How to Setup an HP LaserJet Printer with the Built-In JetDirect Network Card

With the ever increasing printers sold with networking support, I have been inundated with questions regarding the setup of a network printer. Many of these principles can be applied to other printer manufacturers, but due to the amount of printers sold by HP, this tutorial will be for LaserJet Printers using some time of JetDirect Card.

Need a jetdirect card?

Equipment

  • HP LaserJet 4100 Series Printer
  • Standard Wireless Router (100Mbit)
  • J6957A 615n JetDirect Network Card
  • Microsoft Windows XP Computer

The first set of steps is to set the printer up, then we will get the computer setup.

I assume the printer is plugged into the network router (wireless or not) so it should have automatically been assigned an IP (Internet Protocol) address that you’ll need to change to a permanent (static) address so you can easily tell the computer where the printer is at all times.

1. First we’ll need to find out the address. Using the printer’s buttons, press the “Menu” button, then select “Information“, and

then select “Print Configuration“.
2. On the second of the two configuration pages that should have printed will tell you the IP address that you’ll be using later. It will be located the JetDirect page under the “TCP/IP” section. Go ahead and write down the number or circle it. It may look something like 192.168.X.X (where X is your assigned number)

3. Go on a computer that’s connected to the network that the printer is connected to and bring up Internet Explorer (like if you were surfing a web page).
4. Next, We’ll be logging into the printer and making some settings permenant.

Type in the address that you wrote down in the previous step in the address bar.

You’re address bar should look something like this: http://192.168.1.3 (make sure you enter the correct IP address you found in step 2).
5. Next you’ll need to change the dynamic IP address to a permanent address (static). This next step may be slightly different depending on what type of Jetdirect card you have installed in your printer, but the concept should be the same.

screenshot 1

At the default information screen, select “Networking” (show above).

Here you will need to change the type of address to “Manual” instead of “DHCP” (which is dynamic where the IP changes). The only number you need to change is the last set of digits. I generally setup my printers to start around the 50’s. So in this case, I’ll type in 192.168.1.50 (see picture).

screenshot 2
After you’ve change your network settings, select “Apply“. The screen may appear unresponsive and none of the links will work. This is because you changed the actual address you connected to setup the address so naturally it wouldn’t work.

The next steps need to be done on the computer(s) you wish to setup to print to the network printer. I’m using Windows XP Home.

1. Go to Start> Control Panels>Printers and Faxes

2. Then select> Add a printer

screen 3
The add a printer wizard comes up.

3. Select “Next

On the next screen, be sure to select “Local Printer attached to this computer” and the uncheck the box that states “Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer“. I know this step doesn’t make sense, but that’s Windows (see picture). When you’re done with this screen select “Next“.

screen 4

In the “Select a Printer Port” screen, you’ll want to select “Create a new port and change the option to Standard TCP/IP Port“. When you’ve made that selection click on “Next“.

screen 5

Another wizard should come up titled “Add Standard TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard“, select Next.

For the “Printer Name or IP Address” field, type in the statically assigned IP address you set the printer as earlier. I’m going to use 192.168.1.50. The port name should automatically fill in. When you’re finished typing in the IP address click on “Next“. Windows will now try and find your device.

screen 6

If you receive a “Completing the Add Standard TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard“, everything worked great. Proceed to the next few steps after clicking “Finish“.

If you didn’t receive this final step box, make sure the address is correct and that you can login to the printer using that IP address.

Next, it will ask for a Printer driver. Many of the older HP LaserJet printers will have drivers built into Vista and Windows XP. If you don’t see your printer listed, insert the CD-ROM that came with your printer and select “Have Disk” to go through the process of adding those drivers. You may just want to choose a generic HP 4100 series driver to get you by if you don’t have the CD or don’t want to download the software from HP. When you’re finished selecting your printer, click on “Next“.

screen 7

These next few steps are your preference. I generally leave them as default, but it’s up to you.

screen 8

I recommend printing a quick test page to make sure everything was installed correctly.

screen 9

On the next screen, click on “Finish” and you’re all done. Enjoy printing on your network based LaserJet printer.

41 Replies to “How to Setup an HP LaserJet Printer with the Built-In JetDirect Network Card”

  1. This is a very clear guide and works well. One question: Having set a static address for the printer (an hp2600), the hostname is not pingable. but the ip address is. What might cause that? There are no servers on the network (all workstations are XP only), and the static ranges are set above the dns range on the router. Other printer hostnames can be pinged (hp3700 & hp 5550). Confirmed that all of the printer static IP addresses are different. What common factors should i be looking for? Thanks.

  2. Thank you Thank you…. you are a ROCKSTAR. After stuggling with all the HP Books, Set Up documentation, training disk and all the JUNK they think to include….they somehow missed the basics.

    Your concise description was PERFECT worked like a charm first time out. Big business needs to learn how important it is to make it easier to get started using their products,

    Thanks again

  3. This is a very well made guide. The first time I tried installing a network printer I selected the obvious “network printer” option but of course it didn’t work. Then I found this guide and everything worked fine. Good job.

  4. Wow! Impressive! don’t rememebr seeing that helpful set of instructions for anything else!!
    Great job!

  5. After staring at reams of HP documents, trying net admin programs, and etc your guide took about 3 minutes to have printer networked. Who would have thought that local printer would have to be selected. Many thanks for your article!

  6. hello,

    currently my computer running on this ip 192.168.0.179 but
    the printer set it at 10.72.102.22
    i can’t log in the web to change the setting. any idea?

  7. Great instructions, but in the event that the printer is 2nd hand and has been on a network before, the IP and subnet addresses may already be fixed in the printer and may require manual alteration via the printer menu. This is because you may not be able to access the printer using the IP address which prints out at first if the address and/or subnet mask are not in the same range as your own network. Once I had that sorted out, I was fine.

  8. Hi, very informative tutorial.

    If I had come across it first i wouldnt have to email you. Basically I had a static IP address but did not know how to add it as per Step 3 ” “Local Printer attached to this computer”” I was choosing “a network printer ..”.

    I managed to log into my jetdirect admin panel and stupidly changed it from manual to DCHP.ie. from a 192.168.0.x address to now its 192.0.0.192 when i print out the config page.

    But when i type 192.0.0.192 it just keeps timing out, saying “The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.” So my question is, How do I get back into the jetdirect admin panel to put the TCP/IP selection back to ‘manual’?

  9. HI all

    It appears you can manually set the IP address of the printer via its control panel to get around not being able to login to the webpanel thanks to a different IP address to the computer.

    Note: this only happened after a COLD reset by myself.

    On page A 31, Table A.1 of the HP JetDirect 610N user guide (available at http://www.scribd.com)

    Also note, it took a power off and on of the printer after following the below to be able to bring up the usual jetadmin interface.

    Selects whether you want to access the TCP/IP
    menu and set TCP/IP protocol parameters.
    NO* (default): Bypass the TCP/IP menu items.
    YES*: Access the TCP/IP menu items.
    In the TCP/IP menu, you can specify
    BOOTP=YES* or DHCP=YES* for TCP/IP
    parameters to be automatically configured by a
    BootP or DHCP server when the printer is turned
    on.

    If you specify BOOTP=NO* and DHCP=NO*, you
    can manually set the following TCP/IP parameters
    from the control panel:

    Each byte of the IP address (IP)
    Subnet Mask (SM)
    Syslog Server (LG)
    Default Gateway (GW)
    Idle Timeout period (default is 270 seconds,
    0 disables the timeout)

    Print a Jetdirect configuration page to verify your
    settings. However, note that the print server may
    overwrite selected parameters with values that
    ensure proper operation.

  10. My problem is that when I type in the URL in step 4, I don’t get the same screen as you. I see a printer screen, but have two options: Home and Administration. All I need to do is change the printer’s name so that others on the network can tell which one it is. I also have the second-hand printer as mentioned above. Help, please?

  11. Hi,
    This was a lifesaver for me. A used HP Laserjet 4100n printer was donated to a small non-profit I work with. I was unclear how to set the printer up and the windows/mac clients. I followed the directions here and it worked like a champ.

    Thanks!

  12. Great article, i just bought a second hand 4100N and was pulling my hair out on how to set it up. This made it very clear.

  13. I have an old reliable 4000N on a wireless router; ever since a recent firmware upgrade to the router, the 4000n’s JetDirect config page says its TCP/IP status is “initializing” and its IP address is 0.0.0.0

    Did something make my card toast? I really don’t want to lose the old printer.

    1. It’s entirely possible that the jetdirect card is toast, but I would bet that the router is just not giving it an IP address for some reason. I’d try setting the printer up with a manual IP address via the printer instead of a computer and try connecting to the printer again. You could also just reset all settings on the printer and see if that helps reset the jetdirect.

  14. Great article, very easy to follow, installed our HP CP1515n on the network in under 5 minutes following the advice given and it all worked first time. Thanks, Mike

  15. I printed the configuration and it says the printer’s IP address is: 0.0.0.0

    When I typed in http://0.0.0.0 Internet Explore says that page cannot be found.

    Suggestions?

    1. That means that the printer did not get assigned an IP address from your server/router. If it’s plugged securely into the network, you’ll need to do some troubleshooting with your server to find out why the printer can not automatically pick up an IP address.

  16. Hey.

    I can not get access to the printer settings using its IP address (10.142.8.61). This printer was previously used at the company I work at. Can you help?

    1. The printer probably has a static IP address set, but it’s either not plugged into your network properly (see if there are lights on the jetdirect card) or your network settings are not correct (you need to be on the same “network” as the printer). To fix this, set your IP address to one above or below the printer, and change your gateway to match your printers. Then you can make the changes to the printer. As an alternative, you can navigate the printer’s menu and change the IP address manually without the use of a computer.

  17. Am going to use it tomorrow and I have a filling it will work perfectly. great!!
    I need to set up a VPN too in the same network. please advice

  18. Thank you soo much! Installed a used LJ5000 with these instructions last night. Figuring out how to reset the IP address was a challenge, but thanks to the comments, I managed that, too.

  19. If the printer is second hand, reset the settings back to factory defaults otherwise it may not work. To reset, switch printer off then hold down the go button for a few second whilst it is powering on.Network cfg settings may have to be set to yes* in the printer meue if it still does not work.
    Once I did this it connected well and easy as described.
    Jp

  20. i have hp lasejet 5200n but i can not use the jet embedded menu cause the i/o menu do not show the jet embedded option ,how can I configure this printer?

    1. If you don’t see the JetDirect option, there’s most likely a problem with the network card itself. Make sure it’s seated all the way and you see lights on the back next to the ethernet network cable port.

  21. I can print to HP laserJet 4100 from various PC which are all in workgroup: workgroup. Printer IP is 192.2.1.42.
    The problem is that all PCs are connected via IP not a hostname. I want to name all printers in the company so it is easier for users. Unfortunately I can not ping a printer using a hostname. I can ping it using IP Address. A have many onter printers which I can pring by hostname and IP fine. There is a problem with this one. I printed out configuration page from both printer which I can ping by hostname and printer which I can’t. I can see similar configuration. I say similar as printers which I compare are different models of HP laserjet. Can you please help as I spend 2 hours at least and I can’t find solution.

    1. There could be many issues at play here. I would reset the printer (in the menus) and configure the printer from scratch. You may have a setting that’s preventing a pingback. Once an IP is set, go ahead and try to ping. If that is successful, set the hostname to something you want and try again.

  22. Thank you – this was very very useful. I was stuck on how to manually change the IP address on the printer to a static one and after many hours searching, I finally found the answer here.

  23. Thanks buddy this information is soooooooooooo coooooooooooooooooool
    I have not found any where on internet information like this
    Thanks again

  24. My Router does not recognize my Hp 4050n Printer. When I plug in the RJ45 cord a light comes on at the back of the Jetdirect J3113a network card. I am using Win XP PRO with a Lynksys Wireless-g broad band router.
    Everything is hard wired. The printer works fine with a parallel port/USB cable. I have been trying for several days to figure this out. Can you help me please?

    1. I bet the printer already has an IP address assigned to it, you just need to find out what it is. Go into the printer menus and print a configuration report. This will print off a “JetDirect” page and give you all the information you need to connect to it. Alternatively, you can just change the IP address by using the printer menus.

  25. im using a 4100 thats been connected via parallel port. I now want to use this as a network printer. If I purchase a ethernet card and install it, wiil this work as instructed?

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