Problem with laptops and printers on different bands

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by eemuler, Jun 30, 2021.

  1. eemuler

    eemuler MDL Senior Member

    Jul 31, 2015
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    Router has 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz. Two SSIDs. Same range of IP addresses.
    Laptops all connect to 5Ghz SSID as that gives better data transfer rates.
    Printer is older, so only able to connect to the 2.4Ghz SSID.
    Everything works fine if the laptops also connect to the 2.4GHz SSID. However, when the laptops are connected to the 5GHz SSID (as is normally the case due to performance reasons mentioned before), the laptops cannot see the printer. Any tips on how to fix this? Even pinging the printer's IP address doesn't work when the laptops are on 5GHz.
    Router is question is JCOW407 (JioFiber).
     
  2. Hadron-Curious

    Hadron-Curious MDL Guru

    Jul 4, 2014
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    Have you tried to reset the router?
     
  3. eemuler

    eemuler MDL Senior Member

    Jul 31, 2015
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    Yes. It seems to be a routing table/firewall thing. I can't even ping the printer from the other band.
     
  4. Hadron-Curious

    Hadron-Curious MDL Guru

    Jul 4, 2014
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    What is your printer model? Have you checked for updates for the printer? Have you tried to hard-reset the printer? Sorry for asking too many questions.
     
  5. eemuler

    eemuler MDL Senior Member

    Jul 31, 2015
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    No need to be sorry - on the contrary, thanks for taking the time and trying to help.
    Printer model is HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 3630 All-in-One Printer. Firmware updated. Latest driver installed. Works fine over USB and from devices on the same 2.4GHz band. I tried to force it to connect to the SSID on the 5GHz band, but that made it go offline and I had to connect a USB cable to reconfigure the network settings back to the SSID on the 2.4GHz band.
    I'll try reading up on routing tables and set them up on the router. Setting up firewall rules in the router between my laptop and the printer didn't help.
     
  6. Hadron-Curious

    Hadron-Curious MDL Guru

    Jul 4, 2014
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    Okay. It is clear that HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 3630 All-in-One Printer is not compatible with 5Ghz Wi-Fi network. So it is a compatibility issue. I thought as much initially but didn't want to speculate.
     
  7. eemuler

    eemuler MDL Senior Member

    Jul 31, 2015
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    Something in the router is blocking the communication. It should have been enabled by default, but it isn't.
    Laptop IP 192.168.29.73 (normally connected to the 5GHz band)
    Printer IP 192.168.29.7 (set by me, and excluded from DHCP in router settings) (always connected to the 2.4GHz band)
    Router IP 192.168.29.1 (set by the ISP)

    ping 192.168.29.7 only works when the laptop is connected to the 2.4GHz band.

    It is not a huge problem, just somewhat irritating to have to switch the laptops to the 2.4GHz band when you need to print or scan something. If I have a download running, I have to wait for it to complete, or abandon it.
     
  8. Hadron-Curious

    Hadron-Curious MDL Guru

    Jul 4, 2014
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    Yes, the printer can only connect to 2.4Ghz band anything more than that is a problem. So your printer is not compatible with 5Ghz . That is the issue. I don't believe there is any solution to that.
     
  9. eemuler

    eemuler MDL Senior Member

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    Seems to be working now. I simply disabled IPv6 on my laptop.
     
  10. Hadron-Curious

    Hadron-Curious MDL Guru

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    It is not compatible with 5Ghz. That is a known thing. You have to check if really you are on 5Ghz.
     
  11. eemuler

    eemuler MDL Senior Member

    Jul 31, 2015
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    The printer is on 2.4GHz. The laptop is on 5GHz. Both are connected to the same router which has TWO SSIDs, one for 2.4GHz and one for 5GHz. Before disabling IPv6, the laptop couldn't see the printer. After disabling IPv6, the laptop can see the printer.
    My guess is that with IPv6 enabled, the laptop tries to find the printer using both IPv4 and IPv6 but gets stuck because the printer doesn't understand IPv6.