Printer Stopped Connecting

@XfinityAdrienne​ Yes, it was connected to a 2.4 connection. I also have an old Windows 10 laptop that also uses 2.4, located in the same room as the printer, and it connects just fine.

Thanks for laying that out — it definitely helps paint the full picture. We get how frustrating it is when something that’s worked for years suddenly stops playing nice, especially with printers (they always seem to pick the worst moments).

Here’s what could be going on and a few things to try:

What Might Be Happening:

• Since your Mac is wired (LAN) and your printer is now connected through the WiFi extender, they may be on different subnets — which can cause discovery issues. That’s why your Mac can’t "see" the printer even though it’s online.

• If the printer dropped off your main network 10 hours ago, it could’ve been a band steering issue (where the gateway tried to push it to 5GHz even though it only supports 2.4GHz).

• The extender might be assigning IPs separately or creating a semi-isolated network, which can break communication between devices.

Things to Try:

1. Reconnect the printer directly to your gateway’s 2.4GHz network:

   • On your gateway, try naming the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands separately (example: Home-2.4 and Home-5G). This makes it easier to ensure the printer stays on the 2.4GHz band.

   • Reconnect the printer to Home-2.4 only.

   • Keep your Mac on the LAN or connect it to the same 2.4GHz WiFi for testing.

2. Restart your gateway and printer
   Power cycle both, then try reconnecting the printer to the gateway again, not the extender.

3. Check your gateway settings in the Xfinity app:

   • Go to Connect > View WiFi Equipment > Advanced Settings

   • Look for options like "Device Discovery" or "UPnP" — make sure they’re enabled.

4. Static IP for the printer (optional but helpful)
   If possible, reserve an IP address for your printer from the gateway's admin settings so it’s easier to find on the network.

Let us know how it goes after trying those steps — we’re happy to keep working through it until your printer and Mac are talking again. You've already done great legwork!

I can try what you suggested, but there are a few things that make no sense to me.

1. I don't see why the printer cannot connect directly to the gateway at 2.4 if the Windows 10 laptop in the same room can do so at 2.4, especially given that the laptop is incapable of connecting at 5.0.

2. I can understand why the subnet might be an issue for the WiFi extender, but the printer was printing fine without being on the extender at all until 10 hours ago. I only attempted to connect to the extender after I began to experience this issue just to find out what would happen.

3. If it was a band steering issue, why would the gateway try to push the printer to 5.0 but not do the same thing with the Windows 10 laptop?
4. I doubt very much that the extender is generating IPs. It's a $10 device. But again, it shouldn't matter because I really don't want the printer to go through the extender.

I'm trying to split the 2.4 GB and 5.0 GB bands into separate networks. Your instructions are a bit outdated. What I'm finding I have to do is to tap WiFi at the bottom of the app screen, then tap WiFi Details, not View WiFi Equipment. On the pop-up screen, I click Edit WiFi Settings. This is where I can click "Split bands (not recommended)" and then scroll down to give the two networks different names instead of sharing the same name. I'm tagging the WiFi name by adding -2.4 to the first WiFi Name and -5.0 to the second WiFi Name. Then I tap Save. Tapping WiFi Details again confirms that the network has been split.

My Windows 10 laptop loses connection, but I'm able to reset the connection to the new network name for MyNetworkName-2.4. I also have to reset my iPhone connection to MyNetworkName-5.0, and I'm sure I'll have to do the same thing with my other old Apple Air laptop and iPad. However, when I try to set the printer to MyNetworkName-2.4, it times out.

I was finally able to make it work. Not sure what happened exactly. First, I tried resetting the WiFi via 10.0.0.1, but that didn't help. Then I tried unplugging the gateway and plugging it back in. At first, it didn't help, but eventually something shifted.  It may be that the gateway took longer than expected to reset the WiFi networks after I forced the power off and on. At any rate, it's working ... finally! Weird experience, but thanks for your help.