Home
Posted By: deniro Problem with wireless printing - 11/27/13 03:44 PM
I've been on this one for so long, hours, days. So much work. It's killing me. Arrrrrrrrrggh.

ATT claimed my Motorola modem (from them) was dead, so I bought a new Netgear modem from OfficeMax. Couldn't get it to work. Called ATT again. I decided the old modem (ATT's Motorola) wasn't dead after all. So I called ATT and had a service man come out. Turns out a squirrel bit through the phone wires near the top of the house. Hooked up my old modem again. Things are fine.

A Netgear router is connected to the modem from my iMac. The router is connected wirelessly to a Dell Windows XP desktop downstairs and to a Mac laptop.

A couple weeks ago or so I updated the software driver on the Dell's LAN (or WLAN?), which I didn't even know you could do. Consequently internet speed dramatically increased from two red bars to three green bars. Fantastic. Best connection ever. I've been trying for a couple years to improve the internet wireless speed.

The Dell was printing fine wirelessly to an Epson Workforce all-in-one, about six months old, and so was an old Mac laptop. I could never get my iMac to recognize the Epson wirelessly to print. I printed the diagnostic sheet from the Epson and it failed the test for ID, password, and security. After a long time trying, I gave up. A minor issue I could fix later, because I already have an HP connected via USB cable to my iMac.

Last week the Dell and the Mac laptop could no longer print wirelessly to the Epson. I deleted all the Epson software from Windows XP and re-installed it. I connected a USB cable temporarily from the Dell to the Epson to install the Epson software. Every time I did so, I got the message that the ID and password were incorrect. Windows suggested it might be an incorrect security setting. I changed the security settings in the router connected to my iMac but that didn't work.

I downloaded an upgrade for my router, per its suggestion while checking router settings. Got the pinwheel while updating. Had to turn off the Mac and turn it back on. Couldn't get the router to work even to connect to the internet. Now I'm going backwards. I downgraded the router back to an older software version (I think, anyway) and now it is connected to the internet with no problem.

With the USB cable still connected from the Epson to the Dell, I reset the settings in the printer. I enter the wireless network's ID and password manually into the Epson. Then I print the Epson's diagnostic sheet. All tests pass. According to the printer, it is on the wireless network. But I still can't print wirelessly.

This may be the wrong place for this issue. I don't know Windows very well but I am learning more all the time the hard way. I'm fairly certain I have the Windows settings right to print from the Epson. There is an Epson printer icon in the Printer control panel. I can surf the net from the Dell, so Windows recognizes the router for the internet but not for printing.

So the problem seems to be communication between the Dell/Windows desktop and the Epson. I emailed Epson but got a generic response, a FAQ I had already looked at on their web site and tried but it was no help. The weak chain in my knowledge is Windows XP. I must have set up something incorrectly. I'm really at a loss and people have been nag, nag, nagging me to get it fixed for several days.

By the way, my brother installed a repeater on the Dell a long time ago to try to improve the connection, maybe a year before I realized I could update the software drive on the LAN. I have no idea if it isn't even working. It never increased the connection speed. I have no idea if it is set up properly. I'm not even sure what a repeater is supposed to do.

Posted By: joemikeb Re: Problem with wireless printing - 11/27/13 08:27 PM
Quote:
I'm not even sure what a repeater is supposed to do.

A repeater takes in a signal, amplifies (boosts) it, and sends it out again allowing the signal to travel further with sufficient strength to overpower background noise and interference.

I am not sure I followed everything you did, but in the process of updating everything, did you check to see if there was an update to the Epson firmware?
Posted By: deniro Re: Problem with wireless printing - 11/27/13 10:18 PM
No, I didn't. I'll check to see if there is one.
Posted By: deniro Re: Problem with wireless printing - 11/27/13 11:53 PM
Problem solved. Sorry for the long (previous) post.

I'm not sure what I did that worked. But here are some things I did.

1) Downloaded drivers from the Epson site and installed them on the Dell.
2) Entered the wireless settings manually on the Epson buttons.
3) Put the Epson install disc in and installed the drivers and software from the CD. I changed the options this time, installing it differently. This time I chose, I think, install on a pre-existing network rather than install printer for the first time.
© FineTunedMac