Ping a WIFI printer from a W7 laptop - possible?

[John]

The wife's W7 laptop has problems with a Kodak ESP 5250 WIFI printer. If
the printer is cold started she can print but after a while the printer
is no longer available to the laptop. However the internet (via WIFI) is
still available when this happens so its not a problem with the DSL WIFI
modem (Verizon supplied Westell A90-750015-07) - at least that I can see.

My hard wired work station can always print so its not a malfunctioning
printer in that respect but rather appears to be a printer or W7
software problem - maybe just a setting that I am not aware of ?

So is there a way to ping the printer from the laptop to 'wake it up' so
to speak or at least to trouble shoot?

Obviously networking and WIFI woes aren't my strong suit so be gentle


Thanks,
John

 

[Art Todesco]

The wife's W7 laptop has problems with a Kodak ESP 5250 WIFI printer. If
the printer is cold started she can print but after a while the printer
is no longer available to the laptop. However the internet (via WIFI) is
still available when this happens so its not a problem with the DSL WIFI
modem (Verizon supplied Westell A90-750015-07) - at least that I can see.

My hard wired work station can always print so its not a malfunctioning
printer in that respect but rather appears to be a printer or W7
software problem - maybe just a setting that I am not aware of ?

So is there a way to ping the printer from the laptop to 'wake it up' so
to speak or at least to trouble shoot?

Obviously networking and WIFI woes aren't my strong suit so be gentle


Thanks,
John

I had similar problems with a Samsung. A short power failure would make
it unavailable via wireless. The worse problem for me was that I had to
run the install on each computer (4) to make it work again. It's now
wired to one computer and is available to all others via that one.

 

[Char Jackson]

The wife's W7 laptop has problems with a Kodak ESP 5250 WIFI printer. If
the printer is cold started she can print but after a while the printer
is no longer available to the laptop.

Has anything significant and repeatable happened during the "after a while"
period, such as the laptop being allowed to sleep or a similar time-out
setting on the printer itself? How is the printer connected to the network?
I see that it has WiFi and USB; are you using just WiFi, just USB (connected
where?), or both? ("Both" might not be supported.)

However the internet (via WIFI) is
still available when this happens so its not a problem with the DSL WIFI
modem (Verizon supplied Westell A90-750015-07) - at least that I can see.

My hard wired work station can always print so its not a malfunctioning
printer in that respect but rather appears to be a printer or W7
software problem - maybe just a setting that I am not aware of ?

Regarding WiFi printers in general, I've had more success when I've been
able to connect the printer (usually via USB) to an always-on PC rather than
trying to connect the printer to the router via WiFi. Once it's connected to
a PC, it can simply be shared with any other computers on the network.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

The wife's W7 laptop has problems with a Kodak ESP 5250 WIFI printer. If
the printer is cold started she can print but after a while the printer
is no longer available to the laptop. However the internet (via WIFI) is
still available when this happens so its not a problem with the DSL WIFI
modem (Verizon supplied Westell A90-750015-07) - at least that I can see.

My hard wired work station can always print so its not a malfunctioning
printer in that respect but rather appears to be a printer or W7
software problem - maybe just a setting that I am not aware of ?

So is there a way to ping the printer from the laptop to 'wake it up' so
to speak or at least to trouble shoot?

Obviously networking and WIFI woes aren't my strong suit so be gentle

Thanks,
John

You should be able to see the printer in the laptop's Windows Explorer,
under Network.

Also, the printer probably can tell you its IP address, usually by
something on its front panel or by printing a status sheet. See its
manual. Armed with that address you can ping from a command window on
the laptop.

 

[John]

The wife's W7 laptop has problems with a Kodak ESP 5250 WIFI printer. If
the printer is cold started she can print but after a while the printer
is no longer available to the laptop. However the internet (via WIFI) is
still available when this happens so its not a problem with the DSL WIFI
modem (Verizon supplied Westell A90-750015-07) - at least that I can see.

My hard wired work station can always print so its not a malfunctioning
printer in that respect but rather appears to be a printer or W7
software problem - maybe just a setting that I am not aware of ?

So is there a way to ping the printer from the laptop to 'wake it up' so
to speak or at least to trouble shoot?

Obviously networking and WIFI woes aren't my strong suit so be gentle


Thanks,
John

To answer a few questions asked:

The printer is hard wired (USB) to a work station but not the DSL modem,
there originally was no need to connect the printer to the modem as it
worked from the laptop when the laptop was put into service a year and a
half ago. In fact the the work station is locked out of the WIFI network
for business reasons. The WIFI is for my wife to roam about with the
laptop as well as available for smart phone and guest use.

The problem is relatively recent, a few months perhaps. Its hard to tell
for sure because I don't use the laptop.

Networking the two computers may be a solution but I am reluctant to do
that because the wife has no knowledge of files, directories and such
and I fear inadvertent damage to the work station which, as I said, is
used for business. Once a drive is shared on the work station it becomes
vulnerable and since the printer is WIFI capable why take the chance?

Thanks again,
John

 

[Art Todesco]

To answer a few questions asked:

The printer is hard wired (USB) to a work station but not the DSL modem,
there originally was no need to connect the printer to the modem as it
worked from the laptop when the laptop was put into service a year and a
half ago. In fact the the work station is locked out of the WIFI network
for business reasons. The WIFI is for my wife to roam about with the
laptop as well as available for smart phone and guest use.

The problem is relatively recent, a few months perhaps. Its hard to tell
for sure because I don't use the laptop.

Networking the two computers may be a solution but I am reluctant to do
that because the wife has no knowledge of files, directories and such
and I fear inadvertent damage to the work station which, as I said, is
used for business. Once a drive is shared on the work station it becomes
vulnerable and since the printer is WIFI capable why take the chance?

Thanks again,
John

You can share the printer without sharing the hard drive.

 

[SC Tom]

To answer a few questions asked:

The printer is hard wired (USB) to a work station but not the DSL modem,
there originally was no need to connect the printer to the modem as it
worked from the laptop when the laptop was put into service a year and a
half ago. In fact the the work station is locked out of the WIFI network
for business reasons. The WIFI is for my wife to roam about with the
laptop as well as available for smart phone and guest use.

The problem is relatively recent, a few months perhaps. Its hard to tell
for sure because I don't use the laptop.

Networking the two computers may be a solution but I am reluctant to do
that because the wife has no knowledge of files, directories and such and
I fear inadvertent damage to the work station which, as I said, is used
for business. Once a drive is shared on the work station it becomes
vulnerable and since the printer is WIFI capable why take the chance?

Thanks again,
John

You can share the printer without sharing any files or folders on the the
respective hard drives using the method outlined here:

<http://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/7527-networking-printer-attached-win-xp-pc-win-7-a.html>

It says it's for XP and Win7, but I found that the method works well between
everything from XP through Win8, as long as there are drivers for each OS.

 

[John]

You should be able to see the printer in the laptop's Windows Explorer,
under Network.

Also, the printer probably can tell you its IP address, usually by
something on its front panel or by printing a status sheet. See its
manual. Armed with that address you can ping from a command window on
the laptop.

That worked! Now to wait until the printer goes into a sleep mode where
the only thing that will wake it is to pull the power cord. Even the
printer control panel and the on/off button (which oddly are all still
lit) won't respond until powered off/on? When that puppy sleeps it
doesn't fool around. Will see if a ping wakes it up from the laptop but
it doesn't look promising considering that it won't even respond to its
own buttons.

Oddly when it goes into a sleep mode it still prints via USB. But that
defeats the WIFI purpose if you have to come to the printer itself when
you want to print from the laptop located on another floor of our home.

I did check for software updates from both comps and also firmware but
the web site reports that all is up to date. Oh well, I had heard that
KODAK was about to (or already had) gone belly up. That is a shame
because otherwise the flat bed printer and software works well and ink
is one of the least expensive on the market - which is why I selected it
in the first place. It was a pocket camera plus printer combo deal about
three years ago. At least the camera still works well

Thanks,
John

 

[John]

You can share the printer without sharing the hard drive.

I'll try that if a ping from the laptop won't wake it up, although it
does defeat (or circumvent ?) the purpose of the WIFI mode (see my
response to Gene Bloch).

Thanks,
John

 

[John]

You can share the printer without sharing any files or folders on the
the respective hard drives using the method outlined here:

<http://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/7527-networking-printer-attached-win-xp-pc-win-7-a.html>


It says it's for XP and Win7, but I found that the method works well
between everything from XP through Win8, as long as there are drivers
for each OS.

Bookmarked - Thank you!

If all else fails that looks like an answer.

John

 

[Art Todesco]

I'll try that if a ping from the laptop won't wake it up, although it
does defeat (or circumvent ?) the purpose of the WIFI mode (see my
response to Gene Bloch).

Thanks,
John

Yeah, I thought it would be really nice to have the printer listen to
the wireless router and thus be able to print from any computer in the
house, be it wired to the router, or wireless. And it did work well,
but as I said in my earlier post, every slight power glitch would kill
ability for this to work. And the worse part of it was that I then had
to basically reinstall the printer on all 6 computers. I wish this
Samsung Laser had an RJ-45 network connector where is could reside on
the network ... the newer model was able to be hard wire networked. So
now it is plugged (USB) into my main computer, which is on when I'm not
sleeping, so it works ok. This was a really great $55 printer but the
wireless is less than desirable.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I'll try that if a ping from the laptop won't wake it up, although it
does defeat (or circumvent ?) the purpose of the WIFI mode (see my
response to Gene Bloch).

Thanks,
John

I don't expect a ping to wake the printer up, but I do expect it to tell
you how deep the sleep is

By that I mean that if the printer is asleep (as in off), it won't
respond to a ping, but if sleep is a kind of semi-alert state, a ping
should work.

My belief is that only a command to do some printer work would bring the
printer out of sleep.

Think of how your Cable box goes into suspension as an analogy. It will
record, you can wake it up with the Power button on the remote, and it
will ignore other commands.

 

[charlie]

I don't expect a ping to wake the printer up, but I do expect it to tell
you how deep the sleep is

By that I mean that if the printer is asleep (as in off), it won't
respond to a ping, but if sleep is a kind of semi-alert state, a ping
should work.

My belief is that only a command to do some printer work would bring the
printer out of sleep.

Think of how your Cable box goes into suspension as an analogy. It will
record, you can wake it up with the Power button on the remote, and it
will ignore other commands.

A minor tidbit I ran across had to do with how and what IP address (if
any) gets assigned to the printer, and whether or not the MAC address is
used. the Epson printers I have allow automatic IP address assignment by
a connected router, manual IP address assignment by the printer's
internal setup, or, the Epson drivers via a seek and find, using the
printer's MAC address. The Epson drivers often use the MAC address by
default. A common problem with router assignment is that the address can
change, and exclusive use of the MAC address may result in odd behavior
of windows printer support. (configuration dependent, I suppose).

Generally, I assign a fixed IP address outside the "auto assign" block
used by the router, using the printer's control panel options. The
common home router acts as a switch as well as a router, so with most
routers, the printer will "show up" to the computers connected to the
same side of the switch, (most commonly ethernet) and usually be
pingable as well. If the router is set to "pass" the IP address, the
printer will show up on any device within the local address block, such
as a WiFi laptop when using a dual ethernet/wifi router. It's even
possible to address the printer from the internet, if the exact address
scheme is known, and the router allows. (This can be a problem, if the
printer allows firmware updates, as some HP printer owners have found!)

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

A minor tidbit I ran across had to do with how and what IP address (if
any) gets assigned to the printer, and whether or not the MAC address is
used. the Epson printers I have allow automatic IP address assignment by
a connected router, manual IP address assignment by the printer's
internal setup, or, the Epson drivers via a seek and find, using the
printer's MAC address. The Epson drivers often use the MAC address by
default. A common problem with router assignment is that the address can
change, and exclusive use of the MAC address may result in odd behavior
of windows printer support. (configuration dependent, I suppose).

Generally, I assign a fixed IP address outside the "auto assign" block
used by the router, using the printer's control panel options. The
common home router acts as a switch as well as a router, so with most
routers, the printer will "show up" to the computers connected to the
same side of the switch, (most commonly ethernet) and usually be
pingable as well. If the router is set to "pass" the IP address, the
printer will show up on any device within the local address block, such
as a WiFi laptop when using a dual ethernet/wifi router. It's even
possible to address the printer from the internet, if the exact address
scheme is known, and the router allows. (This can be a problem, if the
printer allows firmware updates, as some HP printer owners have found!)

Your comments reminded me of another point, which might be of value to
some people here..

I use MAC address filtering in my router, so whenever I attach a new
device wirelessly, I have to track down its MAC address and add it to
the list.

And since I have ordered a wireless printer (an Epson, BTW), your
comments and this entire thread will be of interest to me when
everything fails later this week

 

[charlie]

Your comments reminded me of another point, which might be of value to
some people here..

I use MAC address filtering in my router, so whenever I attach a new
device wirelessly, I have to track down its MAC address and add it to
the list.

And since I have ordered a wireless printer (an Epson, BTW), your
comments and this entire thread will be of interest to me when
everything fails later this week

MAC or IP individual address router filtering can slow down some of the
home routers, so as a general rule, I don't use it. That's not to say
that a specific case might make it necessary.

 

[Char Jackson]

I use MAC address filtering in my router, so whenever I attach a new
device wirelessly, I have to track down its MAC address and add it to
the list.

Presumably, you're subjecting yourself to the torture of MAC address
filtering as one of multiple layers of network security, but FYI MAC
filtering is so easily circumventable that it doesn't really add anything,
security wise. Most of what it does is cause a headache for the network
administrator; i.e., you. It's about on the same level as not broadcasting
the SSID and/or using WEP to secure your wireless network. All three of
those things, or any combo, can be circumvented in just a few minutes.

And since I have ordered a wireless printer (an Epson, BTW), your
comments and this entire thread will be of interest to me when
everything fails later this week

Exactly, although "when everything fails" is a bit of an overstatement.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Presumably, you're subjecting yourself to the torture of MAC address
filtering as one of multiple layers of network security, but FYI MAC
filtering is so easily circumventable that it doesn't really add anything,
security wise. Most of what it does is cause a headache for the network
administrator; i.e., you. It's about on the same level as not broadcasting
the SSID and/or using WEP to secure your wireless network. All three of
those things, or any combo, can be circumvented in just a few minutes.

+1

If I'm in range and any of your wireless devices are talking to the
network, none of those will slow me down more than a minute or two if I
want in.

--
Zaphod

Arthur: All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's
something big and sinister going on in the world.
Slartibartfast: No, that's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the
universe gets that.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Presumably, you're subjecting yourself to the torture of MAC address
filtering as one of multiple layers of network security, but FYI MAC
filtering is so easily circumventable that it doesn't really add anything,
security wise. Most of what it does is cause a headache for the network
administrator; i.e., you. It's about on the same level as not broadcasting
the SSID and/or using WEP to secure your wireless network. All three of
those things, or any combo, can be circumvented in just a few minutes.

I don't mind the tiny amount of extra work. And I get headaches anyway

Exactly, although "when everything fails" is a bit of an overstatement.

Are you sure?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

MAC or IP individual address router filtering can slow down some of the
home routers, so as a general rule, I don't use it. That's not to say
that a specific case might make it necessary.

This network isn't that critical, and as I said to Char, I don't mind
doing it. I think that's what I said

In any case, I prefer MAC filtering to aluminum foil - as in aluminum
foil hats, of course...

I just realized that I forgot to mention to Char that I also don't
broadcast the SSID. If you're reading this, Char, sorry for the
oversight.

Both of you - please feel free to pull my chain about all this

 

[Char Jackson]

This network isn't that critical, and as I said to Char, I don't mind
doing it. I think that's what I said

In any case, I prefer MAC filtering to aluminum foil - as in aluminum
foil hats, of course...

The two aren't that different. ;-)

I just realized that I forgot to mention to Char that I also don't
broadcast the SSID. If you're reading this, Char, sorry for the
oversight.

Both of you - please feel free to pull my chain about all this

Ok, I'll give it a pull. Why don't you broadcast your SSID?