Trouble connecting wired computer to wireless printer.

jmp2862

Reputable
Aug 30, 2014
5
0
4,510
Hello All

I am trying to get my wired PC (Windows 7) to connect to a Brother Hl-2280DW (http://www.brother-usa.com/Printer/ModelDetail/1/hl2280dw/overview#.VAJUYvldWQA) wireless printer. My setup is like this:

I have a Netgear N600 cable modem (http://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/cable-modems-routers/C3700.aspx). It has two Ethernet ports in the back and it also has WiFi you can turn on or off. I keep the WiFi off.

I use one port to connect directly to my PC and the other to a Linksys wireless router (http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Refurbished-Wireless-N300-Router-4-Port/dp/B00AAU54TW) that is more centrally positioned in my house.

Now the WiFi is working fine on all devices/laptops and on my wired PC. I setup the Brother Printer and get it to connect to the Linksys wireless network (it prints out a successful connection page). Also I am able to print immediately from my Windows 8 laptop without using the installation CD or downloading anything from the Brother website. So the printer and WiFi are working.

I then go to my Windows 7 wired PC and try to find the printer via the control panel "add printer" option and nothing initially comes up. So I put in the Brother installation CD and follow its prompts but it is also unable to find the printer initially. I then see other options for finding it via IP address and node address/name (not sure what it said). I input the IP address and the Brother installation software is able to "find it" and successfully completes install.

I am able to see and select the printer from various programs (Microsoft Word, GoogleDocs, etc) but no printing happens.

I don't know if this is the problem but when I use the http://198.162.1.1 to access my router on my wired PC the Netgear web GUI pops up but on my laptops the Linksys Web GUI pops up. So I am thinking are they on different networks and could this be the problem?

My computer knowledge/understanding isn't that great. I just type my problem into Google and try to find a solution. I also recently flashed the Linksys wireless router to dd-wrt in order to get rid of excess cables and make it into a wireless repeater, but that was unsuccessful and I flashed it back to the stock firmware successfully.

Also as possible solution, I should be able to just connect the wired PC to the printer with a usb male A to male B cable right? Such as this (http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030301&p_id=7643&seq=1&format=2).

And this should be pretty reliable right? I read about some people using "powered hubs" at the ends of really long usb cables, but for my purposes (50ft) the "active electronics" in the description should be fine?

Please let me know if I'm missing any relevant facts and thank you for your time and help.
 
Solution
Your network is not properly configured, but it will be relatively easy to fix.

The devices connected to the Linksys should be getting their network configuration settings from the Netgear. Otherwise, you will encounter IP conflicts, double NAT problems and sharing issues.

All you'll need to do is take the cable between the Netgear and the Linksys and move it to a numbered LAN port on the Linksys. Then, set LAN DHCP to OFF on the Linksys. This should solve your printing issues.

BuddhaSkoota

Admirable
Your network is not properly configured, but it will be relatively easy to fix.

The devices connected to the Linksys should be getting their network configuration settings from the Netgear. Otherwise, you will encounter IP conflicts, double NAT problems and sharing issues.

All you'll need to do is take the cable between the Netgear and the Linksys and move it to a numbered LAN port on the Linksys. Then, set LAN DHCP to OFF on the Linksys. This should solve your printing issues.
 
Solution