I currently have the problem that we have a Fritzbox 7590 (with the SSID Fritz! Box) in our house on the ground floor and a printer that is in the WLAN from the Fritzbox.
On the upper floor I have a repeater (no mesh, from another provider) also with the SSID Fritz! Box. If I'm now connected to my cell phone on the first floor and want to print something, I get the message that the printer is offline / unavailable (regardless of whether it is a cell phone or a laptop).
Does anyone have any idea how I can solve the problem?
If the printer is in the same LAN (IP range / SUB network this should not be a problem)
This can be checked by checking the IP addresses for the connected devices in the router and then calling up the IP address in the browser, then a status / config page of the printer should appear.
Often, however, the cause is that the printer has hung up and can't be reached for this reason. Disconnect the power from the printer once and then plug it in again after half a minute, so the printer restarts and is usually accessible again.
Windows (and maybe your smartphone too) remembers the local IP address of the printer (e.g. 192.168.178.30). If the printer is not switched on for several days, the printer receives a different local IP address, e.g. 192.168.178.31 (because of the LAN lease time).
If Windows tries to reach the printer at the old IP address 192.168.178.30, Windows reports it is offline. Yes, the printer 192.168.178.30 can no longer be reached.
Solution: In Windows "add a new printer" and let Windows search for a new printer in the network, Windows will find the new printer 192.168,178.31. You can delete old printers in Windows beforehand, because they no longer exist anyway.
You have to do something similar in the printer app on your smartphone… Search for a printer in the network…
Conclusion:
To avoid such confusion, you should always give the printer the same IP address in the FritzBox (it can be set in the FritzBox under Network / LAN properties of the device, option "Always give this device the same IP address" = ON) .
For all repeaters you should also reserve the IP address in the FritzBox, it is better!
The problem is that I can print from the ground floor, but not from the upper floor.
Tip for the printer:
Better to connect the printer to the router with a LAN cable and switch off the printer's Wi-Fi completely. This has the following advantages:
Print jobs are transferred at least twice as fast.
The print jobs are no longer sent via WLAN, less WLAN traffic is advantageous for all connected WLAN devices.
Printing is still possible via WLAN, because it runs via the router anyway, which can still be reached via LAN or WLAN from all devices in the network.
It is completely incomprehensible to me why so many users keep buying Wi-Fi printers (this is a manufacturer's marketing strategy). Printers rarely tune around in the apartment, they can also be connected with a LAN cable, only has advantages… See above!
Then the printer has probably unplanned and connected to the wrong WLAN access point.
It is very, very, very bad when you set up two Wi-Fi networks with the same SSID, it confuses all Wi-Fi devices.
Because as soon as the router is restarted, all WLAN devices switch and search for the repeater WLAN and if you are unlucky, they stay connected via this detour, which is very inconvenient and slow. Worse still, they can't reach the router's DHCP server and ultimately have no or an incorrect IP configuration.
Even if the repeater is switched off, all WLAN devices automatically switch to the WLAN of the FritzBox, which is also very inconvenient.
It is a WLAN ping pong that is caused there, confusing all devices.
If you have even defined your own subnet with your own DHCP server on the upper floor, then this is very "unwise", because you separate the two networks, yes, the devices then do not see each other (as you can see? No printer!).
My advice:
There should only be 1 active DHCP server (= the FritzBox below) in the entire network. And don't define a subnet, you don't want that at all, you want to use the printer together from everywhere (below and above).
Please rename the SSID (WLAN name) above, otherwise it will do WLAN ping pong.
And don't use the printer's WLAN ad hoc hotspot (Wi-Fi direct), it is total nonsense in an infrastructure. It is and should be a network printer.
And the guest Wi-Fi is only for guests, never use it with their own devices, because guests can never "see" and use your other devices.
With a CMD and the ping command you can easily determine whether the printer can be reached at all. Look up the supposed local IP address under the properties of the printer in Windows and check the availability with the ping. Example:
Open the command prompt and
ping 192.168.187.30
Send and see if the network printer can be reached at all.
Oh yes, I remember:
is the network type set to "public network" by mistake in Windows? If so, that is wrong, because printers can only be reached in the "private network"! Please switch to "private network".
Has the printer been set up as a "network printer" at all?
Print out the test page with the printer menu, there's the local IP address (192.168.178?), Then it is a network printer.
