Unable to maintain my wireless printer connection

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Level 1

8 points

Unable to maintain my wireless printer connection

While I have had to reset my HP 8020 printer occasionally in the past, to maintain wireless connection, suddenly, starting just a couple of days ago I now need to do it at least once every day. How do I fix this? I'm running BigSur 11.2.3 on my iMAc. My iMac (and my wife's iMac, the printer, modem and router are all in the same room and. with the exception of my wife's iMac that's perhaps 10 ft away, all equipment is within a 4 ft circle.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Apr 3, 2021 10:06 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

143,958 points

Apr 3, 2021 11:41 AM in response to bob.m

Please do the following in this order:

·Uninstall all HP software, put in the Trash and empty the Trash.

·Please reset the printing system per Reset the Mac printing system to solve a problem

·Next, follow the instructions in Adding a printer

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Answer 2

Tesserax

Level 10

152,254 points

Apr 3, 2021 10:41 AM in response to bob.m

Is this issue with this printer staying connected to your local Wi-Fi network or with each of your your Macs with that same network? It appears from your post, that it is the former. Is that correct? If that is the case, and if none of your Macs are having issues with connecting, the issue may just be with the printer alone.

To help with the troubleshooting, we would need to know the make & model of your wireless printer. In addition, do you have any Bluetooth devices nearby, or directly connected to, either the Macs or the router?

You may also find this HP Support article helpful:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-officejet-pro-8020-all-in-one-printer-series/24208622/document/c06426749

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Answer 3

bob.m Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 3, 2021 11:07 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks much for your quick response, Tesserax.

It's a case of both mine and my wife's iMacs staying connected to our local wifi network, I have both 2.4 and 5.0, and generally use 5.0 for all connections. I really don't see much difference either way. I don't have any Bluetooth devices nearby or connected directly to the Macs or router, except for an Echo in the living room (some distance away) which is connected to the local network.

My printer is an HP 8020 Series.

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Answer 4

bob.m Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 3, 2021 11:12 AM in response to Tesserax

I also should have mentioned that when this disconnect first started to happen occasionally, I would first go through the steps of shutting down the computer and turning it back on or, alternatively, pulling the printer plug for 30 seconds and then reconnecting. Now I don't bother with those steps as it is quicker to simply Reset the Printer in either or both of our macs. Sometimes both Macs are affected, sometimes just one or the other. I have also restarted my Mac just to be sure, too.

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Answer 5

Tesserax

Level 10

152,254 points

Apr 3, 2021 11:19 AM in response to bob.m

bob.m wrote:

Thanks much for your quick response, Tesserax.

It's a case of both mine and my wife's iMacs staying connected to our local wifi network, I have both 2.4 and 5.0, and generally use 5.0 for all connections. I really don't see much difference either way.

FWIW, a 5 GHz Wi-Fi signal would have more difficulty traversing through obstacles, like walls and is "best" used with the wireless clients being in the same room.

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Answer 6

Tesserax

Level 10

152,254 points

Apr 3, 2021 11:20 AM in response to bob.m

I still think the problem is with this printer. I did note when I went to the HP Support site that it mentioned that a critical firmware update was available for it. Were you aware of this, and if so, did you update its firmware already?

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Answer 7

bob.m Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 3, 2021 2:07 PM in response to Tesserax

I uninstalled all my HP software and when it was reinstalled I did note that the firmware, released 2.2.21, is now up to date. So now we can only wait to see if my problems of excessive and much too frequent needs to reset is fixed. Thanks for all your good and persistent help!!

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Answer 8

bob.m Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 3, 2021 12:20 PM in response to Tesserax

I was unable to find a firmware update for my HP 8020 Series printer at HP Support. Where were you able to find it?

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Answer 9

bob.m Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 3, 2021 12:29 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I just did that, deleting all HP software, and resetting the printer. It works now but I'll just need to wait and see if it stays connected. Thanks much for your help, rkaufmann87.

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Answer 10

Tesserax

Level 10

152,254 points

Apr 3, 2021 12:29 PM in response to bob.m

It showed as a "pop-up" when I went to the HP Support site that I already provided you a link with. Interestingly, when I just went back there, it didn't appear again. Hmm, a fluke maybe?

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Answer 11

Apr 3, 2021 4:09 PM in response to bob.m

Before you uninstall anything, have you checked for firmware printer updates on HP’s website?

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Answer 12

bob.m Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 4, 2021 10:36 AM in response to bob.m

Once again, many thanks to each and all of you for your help.! Have gone a whole 24 hours and the printer is still connected.

Bob

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Unable to maintain my wireless printer connection

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