Help with HP Office Jet 5212 printer

coconut1818 · ‎11-21-2010

Ok, I'm not good with technology. All of a sudden my wireless printer lost it's connection with wifi. My laptop is fine so it's not the router. My internet provider came and tried to fix it but was unable to. I've only had the printer for a little over a year and he said he thinks the power cord got fried. He said I could get a cable and bypass the power cord by connecting the printer to the router with the cable cord. Does anyone have any experience with this? I tried contacting HP but that was a joke! Any advice will be appreciated.

bhvbum · ‎07-18-2010

that is one way to see if the printer is still working is to connect it with the cable instead of through Wi-Fi. It seems if a cable person came out and couldn't get it connected that may be your only option. You could try googling it and see what kind of answers are out there.

My printer is Wi-Fi capable but I have never used it, I am connected by cable, but I'm not printing from a laptop.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@coconut1818

You maybe able to connect this printer to a computer using a cable. If the printer can turn on, look around your home for a USB-A printer cable.

Amazon sells a UGreen brand 10ft cable for $8.19 with a $1 discount.

I found a YouTube channel RevieweLamp. You will find a unboxing and setup video that can help.

ValuSkr · ‎03-15-2014

If your printer starts ok, then the power cord must be ok. If the problem is that the laptop doesn't communicate wirelessly with the printer. the easiest thing to do is forget about wireless and connect them with a USB cable (you may have to change one or more printer settings before or after). But, if you're game, you can try to troubleshoot the problem. First step is to reboot; I'd do both printer and router. If that doesn't get things back to normal, second step is to consult with your User Guide; if you dont have hardcopy, it's on the HP Support site, I just looked it up.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@bhvbum

I think the cable person was talking about a Ethernet connection to a router. This printer only has USB port.

SueDone · ‎01-17-2011

I recently had the same thing happen out of the blue. I tried restarting the router, the computer and the printer. I finally uninstalled the printer, and reinstalled it. That worked! You may need to get the updated printer driver from the printer manufacturer's website.

KLm · ‎12-03-2010

I agree with @SueDone to turn it all off, and wait a few minutes, then turn it back on. Uninstalling the printer is also something I would do. New printer drivers may be an issue, particularly if you just did an update of some kind.

If your printer has power, the power cord is not the issue. I think those can be replaced on some printers.

I only posted for encouragment really. Printers have been my bane for over 20 years.

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

@coconut1818 wrote:
Ok, I'm not good with technology. All of a sudden my wireless printer lost it's connection with wifi. My laptop is fine so it's not the router. My internet provider came and tried to fix it but was unable to. I've only had the printer for a little over a year and he said he thinks the power cord got fried. He said I could get a cable and bypass the power cord by connecting the printer to the router with the cable cord. Does anyone have any experience with this? I tried contacting HP but that was a joke! Any advice will be appreciated.

Get into the printer setting and reconnect it. My printer's menu is located on the printer itself. You'll need the router name and password to reconnect. If that doesn't work, the wireless card or chip may have failed. As posted, you have the option of connecting the printer directly to your computer or router. I have a Linksys router and it has 2 USB connections.

coconut1818 · ‎11-21-2010

Thank you everyone for the advice. Come to think of it the copy function is still working so that is not the problem. We have turned it off and re-connected to the wifi. I will try everything suggested, thank you so much!!!