How to Setup An Wireless Printer to Your Computer?

Wireless printers call for effortless and convenient printing especially if you own one from the HP brand. They are by far the best when it comes to wireless technology and their versatility and reliability are what they are known for, in the market. Owning one of those is not sufficient if you don’t know how to setup HP wireless printer. If you set them up the right way, you will no longer have to go through the hassle of arranging the wires. Increased efficiency and getting your documents printed at your ease is what you are going to get.  

Requirements for HP Wireless Printer Setup

Beyond the standard ink and toner cartridges, there are some requirements to be met and guidelines to be followed to connect your HP printer to the computer:

Let’s look at the requirements first:

• To set up a wireless printer, you need to have a system that supports wireless technology. Your computer should have a wireless network card to complete the setup. 
• You will need a router as well and make sure the network and the router are accommodating. 
• Make sure you have the software package that must have come with your router and the printer as that will be required to complete the setup. 

How to Connect HP Printer to Wi-Fi?

Once you are ready with all the requirements, the next step is to connect HP printer to Wi-Fi. 

But before that,

• Unbox the printer and use the instructions to remove the packaging.
• In the next step, attach the power cord, and switch on the printer. Then install the cartridges and let the printer perform the startup routine before it prints the alignment page. 

Now, you can choose one of the following connection methods to complete the setup and start printing.

Method-1 HP Auto Wireless Connect

It is another technology that lets you connect your printer to the wireless network. There is no need to connect to any cables or enter the wireless network settings such as network name or password. The newer additions of the HP brand are going to offer this option during the software installation process. Your computer or network configurations may or may not be compatible with HP Auto Wireless Connect, however, for such cases, there is an alternate wireless setup method that you will be offered. Here are the conditions to be met to pass the compatibility test:

• Operating System must be Windows Vista (or newer) and Mac OS X 10.5 (and newer).
• Your computer connects wirelessly to your network and the operating system must be in control of the wireless adapter so that the computer’s current network settings can be retrieved by the HP Software.
• The computing device doesn’t use a static IP address.
• The device is connected to a network over 2.4 GHz.
• The printing device must have HP Auto Wireless Connect mode. The printer will stay in this mode for two hours after you power it on during installation before it is connected to a network.

To use the HP Auto Wireless Connect mode, install the driver for your HP printer and go with the given instructions. Thereafter, select the Network type and then choose ‘Yes, send my wireless settings to the printer’. 

If HP Auto Wireless Connect is presented during the installation of the printer, it is the recommended setup method. If it is not, then you can go for the other wireless setup method.

Method-2 WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup)

WPS offers two modes to connect devices over a wireless connection- pushbutton and PIN. To use WPS pushbutton method, the following requirements have to be met:

• The printer and the wireless router must support WPS pushbutton mode. 
• The wireless router needs to have a physical WPS push button.
• The network must be connected to WPA or WPA2 security. 

To connect your wireless HP printer to the wireless router using WPS, follow the steps:

• Press the WPS pushbutton on your printer.
• After 2 minutes, press the WPS button on your router.

Method-3 HP Wireless Setup Wizard (products with display)

The Wireless Setup Wizard can be utilized through the printer’s control panel.

• You need to know your network and the password.
• Go to the printer’s control panel, open the Network menu and then go to ‘Settings’. Select the option for Wireless Setup Wizard. The Wizard will display a list of wireless networks.
• From the list, select the wireless network’s name. If the name is not listed there, you can enter it manually.
• Next, enter the exact WEP key or WPA passphrase and your printer must connect to your wireless network. If it does not connect, print a Wireless Network Test report to find out the problem.

Method-4 USB setup of wireless (Products without display)

Printers that don’t have a touch display can use USB setup for wireless methods during the printer software installation. To do this, you will need to temporarily use a USB cable to connect the computer and the printer. Connect or disconnect the cable only when instructed by the software that will guide you through the printer’s wireless connection. The software may also find suitable wireless settings for you.

Method-5 Windows Setup

You can even set your printer on Windows using the given steps:

• Press the Windows Key and ‘I’ together on your keyboard.
• Click on ‘Devices’, turn on the printer and open the ‘Network’ menu. 
• On your HP printer, select the wireless network name and enter the password as it will connect to your Wi-Fi. 
• Under the tab for the ‘Printers and Scanners’ tab, click on the ‘Add’ (+) button.
• From the results, select your printer and click on ‘Add device’. You are good to go. 

Using any of the above methods, you can easily install HP wireless printer depending on the printer model you own.