Unable to connect to MF242

[johnma55]

We have an ImageClass MF242dw monochrome printer. It has been working well for several months, but this morning, after printing several documents, it had an error message "Changed IP Address". This has happened before and we have been able to correct by either restarting the printer or the PC or by reconfirming that the PC's were on the same WiFi. This time it did not work. We then tried checking the WiFi SSID the printer was connecting. For over an hour it would not show our network in the list of available SSID's, and then after a restart it would show. Finally got it to connect to the same network as our PC's. Still errors out. Tried rerunning the Canon MF setup utility that I downloaded from the support site, this one dated 12/19/21 (approximately). It will not find the printer when it searches for a device. I am baffled. Is it not really connected even though the SSID setup on the printer said it was "Connected" when I entered the password?

[Hector]

Hello Johnma55,

The issue you are describing would point to a poor network connection or something blocking the setup. We would be happy to assist with the issue. To provide some feedback or some troubleshooting steps, we would need some additional information. If you could reply to this message with the information below, we can provide some assistance.

1. What version of the Mac or Windows operating system are you using on your computer?
2. How far is the printer from the router?

[mococatx]

Hey Hector... I am having a very similar problem.  I didn't see the"changed IP address" message until today.  I am running Mac 13.0.1.  My printer is RIGHT NEXT TO my router.  In my case, it seems that when my printer goes to sleep in energy saver mode it loses the connection.  If I try to print something, it just says "Looking for printer." and it never finds it.  Even when I hit the energy saver button and wake up the printer, it won't print.  I then enter the menu, select my wifi connection again (where I will see the duplicate wifi), and try to print.  It will say "connecting to printer" and then after a minute or so "Printer is not responding."  Once in a while, something works and I can print until the printer goes to sleep again.

[mococatx]

I had been using my printer for over a year now with absolutely no problems.

[Hector]

Hello Mocoatx,

The issue looks similar, but it point to a problem with the network environment. If the ip address keeps changing and the printer sees duplicates of your network, I would suggest manually setting your IP address to see if it resolves the issue. If you have a Mac, you an also try removing the MF242 from your printer list and installing the MF Printer Driver & Utilities for Mac V10.11.9 from our web site. Once the drivers have been installed, you can try printing again to see if the issue has been resolved.

If you continue to have issue, I would suggest contacting support over the phone at 1-800-652-2666. Our agents would be happy to check the connection and see what might be causing the communication issues.

[mococatx]

Thanks, Hector.  I have tried both of those things and neither one worked.  What I did find was that when I brought another different printer to my office, it had the _exact_ same problem.  When I took the Canon home and connected it to my home wifi, it worked immediately and perfectly and has continued to work perfectly.  I have since changed internet service providers at my office, and therefore changed the gateway (modem/router) I was using, and I have had no problem since.  I think the problem was specific to the Optimum gateway that I had, though I can't get Optimum to understand that.  Whatever.  Problem solved!

Thank you for your help.