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Why do I loose my wireless printer connection?

I have a Dell desktop that is a few years old (running XP Home) in my kitchen that uses a wireless connection to connect to my hub to access my printer and cable modem. Typically after a power fluctuation (or outage) we have to reinstall the printer drivers to be able to use the printer (Konica-Minolta Laser). The internet connection doesn't die. The computers hard wired to the hub don't ever have this problem. I upgraded the hub to a "Linksys Wireless - G" thinking it was a hub issue, but, needless to say, this didn't fix it. Any idea what is going on?

Public Comments

1. This is not an uncommon problem with wireless printers and wireless print servers. The most common fix is to unplug the wireless server for about 15 seconds, then plug it back in. You can check if it's the issue by pinging the wireless server. Click on "Start," then click "Run." Type "cmd" and press enter. When your command prompt comes up, type "ping" hit the space bar once and type in the IP address of the print server. If your printer has an internal wireless server, then unplug your printer for about 30 sec, then plug it in and try it again. While it works, you are going thru too much trouble to fix the problem. To permanently fix this, I would make sure the printer (or wireless print server) is plugged into a surge protector. If it already is, I would upgrade the surge protector. Make sure you don't ever try to plug a printer into a UPS (uninterrupted power supply).
2. The problem is that during a power outage, your printer loses its IP address. It gets a NEW one after the power comes back. I would believe that your printer changing its IP between power outages. I recommend that you hard-code your Printers IP address to ensure you won't have it changing on you. Call the printers tech-support for help changing this.