[nimble1]

Ive just started a new job in a private home and really need some advice so i can troubleshoot a network problem.

There one PC in the main house with an extensive cable network throughout and also a powerful Wifi network throuhout the house. There is a router and a large network hub.

The second PC is in a seperate building that also is connected to the cable network (im not sure if the wifi reaches this PC how can i tell??)

Both PC have broadband(i assume this is available through the cable network. They also connect to multiple printers through the cable network

Recently without changing any settings all the printers have stopped working but both PCs still have the internet.
The only changes made to the system is i downloaded and ran adaware and sbybot cleaning some spyware from the systems and did some online virus scans before paying to update norton virus and firewall protection that was slightly out of date.

Im not sure where to start i have printed test pages and the printers seem ok they just wont communicate with the PC's.Windows says the network connections are enabled and working.

Where to start???

Any help anyone can offer much appreciated

Thanks

 

[johnwill]

I suggest you start by trying to figure out exactly what the configuration is. You mention wireless, wired, separate buildings, multiple printers, etc. What are the printers connected to?

You could start by giving us all the make/model numbers of ALL the networking equipment, details on the printers, and what version/patch level the Windows machines run.

 

[JamesO]

Are printers networked or connected via USB or parallel?

If networked, my first guess it they do not have static IP addresses.

Make and model of printers and how they are connected would really help here.

JamesO

 

[nimble1]

OK In a cupboard in the main house there is a
D link ADSL router
Netgear prosafe wireless access point
Netgear 9dbi Antenna
Netgear 26 port smart ethernet fas switch with gigabit ports

The two computers one in the house and one in another building are both new sony vaio workstations both runnin xp sp2 and i also have downloaded any windows updates i could.

There are two printers both connected to network sockets in the wall one is a HP color Laserjet 3700n and the other is a brother multi purpose scan fax print etc.

My preimary concern is to get the HP laserjet working again!!!!!!!

I have been really carefull not to unplug or change any settings anywhere. Ive also tried rebooting the network hub and the router.

Where to begin?

 

[JamesO]

Are the printers IP addresses static?
Can you ping the printers?
Right click on each printer, select Properties, select Ports and see how each printer was configured.

If the printers IP addresses are not static, my guess is that may be part of the issue.

JamesO

 

[nimble1]

if i right click on printer select proerties then ports

Port: hpcolorLaserJet3700
Description: Hp standard TC/IP
Printer: 3700 office

If i click to configure this porthere are the settings

Port Name:hpcolorLaserJet3700
Printer name or iP adress: 192.168.4.205
Protocol: raw

Enable bi directional support is checked

Thanks for any help

 

[nimble1]

how do i ping the printer?? does this let me know the PC can see the printer?

 

[JamesO]

Start, Run, type "cmd", type "ping 192.168.4.205"

You should get a response back indicating you could reach it.

You can also open a web browser and enter 192.168.4.205 and see if you open the web browser for the printer or print server. You may need Java installed to do this if you have a HP JetDirect print server.

Also do the following for each machine on the network:

Start, Run, type "cmd", type "ipconfig /all >C:\ipconfig.txt". Leave out the quotes ("").

Open C:\ipconfig.txt with Notepad and copy/paste the info back for review and comment.

JamesO

 

[nimble1]

ok tried to ping the printer but timed out 4 times.

here is the ipconfig file you asked for.

Main house

Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : House-Office

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-D8-E4-1F-FC

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 06 October 2005 17:19:12

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 06 October 2005 18:19:12



Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : LAN-Express AS IEEE 802.11g miniPCI Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-9B-C5-8F-6B

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 06 October 2005 17:19:36

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 06 October 2005 18:19:36


Other office (away from main house) Can recieve the wireless network although it was disabled so i have left it.

Thanks vey much for your time

 

[JamesO]

Your printer appears to be on the wrong IP subnet, this is why you cannot ping it. Now the $50k question is you found the IP address under the Printer Port Properties, but what is the actual printer IP addresses? It may be configured to DHCP which I do not like at all. Maybe from your router you can see the DHCP host table and determine what is actually been given an address?

The printer needs to be on the 192.168.1.x subnet to work from what I can see.

I would recommend you see if you can reconfigure the printer(s) to static IP addresses. I typically start mine at 192.168.1.200 and count up from there. Maybe the printer IP addresses were not saved and you have a power hit and they defaulted to a previous value??

Then go to the Printer Properties, Ports, and change the IP address.

JamesO

 

[nimble1]

thanks

i cant get to that computer or printer right now but do know the printer is a very nice new one and displays an ip adress on its screen often. If i adjust the subnet mask as you suggest and that doesnt work can i easily change them back?

Thanks for your help

 

[JamesO]

Recommended printer IP config:

IP addresss 192.168.1.200
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway 192.168.1.1

I would write down the current IP address and Default Gateway for reference. Might just print out a cofiguration report from the front panel menu. It should show you the IP configuration and if it is static or set to DHCP. I always set my printers up statically, this way, I have no issues with them getting lost on the network.

JamesO

 

[nimble1]

hey there i havnt had a chance to try and change my network settings but did print a printer configuration document.

ip adress 192.168.4.205
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
default gateway 192.168.4.200

bootp/DHCP server not specified

I thinks thats all the relevant info. Does this shed any light on to why my printer doesnt go???

Thanks

 

[nimble1]

Also heres the ipconfig data for the second Pc (away from the main house)



Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : STABLE-OFFICE

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-D8-E4-22-2D

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.5

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 06 October 2005 17:37:26

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 06 October 2005 18:37:26

Thanks

 

[JamesO]

Reconfigure the printer as I mentioned previously:

Recommended printer IP config:

IP addresss 192.168.1.200
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway 192.168.1.1

Not sure where the current config came from, but it clearly will not work as it is not on the right IP subnet.

JamesO

 

[nimble1]

Where should ni change these settings ...on the printer??

Also theres no network connection between the house office and stable office computer do these configuration reports give anyone any idea why its not working.

Thank you

 

[biligaana]

I'm pretty much a newbie to networking and have spent the last month getting our HP printers (about 20 of them) running on our network. There are a couple ways to change the IP if you're using the jetdirect software. I've learned I prefer changing the IP directly on the printer. Take the printer offline, use the front panel buttons (I forgot what they are labeled exactly, I've been doing this so much lately I just know what buttons to push on our model printer) to find the MIO config menu. One thing that took me forever to realize is that after any changes you make in the config menu you have to hit the enter button. You'll see a * on the screen after you do so to indicate the change has been made. When you see cfg tcp/ip use the +/- button to change it to yes then hit the enter button. When you hit next it will take you through the IP configs. Again, don't forget to hit the enter key after changing each number (use the +/- key to change the number, holding down shift and +/- will back the numbers up). Oh ya, you'll want to make sure you turn pboot OFF. I also turned off appletalk and netware, don't know if I needed to or not but we're not running either so... After setting up the static IP's I set up local printers on the machines that need to print to specific printers by using opening a TCP/IP port using the specific IP for each printer. I know JamesO can probably give more coherent help and I hope you don't mind me butting into your thread, but I figured it might help a little. I found a great source on the internet for HP printers, wish I was at work so I could paste the URL here. I'll do so Mon if you'd like me to.

 

[nimble1]

thank you

Thanks for all your help....James all your advice was spot on. I changed the IP adress , subnet mask etc adjusted my port settings and it worked.

This forum rules and taught me alot how can i go about making a donation??