AirPort Extreme Base Station 802.11n (2nd gen.) [#2]: Problems with HP printers, fixes; more

Problems with HP printers Users continue to report various issues with Hewlett-Packard (HP) printers connected to AirPort Extreme 802.11n (2nd gen.) Base stations. These include issues with HP printers that are connected directly to the AirPort Extreme's USB port, and those that with wireless capabilities attempting to connect to the wireless network spawned by the Base station.

[Note that many HP printer models do operate properly when connected to the AirPort Extreme 802.11n Base station]

Problems when connected wirelessly If you are experiencing a problem with an HP printer connected wirelessly (via its own built-in Wi-Fi hardware), there are two less-than-ideal solutions: connect the printer directly via Ethernet to the Base station, or turn off wireless security on your network. With regard to the latter fix, it appears some HP printers have problems negotiating with the AirPort Extreme 802.11n Base station's WPA implementation.

Problems when connected via USB The problems with HP devices when connected via the AirPort Extreme 802.11n Base station's USB port are varied. In some cases, the printer is simply not recognized at all. In other cases, the device is recognized but fails to print, or printing starts but is interrupted. In yet other cases, some of the device's functions are not accessible.

MacFixIt reader Sami writes:

"Had my Airport 802.11n base station yesterday, installation went fine and everything seems to be working fine, speed and range have improved. However, my HP PCS 1310 -series printer doesn't seem to work with it. It's visible, and Rendezvouz recognizes it but when printing I get 'Insufficient rights' -error."

David Lindsay adds:

"I am experiencing the problem with HP printers that your site mentioned. I am running a MacBook Pro (non-Core 2) with an HP 6110xi all-in-one printer and the new AirPort Extreme set to 802.11g mode. I had no problems at all printing with the old AirPort Extreme, but am not able to get the new one to communicate properly with the new one. The Mac recognizes that the printer is there, the printer begins to kick in, and then it just freezes. After talking on the phone with Tech Support from Apple's Wireless Group for about 4 hours total, we got a page to print once. But after that one moment, never again. The printer works fine when connected directly to the MacBook Pro USB connection, so the problem must be the new AirPort Extreme."

Some users are reporting statements from HP technical support indicating that various printer models are out-of-date, and therefore unsupported for AirPort Extreme 802.11n Base station connectivity.

MacFixit reader Marc Blumenthal writes:

"I just hooked up airport extreme and my hp deskjet printer does not respond. It gets recognized but you get the error message. I called HP and tech support says I have a discontinued printer that cannot work wirelessly. Support recommended the HP 6980 model that they say will work. It sounds fishy to me because I also have an old Lexmark z25 printer that works fine wirelessly. The Lexmark is plugged into the base station via USB and all 3 of my computers can use it. With the HP, nothing."

What a flashing yellow light means In Knowledge Base article #305101, Apple notes that a flashing yellow LED indicator "can mean several things, such as a disconnected Ethernet cable, invalid IP address, or more."

Apple recommends that users launch the AirPort Utility (located in Applications/Utilities if your AirPort software is properly installed) then double-clicking "Base Station Status" to find out more information about the yellow light.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Previous coverage:

• AirPort Extreme Base Station 802.11n (2nd gen.): Slower speeds with WPA2 encryption enabled

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