Printer Canon Pixma MP620, Wifi problem

D/FW, on the Canon MP620 I have set the wired LAN mode when connecting the printer via LAN (and also with USB connected from printer to Macbook). A screen then pops up saying "the printer in the network could not be detected automatically."

To be clear, my cable modem is connected first to a router, with one outgoing port that connects to my Airport Express for wireless use with my Macbook. Another LAN cable is connected via the another outgoing port from the router to the Canon MP620. Is this a viable setup for wired LAN connection?

To date, only choosing connection via USB mode has worked, but I REALLY want to print wirelessly.

Please please help, I am really frustrated at this point.

cl128,

Let's start over and I'll try and walk you through this. Ok?

So, let me know what your set-up is.

1. You have a cable modem that is connected to a router
(1 wired? or 1A wireless?)
2. From the router your connected to a Airport Express
(2 wired?, or 2A wireless?).
3. How are you connecting to the internet from the
(3 Airport Express?, 3A Router?, 3B Cable modem?)
4. Are you connected to the internet from #3 above
(4 wired? or 4A wireless?).

l128,

Let's start over and I'll try and walk you through this. Ok?

So, let me know what your set-up is.

1. You have a cable modem that is connected to a router
(1 wired? or 1A wireless?)
2. From the router your connected to a Airport Express
(2 wired?, or 2A wireless?).
3. How are you connecting to the internet from the
(3 Airport Express?, 3A Router?, 3B Cable modem?)
4. Are you connected to the internet from #3 above
(4 wired? or 4A wireless?).

DFW, currently my router/modem set is this:

-Cable Modem is connected to wired router via cable.
-Wired router is connected via another cable to Airport Express.
-I connect to the internet from my Macbook wirelessly through Airport Express.
-I also run another cable from wired router to my desktop PC for internet connection (not worried about hooking up my desktop to Canon printer at this moment).

My goal is to be able to establish wireless communication between my Macbook and Canon printer.

Is the problem due to modem/router hardware connection or due to incompatibility between the printer my wireless router (Airport Express) that has been mentioned quite a few times by other reviewer?

Thanks D/FW for looking into this.

cl128,

I believe I understand what's going on.

If you have the MP620 wired to the router (which I think you do) your NOT going to get the printer to work wirelessly because it's not wireless. And since you have the Air Port Express (APE) wired to the router (for wireless internet) you don't have an extra ethernet port to plug the MP620 into the APE right.

Because your router is not wireless you can't plug the printer into it for wireless printing...make sense.

What you'll have to do is set the printer up for wireless printing.....I suggest read the printer manual and figure it out that way. I'd be more than happy to help walk you through it if you get stuck...here's. Below are the steps you should take after you've configure the printer correctly.
Good Luck!

1. Remove the ethernet cable from the printer and router.
2. Go to the Canon MP620 printer settings (on the printer) and set it up for wireless.
3. Shut down the printer (turn the power OFF using the power button).
4. Turn OFF your computer.
5. Plug in your USB cable (computer to printer).
6. Turn on your printer (after step #2 above)
7. Turn on your computer.
8. Open the Canon Network Utility (should be located on your top menu bar).
A. Click on "Open Settings..." (you should see your Printer)
B. Put a check mark in the box and select "Register Scanner"
9. Go to "System Preferences" and then "Print & Fax".
10. Click the + (plus) button to add a printer.
11. In the window that opens click on "More Printers" (using Leopard 10.5X).
12. In the top box select the "Canon IJ Network".
13. In the box below #12 above you should see your wireless printer.
14. Click on the printer, then click "Add".
15. After it's added set it as your default printer.
16. Disconnect the USB cable.
17. You should be able to print wirelessly.

D/FW, I started all over from scratch, and lo and behold everything works. I'm not sure why it didn't work from the get-go, wirelessly from my APE with USB connection, as I've been . Macbook able to recognize printer, and more importantly now recognizes my APE in the access point menu. I can print, I can scan, I am very happy.

Thanks for your help.

Good job.....maybe someday all we'll have to do is turn things on and it works.

God Luck!

following steps mentioned previously, i have my printer connected to the wireless network and the default printer option for my imac. problem arises when i go to print, a warning pops up to inform me the printer is offline. im sure there is a quick fix that i am missing, but yes the printer is on, so not that easy! 🙂

greenglobs,

If your getting the message "printer is offline" from the bouncing printer icon, you don't have your wireless printer set as the default printer. Start with #15 if the wireless printer is listed in your "Printers".

*Remember this:* if you set everything up correctly you should have 2 printer listed (1-USB and 1-Wireless) in the "System Preferences" - "Printer". Note: if the USB printer is set as default but not plugged in you will get the message "Printer is Off Line".

1. Remove the ethernet cable from the printer and router.
2. Go to the Canon MP620 printer settings (on the printer) and set it up for wireless.
3. Shut down the printer (turn the power OFF using the power button).
4. Turn OFF your computer.
5. Plug in your USB cable (computer to printer).
6. Turn on your printer (after step #2 above)
7. Turn on your computer.
8. Open the Canon Network Utility (should be located on your top menu bar).
A. Click on "Open Settings..." (you should see your Printer)
B. Put a check mark in the box and select "Register Scanner"
9. Go to "System Preferences" and then "Print & Fax".
10. Click the + (plus) button to add a printer.
11. In the window that opens click on "More Printers" (using Leopard 10.5X).
12. In the top box select the "Canon IJ Network".
13. In the box below #12 above you should see your wireless printer.
14. Click on the printer, then click "Add".
*15. After it's added set it as your default printer.*
*16. Disconnect the USB cable.*
*17. You should be able to print wirelessly.*

Carey Head: Your post describes my problem exactly. I have the Pixma MP600, connected to a Time Capsule with USB. I can print wirelessly but not scan. I can scan when I hook the printer up directly to iMac with USB. I just talked to Apple support and they said that very few printers have the wireless scanning feature. Almost none.

Have you figured out a go around? Anyone have a solution?

I'm having a somewhat similar connection problem. I am trying to connect my mac (which is connected to the router via ethernet) to the canon mp620, which I have set up for wireless use on the network.

I have successfully setup the printer to use the wireless network via my macbook, and can print wirelessly from the laptop to the mp620. However, I can't seem to add the printer on my mac pro, which again has a wired connection to the network. Oddly, the wireless printer shows up in the Canon IJ Network Tool, but when I open up the Canon IJ Printer Utility and select 'Network' from the printer list window, I don't see anything. Likewise, when I try to add the printer via Print/Fax prefs, and I click on 'More Printers', then select 'Canon IJ Network', nothing shows up in the list.

Does anybody know if it's even possible to connect a machine with a wired connection to a wirelessly active mp620? Perhaps I need to change some settings on my router?

Thanks,
John

Hello John,

I am not sure if this model can have the wireless and the wired connections configured and working at the same time. But if it can, you will need to configure the Ethernet settings in the machine first before you will be able to connect to it from your MacPro. To configure the network settings, you will have to connect the MP620 to one of your Mac's USB ports and then run the Network Utility to set the Ethernet IP address. Once it has an address, you will be able to connect it back to the Ethernet LAN and then it should be visible via the More Printers > Canon IJ Network.

PaHu

I found that the problem connecting wirelessly stemmed from a setting in System Preferences>Security>Firewall. Check "Set access for specific services and applications." Then the computer can find the printer. Additionally when I could not get the scanner to scan wirelessly: Without making any changes in settings, I first scanned with the USB cable attached to my iMac. Thereafter I removed the cable and the iMac finds and scans wirelessly.

Thanks for that concise set of instructions. I recently set up a Pixma MP980 recently and spent several hours trying to get things working correctly. With this I was up in a matter of minutes since I already had the software installed.

My problem was that the network utility would never run to complete the setup. While following your directions I realized software thought I was still connected via USB. After running the USB-based setup I had connected the printer to my Time Capsule via a USB cable. I think the software was tricked into thinking the printer was still connected directly to the computer.

BTW if anyone has a Time Capsule or other Airport device with print server capabilities here's a tip. If all you need is basic printing capabilities, no scanning, try connecting the printer directly to the Airport/Time Capsule. Setup is a breeze compared to the Canon manual.

Ok - sorry in advance but I am getting to the stage that I want to throw this printer out of the window. Wireless Lan just will not work. I am at day 2. I am using an airport extreme.

So I understand I need to configure the printer's network preferences whilst on USB. I see the printer etc etc and can easily print via USB. My issue is that when I go the "add printer fax" and work my way to the print queue and settings I see a generic IP address and router when the choice is "automatic". I tried with this and it failed. I then went back and added my airport/ISP IP address and router manually. This failed too. I did all the recommended re booting etc etc...

The Canon network just will not see it. Maybe I missed someting stupid...

Basically if I can print from USB no problem how do I switch to wireless (whilst I am also using an airport?