2WIRE 3800HGV-B and HP Laserjet network printer - extremely slow printing

[THX1965]

I just switched from Timewarner Cable to AT&T's U-verse. I have an HP Color LaserJet CP1518ni connected to the 2WIRE 3800HGV-B modem/router that AT&T gave me. I am using it as a wireless router, but the HP is connected to it directly via Ethernet. Nothing else is connected the the 2WIRE modem/router - just the HP printer.

I had the same setup with Timewarner (their wireless modem/router) and my HP printer hard wired to it. It was working fine. I never had any problems with printing speeds.

Now - it takes 10 minutes and longer to print a simple PDF document. Even text documents take minutes to print. - I did not change anything with the printer, I just plugged it into the new AT&T modem/router.

Wireless internet speeds are as fast as they should be for the service I am paying for (in the 20MB/s range). It's just the wireless printing that is a big problem now.

I was trying to get help from AT&T's (Indian) tech support, but they said that they'd not deal with printer problems and I'd have to talk to HP - which is of course nonsense since one day it works fine - the next day with the new AT&T router the printing speed slows down to a crawl.

Does anyone know if there is anything in the setup of the 2WIRE that would have such a negative effect on printing speeds? Is there anything I can tweak, any area I should take a close look at?

I'd really be happy for any kind of advice. Thank you so much in advance.

Markus

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

THX1965 - I do not know why it is a problem. How about connecting USB directly to the computer. My printer is connected that way & I was thinking I was going to have to change the connection to make it available to other computers, but I was surprised to find my other computer can print to it, as well.

[THX1965]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try connecting it with a USB cable instead when I get home (defies somewhat the purpose of having a real network printer, but I'll try.)

[oufanindallas]

Have you tried uninstalling it from your computers and adding it back again. It could be because it still had old ip information on your computers.

[THX1965]

The printer has a fixed IP address (10.0.1.3). That should not change with the new router, unless I have to tell the router where to find it. But it shows up and does print - only very very slowly.
My computer (Macbook Pro running OS X 10.8) sees the printer as a network-connected Bonjour printer. I did reinstall the printer driver on my Mac several times, just to rule out that possibility.

[BeeBeeSA ACE - Wizard]

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THX1965 wrote:
The printer has a fixed IP address (10.0.1.3). That should not change with the new router, unless I have to tell the router where to find it. But it shows up and does print - only very very slowly.
My computer (Macbook Pro running OS X 10.8) sees the printer as a network-connected Bonjour printer. I did reinstall the printer driver on my Mac several times, just to rule out that possibility.

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That could be your problem right there.  10.0.1.3 is not in the IP scope range of the RG.  It will need to be 192.168.1.X.

[THX1965]

Ah - that's a great point. I am assuming I can change the IP address of an HP network printer, correct? 10.0.1.3 is the default one, which I did not touch.

[BeeBeeSA ACE - Wizard]

Yes google the model number or reference your owners manual and see how to change it.  I would set it to DHCP and just let it obtain an IP address automatically. 

You might also try unplugging the ethernet cable and power down the printer then power it back up and then plug the ethernet cable back in and see if it finds a new IP address.

[THX1965]

I will try and set it to DHCP. Thanks.

[THX1965]

I just checked my HP network printer - it was already configured correctly:

IPv4 address:	192.168.1.1
Subnet mask:	255.255.255.0
Default gateway:	192.168.1.254
IP configured by:	DHCP
DHCP/BOOTP server:	192.168.1.254
DHCP expiration time:	00:23:59 (days:hours:minutes)
WINS server:	0.0.0.0

So the slow printing can't be because of an out-of-range IP address. Hmmmm......

[THX1965]

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I figured out the problem. The default firewall settings on the 2WIRE were the problem.

Through the web browser interface of the 3800HGV-B I selected "SETTINGS" - "FIREWALL" - "APPLICATIONS, PINHOLES and DMZ" and under "1) Select a computer" I chose my connected network printer. And for that chosen printer/computer I enabled DMZplus mode - allowing all traffic to go through.

Wow! What a difference! Even complex PDF documents now print within a few seconds, what used to take 10 minutes and longer.

Am I endagering my printer now by leaving it fully exposed? Should I have narrowed the hole in the firewall for that device to "web server"? If somebody knows anything about firewall configuration, I'd be very interested in hearing how to fine tune it.

Thanks.

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

There is no firewall between the Ethernet ports on the 2Wire router. The firewall only exists between the Internet and your LAN.

Turning on DMZPlus did not fix your printing issue. Something else is going on.

[THX1965]

That is really odd. - Well, switching it to DMZplus did one thing: the 2Wire assigned the printer (which is in DCHP mode) a competely new and different IPv4 address: 99.117.43.3 - it was a 196. number before.

That is really the only thing that has changed. Hmmm.

[THX1965 · Accepted solution]

Now I know what the real problem was:

Our HP Color Laserjet network printer has built-in "Bonjour" technology, meaning that our Macs can automatically see it on the network without anyone having to type in any IP addresses. This comes standard on every Apple device and is very convenient.

Turns out the 2Wire 3800HGV-B had a problem with it. When I disabled "Bonjour" on the HP printer and pointed my computer to the printer via the IP address (that I assigned the printer through the 2Wire router), printing speed is now back to normal. "Bonjour" being "on" is the default config on the printer by the way.

The Timewarner modem/router that I was using up to 3 weeks ago had no problem with my Bonjour-enabled printer. I am starting to believe that the 3800HGV-B is pretty outdated compared to what other companies are offering. And I was under the assumption that AT&T's U-verse is more advanced than Timewarner's setup. Hmmm....