HP network printer problem

I have an HP 3055 network printer and love it -- when it works. The
problems only occur when there's a change to the network. Not often,
but major pains. I've already wasted over an hour on the current one.

Every time there's a major glitch in the network, it seems like I have
to reinstall the HP printer on each of my Macs, as well as my one
Windows machine. There must be a better way, especially since the
installation process itself is a bit hit-or-miss.

The problem seems to be with the router reassigning IP addresses (or a
totally new router in one case) and the printer not knowing how to get
a new address, or forgetting its old one. There is an option to assign
an IP address manually from the printer console, and I tried that,
giving it one outside the DCHP range of the router. But when I printed
a Network Configuration Report from the HP, it says the IP address is
"Configuring". I then went back to automatic assignment of IP address,
hoping that would get the printer to ask the router for an address,
but the Network Configuration Report still said "Configuring."

There may also be a problem with the Domain name listed in the Network
Configuration Report. It says "hsdl.comcast.net" which is what my
cable modem probably uses. But I'm pretty sure my local network has a
different name which I gave it but can't find on any of the System
Preference or similar locations. Can anyone help with that problem, as
well as the more general one of how to more easily get the printer to
rejoin the network after a major glitch or change.

Thanks very much.

Martin

Well, no one replied, but I think I figured it out on my own. Here's
what I did that worked -- at least so far. This is for my router (a
Linksys BEFSR41):
* Go to the Linksys' home page by opening a new browser window and
entering 192.168.1.1 in the URL (address) part of the browser window.
That's where you'd normally enter something like http://www.google.com/.
If you haven't changed it (and you should), the default name and
password are Administrator and admin.
* If you're not already there, choose the Linksys' Setup tab and Basic
Setup subtab.
* Unless you have other static IP addresses that you entered earlier,
all three Static DNS will be blank (all 0's). For Static DNS 1 (or the
first blank one), enter an IP address for the printer which is outside
the range of the "DCHP Adress Range" specified two lines above Static
DNS 1. Since the default DCHP Adress Range is 192.168.1.100 to
192.168.1.149, I used 192.168.1.73. This tells the router that traffic
will be directed to that address when using the printer.
* Print a Network Configuration Report from the HP3055's control panel
(Menu button; then choose Main Menu, then choose Reports, then choose
Network Report)
* Determine the IP address from that printout. In my case, it was now
192.168.1.109.
* Open a new browser window and enter the printer's current IP address
(192.168.1.109 in my case) in the URL part of the browser window. This
will take you to the printer's "web page." Choose the last tab, marked
Networking. There will be a warning that a change in the IP address
will result in loss of connectivity to the browser. That's OK. Just
make sure you've written down the static IP address you're going to
assign here.
* Choose "Manual IP" and enter the static IP address you've chosen
(192.168.1.73 in my case). I didn't have to change the Subnet Mask or
Default Gateway. They were still OK. Click Apply and don't worry about
the warning you'll get. The printer's IP address has now been changed.
(For some reason, when I tried doing this from the printer's control
panel it did not "take.")
* On each Mac that had access to the printer at the old IP address
open Applications/HP LaserJet Software/HP Setup Assistant. This will
take you through a number of screens. The critical one is to choose
Network over USB connection, and then to choose "Create ..." which
allows you to enter the IP address assigned to the printer
(192.168.1.73). At the end of the process, you'll be able to use the
printer again. For some reason the name I tried assigning didn't take
and the printer's name is its IP address.
* I didn't have to do anything on my one Windows machine connected to
the network. It printed just fine without playing around. For once
Windows was simpler than the Mac!

Now, I shouldn't have problems with my printer's IP address changing,
or if it does, I can set it backto 192.168.1.73 and the computers
should find it OK. At least I hope so!

Hope this helps someone else.

Martin