Connecting your printer to a wireless network can’t get any easier. We live in such a plug-and-play technology driven world that it almost seems inconceivable when something doesn’t work. However, what do you do when it’s an hour before the big game and you are trying to print your admission tickets and you get the dreaded “printer not found error”? Here are some tips for troubleshooting wireless printing:
Make sure your wireless network settings are correct:
In order to print wireless, the device that you are attempting to print from and the wireless printer MUST be on the same network. Check to make sure that both devices are connected and show signal is being provided.
Reconfigure the printer:
Go to your printer setting and reconfigure all the settings. This means you’ll confirm the wireless security protocols, wireless password and any port settings that would be required. The other possibility is that your IP address to the printer has changed. Reconfirm this as well.
Firewall/Antivirus settings:
Make sure that nothing has changed within your Firewall security rules or possibly an upgrade of your Antivirus software? A quick test for this would be to momentarily turn them off and see if that helps. If it does, recheck all of your settings.
Latest Driver and Print Utilities installed?
This might be a good time to visit the printer manufacturer’s website and download the latest print driver and print utilities. Often the operating system will do an automatic update that either corrupts or outdates the current system driver/utility.
Restart Everything:
OK, so maybe I should have started with this one, but when all else fails, power cycle your printer and reboot your PC, Laptop, Tablet, etc. This can never hurt, and is the root of many system failure fixes.
Contact the Printer Manufacturer:
If your purchased the wireless printer within 1 year or purchased an extended warranty, then give the provider a call. Professional technical support is always an easy option.
Troubleshooting wireless printing can be tricky since typically setting it up was so easy. The knowledge required to make sure that all of your settings are correct can be daunting. It’s easy to stick a disc in your DVD drive and hit “next” until everything is installed, there is no disk to troubleshoot wireless printing errors.
