N66U printer repeatedly going offline

[SmallASUSNetworkBuilder]

On all my PCs all running on Windows 10 every once in a while I noticed my HP Deskjet 1000 J110 had gone permanently offline, and the Printer.exe program ("EZ Printer" official download from ASUS) cannot detect the printer after that; it just stalls when it is attempting to detect it. Power cycling the N66U fixes the problem without me taking any further actions, at least fixes it temporarily until the next time when the same thing happens. I already tried changing the monopoly mode setting from disabled (default) to enabled, but it didn't help. The N66U is running in AP mode on the latest ASUSWRT firmware. There are no other issues anywhere in my home network that I am aware of, as all my connections have always been working rock stable for years. Does anyone know what gives?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Monopoly mode?

 

[CaptainSTX]

How are you connecting the printer to your network?

Is th printer connected by USB to a PC then shared or does it offer WiFi connectivity?

Good luck in solving your problem. Hopefully someone will have a good solution for you.

I had the same issues when I had an HP printer and it seemed like I had to reinstall it on an almost weekly schedule. Solution for me was to finally replace the HP printer with an Epson which I connect to my LAN using an Ethernet cable. As with everything networking a hardwired connection just works better.

 

[SmallASUSNetworkBuilder]

Monopoly mode?

https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/113988

How are you connecting the printer to your network?

Is th printer connected by USB to a PC then shared or does it offer WiFi connectivity?

Good luck in solving your problem. Hopefully someone will have a good solution for you.

I had the same issues when I had an HP printer and it seemed like I had to reinstall it on an almost weekly schedule. Solution for me was to finally replace the HP printer with an Epson which I connect to my LAN using an Ethernet cable. As with everything networking a hardwired connection just works better.

https://event.asus.com/2012/nw/dummy_ui/en/PrinterServer.html

For reasons that should be completely obvious, I already have hardwired the printer; to be more precise, it is hardwired to the router's built-in USB 2.0 port, and, the router is hardwired also (to my D-Link DGS-108 network switch that I purchased new last week). The printer used to be hardwired to a local PC's USB 2.0 port until recently I have moved the router from another room. The idea behind that particular move was to get better range in the 5GHz band, as I'm a bit tired of 2.4GHz slowliness and so I wanted something, ehh... "new".

 

[ColinTaylor]

Do you see any error messages in the router's syslog relating to lpd? Sounds like that process has crashed.

 

[SmallASUSNetworkBuilder]

Do you see any error messages in the router's syslog relating to lpd? Sounds like that process has crashed.

No, there is no mention of lpd anywhere in the log. For now, I have unplugged the printer's USB cable from the router, and plugged the cable back into the PC that's standing in the same room as the printer... Windows 10 printer sharing does work free from errors, but I have to go manually turn the PC on each time when I want to print from a different PC that's in my home network.

 

[L&LD]

No, there is no mention of lpd anywhere in the log. For now, I have unplugged the printer's USB cable from the router, and plugged the cable back into the PC that's standing in the same room as the printer... Windows 10 printer sharing does work free from errors, but I have to go manually turn the PC on each time when I want to print from a different PC that's in my home network.

You can just leave that computer running. At idle, it is less than 20W if it is a semi-modern computer.

 

[ColinTaylor]

No, there is no mention of lpd anywhere in the log.

Possibly just a bug in the code. Might be worth trying a different firmware version, either an earlier Asus one or a third party like Merlin's or John's.

 

[SmallASUSNetworkBuilder]

Possibly just a bug in the code. Might be worth trying a different firmware version, either an earlier Asus one or a third party like Merlin's or John's.

I'm not sure running on an older ASUSWRT firmware version would be such a good idea. It's crossed my mind to try the Merlin firmware some years ago, but I never actually got around to it so I still have absolutely no idea of how I should configure its settings after the install nor about what I should expect from changes.

 

[SmallASUSNetworkBuilder]

You can just leave that computer running. At idle, it is less than 20W if it is a semi-modern computer.

It's a PC that doesn't belong to me. I'm not even allowed to leave it in sleep mode so using Wake-on-LAN each time before printing is completely out of the question also, and, leaving the printer and/or monitor in standby is also not debatable... some people just are like that.

EDIT: Another reason why I'd like to connect the printer to the router is it allows for printing not only over LAN, but also over WLAN of course.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I'm not sure running on an older ASUSWRT firmware version would be such a good idea. It's crossed my mind to try the Merlin firmware some years ago, but I never actually got around to it so I still have absolutely no idea of how I should configure its settings after the install nor about what I should expect from changes.

Most of the usual concerns about running slightly older (or different) firmware versions are negated in your case because you are using it only as an access point. The RT-N66U hasn't been updated by Asus for nearly a year and is end-of-life for Merlin's firmware. John is actively supporting and updating it though if you're concerned about that.

 

[sfx2000]

chronic instability at the router usually suggests that the power supply to the router is getting ready to fail, they usually fail soft like this..

 

[SmallASUSNetworkBuilder]

Most of the usual concerns about running slightly older (or different) firmware versions are negated in your case because you are using it only as an access point. The RT-N66U hasn't been updated by Asus for nearly a year and is end-of-life for Merlin's firmware. John is actively supporting and updating it though if you're concerned about that.

I'm not so sure about that first sentence. The official ASUSWRT firmware has several many advanced settings that seriously affect the functionality even when running in AP mode... I do not want to risk sacrificing WiFi range and stability because these two characteristics are the reason why I went for the RT-N66U in the first place, i.e., in the 2.4GHz band it still offers a notably bigger range than even the expensive AC routers that are costing far north of 300 Euros, it always is a stable connection in addition to that (excepting only around the dead zones, which there aren't many as that's exactly what having a strong enough range is there for anyway...), and it doesn't need to be rebooted often nor needs to wind up on the trash heap every two years, at least in my own personal experience. I know some are going to say you can decide to install WiFi repeaters and go for seamless roaming, but the downsides of that are (aside from the bandwidth gets cut in half) more cable spaghetti, more complexity and more numerous hardware devices thus increasing the chance of a failure and increasing the effort it takes to troubleshoot, more money, and more time wasted on inevitable frustrations if you, like me, aren't a network engineer and you can't easily get solid advice from someone who is a network engineer because those people are typically always busy doing something else (like, dealing with cable spahgetti...), again, at least in my own personal experience. Sorry if this came across as an N66U advertisement. That's only because I speak from first-hand experience with getting a decent signal at 15 meters distance through three brick walls.