Win 11 printer setup issues

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tim0001

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#312662 6-May-2024 09:53

Just wondering what the best practices are for setting up a printer with Win 11 and a Starlink router (very limited config options).

Our neighbour bought a couple of Win 11 laptops a week ago and was having problems printing (Canon G4010) from one of them. They are using a Starlink gen 1 router. I’m not usually a Windows 11 user and don’t use the Starlink router, so please excuse me if I’ve overlooked something obvious.

Part of the problem may have been that the laptop hadn’t finished its updates, so I waited half an hour for that to complete.

Another issue was that one of the windows printers had the wrong IP address. Normally with a wifi printer I’d fix the IP address, either manually outside the dhcp scope or fix the printers IP in the router. Don’t believe those options are possible with the Starlink router. (Considered trying to pick an address that the SL router probably won’t allocate, but the firmware changes frequently on those routers and who knows what will happen next week)

So in the window’s printer I replaced the Canon's IP address with its hostname. Seemed to work but did have time for much testing.

My main question is why didn’t the printer setup just work? Is fixing the printer’s IP address still recommended, or are there now protocols in use that should sort things automatically (eg mDNS, SNMP, IPP, WSD). What are your general recommendations for Windows 11 printer setup?

Silvrav

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#3226900 6-May-2024 10:29

I find it comes down to the printer and how good their software is. It should just work but it doesn't always

Generally, I run fixed ip and just installed a mikrotik router myself and put the Starlink router in bypass - its very limited and a point of frustration for a lot of people.

gehenna

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#3226908 6-May-2024 10:58

tbh these problems aren't limited to Starlink, and moreso how printer manufacturers implement their config software and firmware. I have never set up a wifi printer that didn't have some kind of network looking problem along the way. Granted, I've been an anti-printer zealot for a lot of years now, but have been shoulder-tapped as the family IT guy a few times in recent years, and those examples simply reassured me that my zealotry is well placed.

First things I'd check - does it work normally over the network if cabled via ethernet? Does it work normally directly when cabled to the computer with USB? Is there any kind of user configurable wifi settings in the Starlink device, or is there a 3rd party AP with the same?

tim0001

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#3228603 10-May-2024 11:22

Thanks for everyone's input, it seems that I’m not alone in having printer problems.

I possibly have a working solution, it's worked for a few days anyway (option 1 below). I’ve put my notes below in case anyone else has Starlink printer problems.

Three main Starlink printer options that I looked at:

Use a hostname in the “windows printer” instead of an ip. Depending on your setup it could be yourprintersname and/or yourprintersname.local (the later one is resolved by mDNS)
Set a fixed ip in the actual printer. The Starlink router does not allow the DHCP scope to be changed or IP reservation. However it seems that the DHCP scope used by the SL router is probably 192.168.1.20-192.168.1.254. The allocation starts low and works up. (This info is based on some testing I did with DHCPig.)
So 192.168.1.19 or 192.168.1.254 are probably the best bets for a printer. The main DHCP RFC (2131) does talk about various consistency checks to avoid duplicate IPs, but there may be some situations where duplicates could still occur if your printer IP overlaps with the DHCP scope.
Get a 3rd party router or mesh system. (Use DHCP for the printer but make its address static in the router.) Would probably look into a Grandstream GWN7052 (around $80) for a cheap and cheerful option.