Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Getting the iPad to talk to the H470

If you enjoyed my previous post on completely wireless printing with the iPad (or iPhone/iPod Touch), you may be wondering how to get your H470 set up to talk to the iPad ... here's specific steps for the H470:

Note: Even if you have a different printer, you should be able to apply the following principles to it to get it to work... the important things are making it an AdHoc network and getting the printer and iPad onto the same subnet.


First, you'll need to find out (or set) the H470's IP address and subnet.

Note: These instructions are from Windows ... to do this on a Mac, you'll need to use the Network Printer Setup Utility. In either case, the H470 Manual should help.

To do this, switch on the printer and open the HP Solution Center. Click Settings on the bottom and then choose Printer Toolbox.

Now you'll have a pop-up window with several tabs - you want the "Configure WiFi Profiles" tab ... there'll be three profiles and the active one will have a blue circle, find it and click Configure.

You want it to be an "AdHoc" network, choose any channel (or Auto) and then ensure Manual is checked for the IP settings. Don't set a WEP password yet - make sure it works without any security first then go back afterwards and add WEP encryption if you really need to. Now we get to the payload ... IP Settings.

Here you can set yourself an IP address and subnet ... you could use the settings I chose:

IP Address: 192.168.1.2
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1 (this is the address you'll set on your iPad)
DNS: 8.8.8.8 (for both)

Save the settings and then pop off to your iPad. Open Settings->Wi-Fi and look for the printer network you just set up ... click the white arrow in the blue circle to the right of it to set the network settings.

Choose Static from the three options underneath "IP Address" and put in the two important pieces of info:

IP Address: 192.168.1.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Click the arrow right at the top to go back to "Wi-Fi Networks" and connect to the printer network you just set up (note: try it all without any security first - then go back afterwards and add WEP encryption if you need to). Once you have a tick to indicate you've successfully connected, you should be good to go - open up HP home&biz and you should see your H470 sitting there ready to print.

Enjoy printing without a wire in sight :-)

If it turns out my blogging efforts have saved you time or money, any sort of donation would be greatly appreciated to help keep things ticking over. Thanks!

15 comments:

  1. Stopped at first hurdle - nothing appearing with blue circle in the configure tab?

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    Replies
    1. No blue circle probably means you don't have an active WiFi profile yet ... the steps I outlined here are what worked for me so if you get stuck, your best bet is to familiarise yourself with the specific steps to setup a WiFi AdHoc network on the H470 straight from the HP website.

      Good luck!

      Keith

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  2. Keith - thanks for update
    Finally thought I had it but stumbling at last hurdle.
    Managed to get into wifi config and entered to ip and subnet details
    On iPad "hpsetup" appears. Entered numbers and tick appeared. H470 appeared on eprint app. Looked like it was going to print but said problem with printer. Any other trouble shooting advice?

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  3. The fact the H470 appears on the eprint app is great news ... in terms of it printing, I'm hoping you maybe had some physical teething trouble with the printer (mine throws up an entertaining series of flashing lights every now and again, which a quick switch off/on resolves).

    Have you got the H470 connected to a PC while you're doing this? If so, try removing it - the two networks might be getting in each other's way.

    The other basic thing is to make sure the H470 can actually print OK connected to a PC, and that there's nothing physically wrong (or the ink has run out). Sounds daft, but that's caught me out before.

    Post back and let me know ...

    Thanks,

    Keith

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  4. is this tutorial for pc or mac, i can't seem to find a hp solution centre for mac, just a utility app so i can't find printer toolbox????

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  5. Mike,

    Yes, the instructions above are from a PC as I don't have a Mac. A quick search on the internet and I found the H470 manual - it contains details on how to setup the printer networking on OSX:

    To open the Network Printer Setup Utility
    1. From the Finder, select Computer from the Go menu.
    2. Select Library, and then select Printers.
    3. Select hp, select Utilities, and then select Network Printer Setup Utility.
    4. Follow the onscreen instructions to configure network settings for the device.

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  6. I HAVE A HP MOBILE 100 PRINTER WITH BLUE TOOTH CAN I PRINT FROM MY I PAD.
    you_b_nice@yahoo.com

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  7. NO, I'M AFRAID YOU CAN'T.

    At least not direct from the iPad straight to the printer - if you shared the OfficeJet 100 using a PC/Mac, then you can but that's well-documented elsewhere whereas this blog is all about printing straight from the iPad to a printer without anything else to hand and I'm afraid there is simply no facility to print using Bluetooth in iOS.

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  8. I am interested in attempting to go this route as there seems to be no available AirPrint capable printers that are also fully mobile. I think I grasp everything you are instructing to do here, but I also thought I remember you mentioning the use of a wireless dongle. Where does this dongle come into play?

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  9. Hi Aj,

    OK, so the dongle is what turns the H470/H460 into a *wireless* printer. It's a USB stick that you shove in the side (or for the H460, a CompactFlash card) ... on it's own, the H470 can't do wireless, you have to get the dongle to make it do WiFi.

    If you're buying the printer, double-check if it's going to come with the wireless dongle or not (e.g. the "H470" doesn't, but the "H470wt" does ... a "w" in these HP names seems to indicate "w"ireless).

    Good luck,

    Keith

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  10. Can I use any printer that is wifi ready without the dongle? Also could you recommend any other printers that are more cost effective? It will be used mostly for photo printing.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Leeann,

      This will work with any WiFi ready printer whether the WiFi is built in or whether it's via a dongle - as long as the printer can operate in "Ad Hoc" mode.

      I looked a couple of months ago and pickings were slim for general printers (see http://genuinely-original.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/mobile-wireless-printers-for-ipad.html), however I never looked at photo printers so you may well be able to find something.

      Remember, it has to be WiFi (not bluetooth) and it has to be able to operate in AdHoc mode.

      Thanks,

      Keith

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  11. Im looking at the HP Photosmart 5515, if that helps any

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    Replies
    1. Hi Leeann, couldn't find anything quickly on the internet to tell me if the 5515 will operate in AdHoc mode. If you were to contact HP and they confirmed that it operated in AdHoc, then you'll be good to do ...

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  12. Hi, would this enable you to print out edited word docs through quick office?
    The quick office had for iPad claims it prints through air print and I am not sure if this would stop it printing through your method.
    Thank you for a great workround I will be donating to keep this solution up and available.
    Kind regards

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