NEW IMAGECLASS MF273DW connects to network but my devices cannot see it

[ctucker33]

I have a new MF273DW printer that can successfully connect to my network, but my devices cannot see/find it to print.  I am running windows11 (but even my iPhone gets a connection error when trying to send a print message to it) and here is what I have tried so far:

• confirmed printer is successfully connected to same network as the devices
• tried autodetecting printer from computer
• manually by IP address
• installed updated drivers
• restored factory settings on printer

I am at a loss as to how to get this printer connected to a device.  All devices are using the same network that the printer is connected to.  This should not be this difficult.

Note, it will work (obviously) if I have a wired connection to it, but will not if I try and use the wireless setting.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Thank you.  

IPCONFIG - What I was doing was confirming the subnet of the LAN

TRACERT - Confirming there wasn't double NAT.   2 DHCP servers managing IPs and performing NAT.  The output would confirm this.  Example, if you see 2 private IPs in lines 1 and 2, then this situation exists.  This happens when you add (for example) a mesh system to to your ISP's issued hardware and one or the other device is not put into bridge or pass-through mode.  I didn't want to go into too much depth, but also wanted to provide context of what I was requesting and why.. 

The TRACERT did yield 2 bits of information.  The wireless hardware is Ubiquity and the ISP is comcast.

The network appears to be properly configured.  TRACERT shows a private IP 192.168.1.1 (gateway) and the next address is public 96.120.100.77 indicating network communication is not being filtered twice.

Do you have access to the Ubiquity Dashboard ?  This can be found at 192.168.1.1?  This printer has a 2.4 Ghz radio and can only connect to a 2.4Ghz wireless broadcast that uses WPA2 / AES encryption.  We need to confirm that this broadcast exists.  Depending on the system, the network is dual or tri-band, and is capable of broadcasting 2.4, 5G and 6.  Some printers have issues if the network shares the same SSID name across all broadcasts.  It's done to allow seamless roaming throughout the house or property, but some devices can struggle and therefore benefit from each broadcast having a unique name.

Ubiquity hardware also allows you to choose which access point a wireless device associates with.  This is helpful if you have a large home with several AP's and the client device loses connectivity because its trying to associate with an AP it is too far from.  Sorry for all this context.

I'm re-reading the thread to see if I'm missing anything.  What remains perplexing is the inability to ping the device, yet you can ping other devices successfully.  It should be able to communicate once connected (via wired ethernet or wireless.  Next step.  Let get the printer onto the wired LAN.  This will require an ethernet cable.  At least temporarily while troubleshooting. 

Goal will be to successfully ping the printer when its connected via ethernet.  Until we can do that on one of the interfaces, you are not going to be able to print.  

[dexman335]

Stephen (Moderator) posted a comment. Apparently, the OP is logged in to a guest network which could impact discovering.

 

 Stephen

Moderator

In response to ctucker33

Options

‎06-05-2024 10:54 AM

You're on a Unifi Guest network. The host likely has device isolation turned on, which means your devices can't see each other. (I have one of these systems at home - they're very advanced)
https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000166827-UniFi-Hotspot-Portal-and-Guest-WiFi 

[dexman335]

You're on a Unifi Guest network. The host likely has device isolation turned on, which means your devices can't see each other. (I have one of these systems at home - they're very advanced)
https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000166827-UniFi-Hotspot-Portal-and-Guest-WiFi 

[Stephen]

I got that info from his post, by the way - at the bottom of the information was this:

Unifi.localdomain indicates it's on a Unifi network. Because I use one at home, I know how the Unifi Guest networks act, and he's describing exactly what happens when you're logged into a Unifi Guest network with device isolation turned on.

I'm sorry if I didn't clarify that I wasn't using psychic powers or other data mining! 🙃

[dexman335]

Fortunately you caught that. I use my ISP's hardware. It does have an IoT network as well as a guest network, but I have both of them disabled due to neither of them being needed. 🙂

[Stephen]

If the OP is logged into the UniFi system, they want to make sure mDNS is on (so AirPrint can see it), and it looks something like the screengrab below. Again, this is mine, not Canon official, nor is this officially supported by Canon:

[shadowsports]

Excellent point Stephen, and I definitely considered it.  He mentioned he was able to ping other devices, just not his printer.  ☹️.  

I'm going to read up and see what ubiquiti is doing with guest isolation these days.  In theory,  he shouldn't be able to ping anything on the local LAN except the gateway with this enabled, but I don't know how it's implemented or if it applies here.  Certainly a welcome idea and the more eyes on this, the better. 🙂

Hope you are well and ready for ⛱️ summer.  

[Stephen]

I am well! 

The fact he can't ping the printer makes me wonder if mDNS is active. When I set up my UniFi system, I had mDNS disabled at one point. All of my personal devices are Apple, and none of them would work as they were supposed to. After a lot of research, I discovered mDNS is the backbone of Apple's cloud services. Once I re-enabled it, everything "magically" worked just like St. Jobs intended it to. 😉

[ctucker33]

I think the switching AirBnBs and providers is causing way more problems and variables than I want.  I may have to pause this effort until we get settled at our final destination where I am the admin and can log into our network.  I really do appreciate all the feedback.  I am 99% sure this problem will still exist so I cannot wait for that.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

I understand. I did consider the guest network early on, but discounted it because you said you were able to ping other devices, just not the printer.  When network isolation is enabled, it's all or nothing.  

Ping us when you get to your final destination and we can pick this up.  

[ctucker33]

Really appreciate all the help