Incompatible printer

MattMattMattUK

neilmcl said:

MattMattMattUK said:

neilmcl said:

MattMattMattUK said:

neilmcl said:

OK, let us know how it goes. I'm not going anywhere 😉

Also, it may be easier to change the SSID of the 5ghz channel (same instructions, just do it under the 5ghz tab), that way you'll probably only have to reconnect a few devices including your Sky Q box etc.

Wouldn't most device be on the 5GHz network rather than the 2.4GHz one? Nearly everything connects on the 5GHz network by default these days does it not?

Not really, I'd still say even now the majority of devices are only single band 2.4Ghz.

It just does not seem to tie up with personal experience that is all, I had a look at my network and only one* of the 22 devices are on the 2.4GHz network. 

*The control unit for an electric radiator.

Do you really have 22 devices connected or is it single devices showing up multiple times?

Apart from my laptop, via a USB wifi dongle, and my Amazon Firestick and Roku device I don't have any other devices capable of 5ghz and I'd say I'm a fairly typical household.

Yep 22 devices (+ wired desktop), I admit I might have a bit more tech than most households and 13 of those are Google manufactured items. 
Phone, tablet, laptop, printer, TV (2, living room and bedroom), PS5, Nintendo Switch, Nest Thermostat, Google Home Max (4, in two pairs in living room and kitchen/dining room), Google Home (4 in bedrooms), Google Nest Mini (4 to improve coverage), electric radiator controller (the only thing on 2.4GHz).

spectrum21

Most of our devices are 5 GHz and we have a lot of devices connected as we 4 laptop/PCs, 3 tablets, 4 phones, Switch, Wii U, Google Home etc etc. So changing name of 2.4 would make more sense.

Once you've separated the 5ghz and 2.4 the printer should connect fine. Im sure I read somewhere that printers generally still use 2.4 so even if you swapped the printer you'd still need to connect a different WiFi printer to 2.4.

neilmcl

So, did you get it sorted?

harryandedwardsmum

No, sadly not!  I tried separating them etc as per above then trying again to connect the printer and it still can't find the network.  I've gone back to the retailer with screen shots showing the problem and said it's faulty, it won't connect but I have all the right things in place.  They are (now, finally) refunding me.  Now I just need to identify a decent printer and buy that and hope for a better experience!
Thanks for all your help and sorry I didn't update, hectic day, you've been great! :-)

neilmcl

Out of interest how were you trying to connect the printer to your router, were you using the installation software or were you doing it directly from the menu on the printer itself?

JJ_Egan

Canon or Epson printers should connect easily .

neilmcl

JJ_Egan said:

Canon or Epson printers should connect easily .

So should HP ordinarily, my HP Envy 5640 connects absolutely fine to my Sky Q hub.

It would've been nice to try and resolve this further with the OP as it sounds like the printer was possibly located in a place where the wifi is poor and therefore it couldn't even see the 2.4ghz connection.

harryandedwardsmum

Connection was via an app, which I tried on my mobile and on a laptop, neither worked.  Wifi is fine, I have superfast broadband with a fibre boost, and also tried the printer right next to the router to no avail.  All my other devices, all round the house (26 of them) all connected fine and first time I used them without any fiddling whatsoever.  This was a real oddity, and I now know far more about connections and frequencies than I knew existed!

neilmcl

harryandedwardsmum said:

Connection was via an app, which I tried on my mobile and on a laptop, neither worked.  Wifi is fine, I have superfast broadband with a fibre boost, and also tried the printer right next to the router to no avail.  All my other devices, all round the house (26 of them) all connected fine and first time I used them without any fiddling whatsoever.  This was a real oddity, and I now know far more about connections and frequencies than I knew existed!

I just had a quick look at the manual for your printer and I think the problem lies with the fact that as your printer doesn't have a settings menu screen itself all settings have to be done via the HP Smart app which require the your laptop, or other device, to be connected to the network you're trying to connect the printer too. So if you're laptop is connected via the 5Ghz channel then it tries to force the printer to do the same.

Make sure the next printer you get has the ability to connect to the network on it's own via a setup menu rather than via PC, or you could've tried using the WPS otopn on the printer to connect directly to the router.

Spank

harryandedwardsmum said:

Wifi is fine, I have superfast broadband with a fibre boost,  

FYI you could have the fastest internet known to man coming into your home and still have crappy wifi inside.