Yesterday I took delivery of a replacement router/hub for Chateau Foy, which is a lot more modern than the previous one and is giving a far stronger signal, and much faster speeds.
Such has been the rate of arrival of wifi-enable gizmos here (and everywhere else, I guess) that we had a fairly full afternoon of reconfiguring phones, computers, tablets, smart TVs and printers for the address and password of the new router. The last item to be tweaked was the Canon printer in my office.
Different drill here. If you wish to alter any element of the domestic WLAN on this printer, you select a menu item on the device, and it gets you into a step-by-step instruction dialogue for idiots, though I suspect they have not often come across idiocy on the scale you can find here.
The display on the printer says:
...press and hold the WPS button on the access point [which means "the router"], then press OK on the device [which means "the printer"].
Now, since the router and the printer are in different rooms, this task obviously requires two people, so the Contesse kindly helped me out. She held in the WPS button on the router, and I pressed OK on the printer, two rooms away. For the next 5 or 6 minutes, the printer told me that it was "trying to connect to the access point". Eventually we cancelled the attempt. Tried twice more, with the same result.
I gave some serious thought to just using an old-fashioned USB cable to connect the printer to my iMac.
Decided to give it one last chance, so this time we swapped roles, and I did the WPS-holding job, while my wife climbed up on the rickety step stool in the office to press OK.
Same drill again, I held in the WPS button, prepared to hold it for half an hour if need be, and my wife shouted through that it was trying to connect. Then she said, "Maybe it doesn't work until you release your button?".
Hmmm.
I said, "But it says you have to hold it in, it says nothing about releasing it...", but the ache in my finger encouraged me to try releasing it. It connected immediately.
So I was pleased that we'd got everything changed over, but a little disgruntled that the connection instructions on the printer hadn't mentioned the need to release the WPS button.
On the other hand, it doesn't mention remembering to breathe during the operation either. If I'd only done what it said, I could have been in real trouble.
I've decided I need to re-evaluate my normal guidelines for applying commonsense when following instructions for idiots. Life is marvellous - every day you learn something useful.
LOL. Only one conciliation at least it made an amusing post for is to read.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray - I am reading your comment at blistering speed...
DeleteReconfiguring the home network is something I approach with trepidation, so well done.
ReplyDeleteThe passing years also make me more grateful for minor successes, which also means more apprehensive about the approach of some otherwise routine event. It takes some fortitude for me to arrange a haircut and lunch at the pub in the same week - it's hard to imagine how I ever held down a job.
DeleteComputers, 'nuff said. It us why I paint.
ReplyDeleteVery true - 'nuff said, man.
DeleteI can also take instructions too literally; I guess we come from a generation where meaning of words was less fungible.
ReplyDeleteI really need to replace my aging PC but issues like this (and getting my software swapped over) keep making me delay the inevitable.
Agreed. This morning's good laugh is that there was a sub-1-second mains power outage last night, which shut down the printer. Switched it on this morning, and it cannot communicate with the router (and they were such good friends yesterday). No problem, I say to myself - we'll just do the WPS dance again. So we did. Didn't work.
DeleteI may go for a long walk on the beach before I think about this again.
OK - new moves for the WPS dance. Further experimentation (and more extravagant swearing) reveals that you do, as we discovered, have to release the WPS button again, but it seems you have to wait about 30 secs before you do so - then it works. Some silly sod at Canon must think this is really user-friendly - he should come for a beach walk with me, and I shall tell him his fortune.
DeleteTo reduce this task from a two-person to one-person job, did you consider relocating the printer to the room with the router for setup? Once set up, unplugging, moving, and replugging the printer ought not disrupt the connection settings.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Jon - yes, I did consider this, but the printer weighs a ton and the space under the stairs where the router is is very restricted. Since people are able to move around by themselves, I felt the 2-person job was probably better.
DeleteToday I find that the printer has once again lost contact with the wifi, so I may reconsider!
VERY LATE POST SCRIPT: After spending a lot of time reading user manuals, searching online and muttering darkly, I have decided to settle for pragmatism. If my printer really doesn't want to try to recall the name and password of the router the day after it has been reminded, then it seems only fair that I should accept this. Since the printer is about 2 feet above my desktop computer, I have installed a nice (old fashioned) USB cable, and it works quickly and faultlessly. I guess there is no real need to involve the house wifi in such a simple data exchange. If the printer is mocked by other wifi devices in the house then so be it - I am not interested. Dementia is not my field; enough time was spent.
ReplyDelete