3300 print adaptor install problems

Question

i recently purchased a 3300 wireless print adaptor along with a 924 printer.  my home network consists of a dell true mobile 2300 and an inspiron 1100.   when i run the 3300's set up wizard i'm getting an error mesage that the print adaptor cannot join the network.  The adaptors settings match that 2300's stettings yet it still can't join the network.  Dell help 800 help desk is useless.  I'm frustrated that this network is dell top to bottom yet i can't get this 3300 working.  has anyone figured this one out?

Sloucher · Answer

Sorry, this isn't going to help but I'm having exactly the same problem. I went through the setup with a Dell phone-support person, and at the end of it all she suggested they send a new unit. Same result. I now have 2 units, and can't get either to work. I don't want to call the support people back, since she said the next ting they want to try is reinstalling the OS. No thanks! (Mine was a brand-new out-of-the-box machine).

Jerry Park · Answer

Network print servers are difficult to set up and the set up is not particularly intuitive. Since this is a wireless print server, is the print server getting an address from your router? Do you know the address of the print server?

Once you know that is happening properly and you know the address, you should go to the printer window and 'add printer'. Don't use the network printer option but choose 'local printer'. Then create a TCP/IP port. Next input the printer's IP address (works better than using the name) and name the port. The rest is just installing the drivers for the printer.

tc51 · Answer

Sounds like I may be in over my head. The 3300 set up breaks down when i get an error messsage that printer adaptor cannot join network. when i check the printer setting it matches the setting on the 2300 router:

ssid channel security mode active
wireless auto none infrastructure yes

so it appears that the printer settings match the network. Is this what you mean when you ask if the print server is getting an address from your router? Do you think this is some kind of firewall issue? IS there a firewall resident in the 2300 that has to be turned off to allow the 3300 to join the network?

thanks for the help

Jerry Park · Answer

Actually, I may be in over my head. I don't know what you mean when you talk about the 3300 setup. I was giving instructions in general on how to set up a network printer (any network printer). Certainly, I would disable any firewall software until I got it working.

If the 3300 has a 'setup wizard', I suspect it is an SNMP program which finds the device on the network and allows you to set it up (IP address, etc.). If that is the case, 'setting up' the printer is good, but doesn't add the printer to your computer's list of available printers. You still need to tell your computer where the printer is located and how to connect to it.

Sloucher · Answer

To explain further (and I'm sure my experience matches the OPs), the way the 3300 setup is supposed to work is as follows:   - you connect the wireless adapter to the computer - you use the setup program (running on the computer) to tell it which wireless network to connect to - you then unplug the adapter from the computer and plug it into the printer   It's the second step here that's failing (for us both). In my case, I simply cannot persuade the adapter to connect to my wireless network.   I've tried disabling all security, disabling firewalls, everything I can think of - all to no avail. I've also tried creating an ad-hoc network rather than connecting to my router, but that still didn't work.   I had reached the conclusion that the adapter simply won't work with my 811b router - but since the OP is using all-Dell hardware that I assume is all 811g, maybe that's not the problem after all. If not, I'm glad I decided not to buy a whole new network infrastructure to get this to work!

avaya_pc · Answer

since you have verified that the settings of the 3300 matches that of the network, does your netword use MAC filtering??? if yes, you should be providing the MAC address for the 3300. and this address could be found at the bottom of the wireless adapter... hope this will fix your issue!!! :smileyhappy:

Sloucher · Answer

No, I tried disabling MAC filtering, and that didn't work.

chesapeake105 · Answer

I purchased a Linksys router and set up the wireless network for the Inspiron 9300 laptop that I recently purchased. I then purchased the Linksys print server for the 924 printer that came with the laptop. I set up the print server as directed. When I try to send a test page to the printer, it goes to the server but never prints. The printer dialogue in the control panel shows that it going through and getting printed. How do I get the printer to actually work with the print server?

TheLoneTech · Answer

I had the luxory of setting up one of these print servers(3300) with a Dell 1710n printer the other day for a Dr.s Office. As said previously.. you must plug it into your computer, then run the 3300 configuration disk, then unplug it from your computer and back into the printer. Then run the printer driver disk on each computer on the network, it should locate the printer then finish installing the drivers.

The situation I ran into to, and am still dealing with is the 1 wire connected computer does not locate the printer on the network. All 8 of the wireless ones spoted the printer immediatly, and test pages were printed w/out any problems, but the wired computer does not even locate the printer. Im dumbfounded by this. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can make the wired connection see the wireless printerserver/printer?

Im going back today to try to run a cat5 cable from the wired computer to the wired network port on the back of the printer.. then im going to try to install the drivers and see if it see's it. Anyways.. a timely response is obviously appreciated.

eleccon · Answer

I have been having a problem with my 3300 also. I have done the setup a thousand times and my network is fine and I can ping the 3300. I also have two computers that are connected to my router by ethernet and they have no trouble printing but my laptop I have to plug in a USB cable to print. I am thinking of just nuking the 3300 and connect my 962 AIO printer to the desktop and share it.

abo444 · Answer

Have you found a solution to your problem?  I have an Inspiron 2200, Dell Wireless adaptor 3300 and a photo944 printer.  I also have been trying to configure the adaptor so I can print wirelessly.  No luck.  It tells me it cannot connect to the network.  Chose the option to install the printer without connected the adaptor to the network, but cannot make that work either.  Any suggestions?

eleccon · Answer

I finally got it working! Here is how I did it, First I uninstalled the 3300 program and the printer program and started from scratch. I turned off all virus scan and firewalls including windows firewall. Then I installed the 3300 disk first and downloaded it. When it asked about which wireless network I wanted it to connect to I told it I wanted to pick another one even though mine was on the list. So I entered it manually and then did the rest of the setup normally. Then when I installed the printer CD I chose typical install instead of network install. The printer works fine now and I checked and it still works on my other computers too.

Sloucher · Answer

Congratulations! Unfortunately I tried that too and it didn't work for me. :smileysad:

abo444 · Answer

eleccon - thanks.  I'll give that a try when I get home.

eleccon · Answer

One more thing I had to do was open my firewall settings and tell it that it was ok for dell communications. The firewall had also put a block on it and somehow it was blocking part of my network.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

3300 print adaptor install problems

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