Assigning reserved IP addresses for printers

I'm trying again under the Equipment topic, since I got no responses in the original area I posted to. Apologies if this is redundant, but I don't know where to go for help. I brought in someone who understands routers, but he wasn't able to understand this issue either.

I'm a beginner at networking, but trying to learn, so I can resolve problems with printers going offline on our small Comcast Business network. This has to be a common problem! We have the Technicolor cga413com router and two extenders (installed by Comcast). Reading instructions for assigning a reserved address, it sounds simple. Log into the router, display connected devices, pick your printer out of the list and modify the settings to have a reserved IP address. But I don't see my printer in the list of connected devices, despite it being connected to our Wifi network. What is a likely reason for that? Because of the extenders? All the devices in the router list show IP addresses beginning with 10.1. But looking at the printer settings, the IP address it was assigned begins with 172.16. Is this because it's being assigned by the extender? Any advice on where to go that might help me understand this better?

Responses

CC_Heather

Contributor

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20 Messages

3 years ago

@user_network_newbie Thank you for reaching out to the Digital Care Team. Have you tried connecting the printer directly to the modem, not the extender, to see if it is available in the list?

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user_network_newbie

New Member

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9 Messages

@Comcast_Heather Hi, thanks for your response. I have not. If you mean physically, that is not logistically an option. If you mean logically, I don't know how to do that. The printer is just connected to the wireless network, and I don't know how that translates into what physical piece of equipment it gets connected to. I really don't understand how the extenders play into this. I just assumed everything was ultimately controlled by the router/modem.

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3 years ago

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Comcast_Nick

Official Employee

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34 Messages

@user_network_newbie, those are great points and thank you for clearing up how it is connected. The extenders will be set up using the MoCA connection but that will not impact the visibility of the devices. When looking at connected devices it will just say connection is MoCA if it is connected to the extenders. Is the device showing under the online but private section?

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3 years ago

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user_network_newbie

New Member

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9 Messages

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Comcast_Nick

@Comcast_Nick ,Thanks for your response. When I log into the router, I go to Connected Devices: Devices. All I see is a list labeled "Online Devices." None are marked as private; I don't see a "private" section. They all are listed as DHCP, connection Ethernet. We have several printers. I have not been able to see any of them. Several of the devices I see connected appear to be cellphones. I can't find any of our printers listed. All I know is when we connect a printer, we set it up, through its front panel, to log into the wireless network. Just like you would with a cellphone.

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3 years ago

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Comcast_William

Official Employee

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26 Messages

@user_network_newbie. Thanks for all of this information. I completely understand how this can be confusing to you. Going back to the IP address issues, the IP addresses beginning with 172 and 10 are both private network addresses. You see the cellphone on the network, since it has internet access and is public. Can you connect to one of the 10 or 172 addresses to see if it works?

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3 years ago

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user_network_newbie

New Member

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9 Messages

@Comcast_William So you mean connect directly to one of the devices through a browser? Yes, I can try that. I am out of the office now and unable to try anything for two weeks. I’ll check back then. If you have additional suggestions in the mean time, please post them. Thank you for your help!

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3 years ago

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