Windows 7: HP Printer Changes Ports Randomly

I have 3 computers - 1 desktop, 2 laptop. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit is on the desktop & one laptop. The other laptop is running XP.

I have 2 printers HP Photosmart 3300 wireless and C5180C wired.

From time-to-time, no rhyme or reason, the printer ports for either and/or both printers changes.

Anyone have any ideas WHY? I know how to change the ports so I can print, but it's a real pain in the neck to have to do this all the time. This happens frequently (2-4 times a month).

HELP! Thanks.

Hi

Have you fixed the IP address for the wireles printer in your router setup? Not sure why or how the wired printer would change.

Regards
UKMedia

Some more information would be helpful.

How are the printers connected? Give us the map, like below:

• The C5180C is wired to the Desktop and sharing is enabled?
• The 3300 is wired to the Desktop and not shared?
• Laptop #1 accesses the C5180C through the desktop share?
• Laptop #1 accesses the 3300 wirelessly?
• Laptop #2 accesses the C5180C through the desktop share?
• Laptop #2 accesses the 3300 wirelessly?

Which computer loses the port ID?

• Does this happen while using the desktop?
• Does this happen while using one or both of the laptops?

It's hard to solve the puzzle when we don't have all the pieces .

I haven't really tried anything until now to fix the problem. The map is as follows:

The 5180C HP printer is wired into the Lynksys Router.
The desktop HP (Windows 7) is wired into the Lynksys Router.
The 3100 HP printer is wireless.
Two laptops (one using XP, one using Windows 7) are both wireless.

We have these computers and printers networked on a secure system. However, we have another problem in accessing files from one computer/laptop to another. We used to be able to do this easily, but all of a sudden, it's not working. We've decided to solve one problem at a time though.

All computers, both laptops and desktop, lose the IP address to both printers. There is no warning when this happens. It doesn't always happen at the same time for all the computers or printers. We find the IP address has changed when we go to print and nothing happens. We know how to change the ports, but it'd be nice not to have to.

Today I did the following per suggestion at answers.yahoo.com:

Went to Network Connections
Wireless Connectin Status
Details
Copied info regarding current IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway, and DNS Addresses.
Wireless Connection
Properties
Set Fixed IP Address using copied info.

Do I need to do something with the port info on the printers now, or is it fixed? I don't want to do this on all three computers until I know it was the right thing to do.

Any and all feedback is much appreciated.

Yes, in some cases, setting a fixed address for each printer in the router's settings and again in each of the printer's settings will do the trick.

But I must warn you: I have an fairly new Epson printer here that will just not play nice wirelessly. Despite all attempts to get this thing to work (going far beyond just setting fixed IPs) it continues to drop off the network after sitting idle for about 20 minutes or so.

The workaround has been to turn the printer off and then back on. This gets it to be recognized on the network and everyone can print to it wirelessly. Until it drops off again in 20 minutes.

I hope setting the fixed address works for you. It does for many people.

How do I change the address in the printer's settings? I changed it in the router's settings using the instructions I stated earlier. Did this also change the printer settings or do I need to do something else? Thanks.

It is not necessary to do both. Giving the printer a fixed IP on the router should be good enough.

I went the extra step since it did not work for me. But it made no difference anyway.

To answer your question, if there is not an option to do so in your printer's keypad settings, then you may need an add on configuration program to do so. For my Epson printer I had to install "EpsonNet Config V3", downloadable from my printers webpage at Epson, that allowed me to make network configuration changes.

I don't know if HP has anything like it. But as I said, it should not be necessary since you can assign a fixed IP to your printers MAC address via the router in a simple home network.

Thanks for your help. Hopefully this has fixed my "little problem".

Post back either way!
Good luck.

Well, it seems my "fix" isn't fixed. For some reason our router went off-line (again) and the ports for both printers were changed. At this point, I'm thinking maybe the problem is with the router not the printer ports. We have had to reset the router (unplug) many times. Any opinions on this theory?