 meters places the printer in a different
room, what sort of construction is the building?

The only things I can think of are:

1. Something is wrong with your router's wireless transmitter and/or antenna
2. Something is wrong with your printer's wireless receiver and/or antenna
3. Someone else has the same SSID as you and your printer is connecting
to that other router.

Try bringing the printer closer to the router and with nothing between
the router's antenna and the printer. Run a network setup page.

Do you have a wireless laptop that you can locate next to the usual
location of the printer and see how that works? Unfortunately, Windows
will not usually report the signal strength accurately. However, if a
wireless laptop successfully connects with an "excellent" signal while
in the usual printer location, that would point to a problem with the
printer's wifi receiver/antenna.

If you can, take the printer to a friend's house and place it about 3
meters away from his or her router. Don't forget that you'll have to
re-configure the printer with your friend's SSID and encryption mode and
password. Print a network setup page.

Sorry I can't offer anything specific.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

Apollo 11 - 40 years ago:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ap...0th/index.html

[mani99]

Originally Posted by Lem

mani99 wrote:
> Thanks Lem.
>
> I have gone through everything in your post and have double checked the
> SSID and the I.P. address and they all match as expected. However, one
> thing that I have noticed when I printed off the Network setup page was
> the following:
>
> Signal Strength: -85 dBm
> Quality: Unacceptable
> Trouble Code: Signal Strength too weak
>
> Im not sure why this would be the case since the printer and the router
> are in the same place and about 3 meters away from each other.
>
>

What is physically between the printer and the router's antenna in a
direct line of sight? If the 3 meters places the printer in a different
room, what sort of construction is the building?

The only things I can think of are:

1. Something is wrong with your router's wireless transmitter and/or antenna
2. Something is wrong with your printer's wireless receiver and/or antenna
3. Someone else has the same SSID as you and your printer is connecting
to that other router.

Try bringing the printer closer to the router and with nothing between
the router's antenna and the printer. Run a network setup page.

Do you have a wireless laptop that you can locate next to the usual
location of the printer and see how that works? Unfortunately, Windows
will not usually report the signal strength accurately. However, if a
wireless laptop successfully connects with an "excellent" signal while
in the usual printer location, that would point to a problem with the
printer's wifi receiver/antenna.

If you can, take the printer to a friend's house and place it about 3
meters away from his or her router. Don't forget that you'll have to
re-configure the printer with your friend's SSID and encryption mode and
password. Print a network setup page.

Sorry I can't offer anything specific.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

Apollo 11 - 40 years ago:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ap...0th/index.html

I cant see why the distance should be a problem as there isn't anything in between the router and the printer. The router is working ok as I can connect to it via my PC and a couple of Laptops from around the house.

One thing I forgot to mention is when I tried to ping the printer it kept timing out.

Thanks for your help so far.