Seeing Scanner on a wifi Macbook Pro

[MacInWin]

You mentioned you are in a flat. It could be neighbors using WiFi that is on the same channels, and which interfere with the communications to the printer. You might see if there are settings in your router to allow you to move to other channels. Here are some articles from Apple:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202222
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202068
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201542

Things either work or they don't work

Not in the world of computing. A certain amount of randomness is part of the "game." ;D

 

[IWT]

Thanks, Jake.

Very useful troubleshooting links.

Ian

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks Jake.

I'm out of my depth on networking, but I'll look at the wifi settings. Most of the flats hereabouts were cabled up to Virgin, but I'll see if I can do anything on the router.

Randomness? Well, maybe, but I used to fix motor cars, and 99.9% of the time it worked, or it didn't. (I don't believe in magic!)

I'll also try and run that wifi diagnostic detailed in your links.

Also, further information on our set-up.

Our access to the internet is via CABLE. Very fast, clean, no complaints. The WIFI element is internal, i.e. inside our flat. We have a router, which has ethernet connections, and is also a wifi receiver, connecting our iPads to the www, also my partner's MacBook when she is disconnected from her ethernet line, also my Mini if ever my ethernet line is disconnected (rarely).

Our phones aren't internet-connected. We are old, and keep the phones for phone calls!

Obviously, our many neighbours (close by, this is overcrowded London), no doubt have similar set ups to ours, i.e. iPads, PCs, whatever, connected to their own routers, thence to the cable www.

I'm still puzzled by the fact that it SEEMED to make a difference when I disconnected/connected the MacBook from the ethernet line. My reasoning is still scientific, though - if a thing happens once, it should happen again.

Which is why this one is throwing me a bit.

A

 

[MacInWin]

The challenge is that although it's your router in YOUR flat, the signals from your neighbors' routers are also in your flat. WiFi can penetrate walls and can reach about 46M indoors, depending on the number and construction of the walls/floors it must pass through. WiFi can also be affected by microwave ovens and other electronic equipment. And more modern wifi routers use beam technology to extend the range even further. And so if your neighbor has a wifi router and if it's set up exactly like yours then you both are trying to use the same channels, which can lead to interference. If your neighbor turns off their computer, the interference will decline, but when they turn it on, the interference will increase. That change in signals will show up in your flat as works/doesn't work. I would venture to say that Virgin has a setup on the router that is the default, and that all of you in that block of flats using Virgin have the same setup. In your situation, it may be best to use ethernet as much as you can. And take a look at the settings as the articles suggest and see if changing channels will make things any better.

 

[pm-r]

Our Mac set-up has evolved rather than been planned. Should we start again?

I things are working well, why create more extra work to end up back in the same situation.

No, no power down. In fact we leave it on permanently to save ink (consumes a bit in the on/off process).

Good method to use with those printers. But do print something every week or two. Maybe even use their "test print" from the Utilities tab of the print queue window.




- Patrick
======

 

[pm-r]

In your situation, it may be best to use ethernet as much as you can.

I dare say it's still the preferred and most reliable method where possible to use it.

Unfortunately and no thanks to Jony Ive and his obsession for skinny Mac portables, the user may need to purchase a damned adapter.




- Patrick
======

 

[allen-uk]

Just for clarification, then.

Is my Canon connected by wifi to the Macbook?

I thought I had by accident created a Local Area Network - both Macs connected by Ethernet to the Router, my Mac connected to the Canon via USB - and that was how the second Mac was ‘seeing’ the printer.

Is this complete twaddle? I would like to be put right!

Sorry for sharing my ignorance, and thanks for your help.

A

 

[MacInWin]

No need to slam Jony on this one, Patrick. Steve Jobs had the same penchant. Remember when the MBA first came out? Jobs was practically giddy about the fact it would fit in a standard manilla envelope. And if people don't buy skinny computers, they won't make them. So it's our own demand for thinner and lighter portables that has lead to form following function. What really needs to happen is for a new standard for Ethernet connectors to come along that is smaller than the huge RJ45 (8P8C) connector that is the current standard. That standard is at least 20 years old and it is time for it to just go away and be replaced by something smaller, more like a lightning connector, or USB-C. Frankly, I applaud Apple for trying to move the bar on this one.

 

[MacInWin]

Just for clarification, then.

Is my Canon connected by wifi to the Macbook?

I thought I had by accident created a Local Area Network - both Macs connected by Ethernet to the Router, my Mac connected to the Canon via USB - and that was how the second Mac was ‘seeing’ the printer.

Is this complete twaddle? I would like to be put right!

Sorry for sharing my ignorance, and thanks for your help.

A

One does not "accidentally" create a LAN. As soon as you installed the WiFi router, you created a Local Area Network with that Router as the central hub. It then issues the IP addresses for all connected devices and enable all connected devices to communicate with one another, either through wiring or wirelessly.

To see if you are connected to the Canon by WiFi, turn off wifi on the MacBook and try to print. Then turn WiFi back on and repeat. The results should be clear. And with your setup, you not only have a local area network, you have a shared networked printer with a print host (your Mac).

 

[pm-r]

To see if you are connected to the Canon by WiFi, turn off wifi on the MacBook and try to print. Then turn WiFi back on and repeat. The results should be clear. And with your setup, you not only have a local area network, you have a shared networked printer with a print host (your Mac).

And just to add to Jake's comment, if the LAN connected printer was using only the connected ethernet/USB connection, it would need to be "shared" in the System Prefs > Sharing pref pane.

PS: With such a setup, the printer would not be available for use to others if the mini was not on and working. Another advantage for using Wi-Fi wireless setup, the printer is always available, as long as it's turned On!!!




- Patrick
======

 

[pm-r]

@Jake

No need to slam Jony on this one, Patrick. Steve Jobs had the same penchant. Remember when the MBA first came out? Jobs was practically giddy about the fact it would fit in a standard manilla envelope. And if people don't buy skinny computers, they won't make them. So it's our own demand for thinner and lighter portables that has lead to form following function.

Well Jake, I dare say that Steve with all his various quirks is no longer with us and if it wasn't for him, I would question if Jony Ive would be either.

As for buying a new Mac, it's pretty hard to avoid purchasing anything else as Apple doesn't provide any fat models for purchase any more that I know of.

And I'll bet they could sell lots if they did, and also went back to using the old fatter scissor keys that worked much better.

Right now, one only has a choice from the models they sell, and they are all thin and maybe going to get even thinner.

PS: Question, why is the thinness design such a goal when weight and workability seems to make more sense and what people want.

Heck. if they get much thinner, users will be almost cutting their hands carrying them around if they don't add some handles or some sort of a carry case.





- Patrick
======

 

[allen-uk]

Ok Jake, Patrick, but my LAN wasn’t a deliberate act.

It’s the SCANNER connection that fails, not the print function - that’s always printed, possibly through my accidental/deliberate LAN.

I’ll have a fresh look in the morning and do those wifi on/off tests.

Allen

 

[ferrarr]

If you want, you can just unplug the printer USB cord, and print something, then you'll know, if it's printing over Wi-Fi, or USB.

 

[MacInWin]

Actually, Patrick, as a previous road warrior, who travelled 50 weeks every year, I would have killed for a portable as light and small as the current crop of MBPs. What "people" want from a portable is for it to be as light as possible and as small as possible for the screen size. So thin is a real asset for the traveller. If you just plunk it on the desktop and never move it, thinness isn't that important, but if you are lugging it through an airport, thin and light is the way to go.

 

[MacInWin]

Ok Jake, Patrick, but my LAN wasn’t a deliberate act.

It’s the SCANNER connection that fails, not the print function - that’s always printed, possibly through my accidental/deliberate LAN.

I’ll have a fresh look in the morning and do those wifi on/off tests.

Allen

The scanner function may or may not be supported through WiFi. I don't know your particular printer/scanner, but I do know that my HP printer/scanner scans well through USB, not so well wirelessly. I've never bothered to mess with it, as I am content with scanning through USB.

 

[pm-r]

Actually, Patrick, as a previous road warrior, who travelled 50 weeks every year, I would have killed for a portable as light and small as the current crop of MBPs. What "people" want from a portable is for it to be as light as possible and as small as possible for the screen size. So thin is a real asset for the traveller. If you just plunk it on the desktop and never move it, thinness isn't that important, but if you are lugging it through an airport, thin and light is the way to go.

My point Jake, is that regardless of size (for accommodating the particular screen size), one does not have to make them thinner to reduce the weight. That's all in the actual design and manufacture process.

Just using a honeycomb type shell could make them lighter and allow better speakers and proper keyboard keys and allow for better cooling and hence faster running chips.

And even aluminum foam or various metals foam metal or even some metallic glass sure come to mind.

But as for "as small as possible for the screen size", I'd say they've got that about as small as one can go, especially for those of us without the best eyesight, and definitely they can go as light as possible and the more important of the two I'd say.




- Patrick
======

 

[pm-r]

@allen-uk

It’s the SCANNER connection that fails, not the print function - that’s always printed, possibly through my accidental/deliberate LAN.

Allen, think about the difference a bit and it may make some more sense to you, in that when printing, the computers are sending out the data to get printed, when scanning, the AIO/scanner is having to be told what and then get its data to the computer.

And don't forget that the Mac OS X is actually trying to be helpful and can often get things working when the user is blindly connecting things and often without really understanding the details or reasons of what they are doing. No offense intended or implied here. ;D





- Patrick
======

 

[MacInWin]

My point Jake, is that regardless of size (for accommodating the particular screen size), one does not have to make them thinner to reduce the weight. That's all in the actual design and manufacture process.

Just using a honeycomb type shell could make them lighter and allow better speakers and proper keyboard keys and allow for better cooling and hence faster running chips.

And even aluminum foam or various metals foam metal or even some metallic glass sure come to mind.

But as for "as small as possible for the screen size", I'd say they've got that about as small as one can go, especially for those of us without the best eyesight, and definitely they can go as light as possible and the more important of the two I'd say.




- Patrick
======

Patrick, it's not just weight, it's physical size. When I was a road warrior, I carried a ThinkPad. It was about 3/4" thick, or more. I don't remember the weight, but it wasn't light. It took up most of my briefcase, to the extent that eventually I moved to a roller case to hold the portable and the papers I needed to carry because I couldn't get what I needed into a typical briefcase. What I WANTED was something lighter AND thinner. Sort of like the MBPs we have today. Foam metal or honeycomb would be the very antithesis of what I wanted. No bulk, just nice and thin, and I don't care about speakers. It's not a music system, it's a portable computer. And I would not have minded an adapter like the ones I see for the latest MBP as a tradeoff for the hefty Thinkpad. Those adapters are small and easy to stuff in any side corner of a briefcase.

Not that Apple has it perfectly done, but being thin and light is NOT a problem, but an asset, at least for me.

 

[Jaiman]

Try connecting to the device using wifi or ethernet only. if you connect using a lan cable, turn the wifi off on the laptop.

 

[pm-r]

@Jake

Foam metal or honeycomb would be the very antithesis of what I wanted. No bulk, just nice and thin,

Just in case you didn't know Jake, both forms of metals can be made in very thin forms and hence very much a reduction in weight.

PS: I hear of some recent rumors that Apple may be considering variations of these for some of their upcoming portable models.

And didn't Apple purchase or buy a big hunk of shares in one of the Liquidmetal companies some time ago?? Amazing stuff I'm sure will come into reality in the near future and I'm sure would have been in your dreams years ago.




- Patrick
======