HP Officejet 8600 Falls Off Network
Odd problem with HP OfficeJet 8600 falling off the network. The problem turned out to be the 5ghz radio signal interfering with the 2.4ghz signal, and causing the problem. Here's the solution.
The other day I was helping a client with an HP Officejet 8600. The printer was connecting fine to the wireless network with either a dynamic or static IP assignment. I could ping it, browse to it, and even change settings through the web console. A-okay.
Then, after just two or three minutes, it completely disconnected from the network. I couldn't ping it or browse to it. The system state LED still read that it was connected and nothing had changed in the unit's config.
Crazy-making.
It took me some time to narrow down the possibilities. What it turned out to be is the 5ghz wireless signal coming from the wireless router. The 8600 uses a 2.4ghz wireless frequency. When I disabled the radio on the router for the 5ghz network, and exclusively offered the 2.4ghz network, and cycled the power on the router, the machine stayed on the network.
Of course, this action would prevent the higher-speed network from working. Bummer-drag. But it did get the unit online and satisfy the client. I guess that's what matters.
R
IT Expenses: Purchasing for Tomorrow, Not Today
Plan for your IT needs tomorrow instead of your IT needs today.
A client of mine has undergone amazing growth. Just four years ago, they started with just two employees. Today, they're almost up to twenty-five.
With all that rapid growth, they had to make purchases without talking to their IT consultant. They picked up cheap computers from retail stores in order to satisfy their immediate needs.
What they ended up purchasing were under-powered machines that were made for non-commercial consumers with low-grade operating systems, sub-standard parts with short warranty cycles, loads of software they didn't need, and mis-matched productivity software. They also weren't purchasing their software in volume licenses increasing their licensing management and paying premium for software.
Well, last week, they had grown to a point where they needed a server to host local applications. Unfortunately, very few of their PC's have professional licensing that would instantly interact with the server. They made their IT expenses based on the needs of yesterday and not their future. Now, they're in a position where much of this equipment will need to be replaced.
Learn from their costly lesson, friend. Talk to your friendly neighborhood IT consultant. Don't recklessly spend simply for today's benefit. Be prudent. Manage your purchases. Create a strategy. Plan for meeting today's requirements and tomorrow's anticipated needs.
R
What Would Happen if I Continued Using WindowsXP?
So WindowsXP ended its mainstream support cycle around 2009. It's only been receiving security updated since that time and they're scheduled to shut down around April 8, 2014.
Moving off of WindowsXP in favor of a more modern operating system (Windows7, Windows8, Mac OSX, or Linux) would be greatly desirable. The longer time goes on beyond April, the more at-risk your machine becomes. XP is a vulnerable operating system.
But let's pretend for a minute that you wanted to keep XP for a while longer? What would happen? Will is just stop working?
No, actually. It will keep working as it had been. Here's some of the risks though:
1. Over time, your system will become increasingly more vulnerable to threats that emerge beyond April 2014.
2. New software won't be made for XP, so content from stores or delivered over the web will stop working for you over time.
3. New antivirus definitions won't be shipped to you and will also increase your vulnerability.
4. You will become a target. Virus writers know that humans don't like change and that you're hanging on to that old machine, and they'll write code to exploit the fact that you're still using it.
5. New hardware isn't going to work because OEM's won't be writing driver software for them on the XP platform.
Sure, it'll continue to work, but staying on XP won't be a great strategy for a business looking to meaningfully control their technology risk. Doing so will only exacerbate the risk. And if you're running any kind of point of sale (POS) software on this platform, you'll fall out of PCI compliance, further putting your firm at risk.
if you own a business, don't take chances. Replace the XP box at your earliest opportunity. Regrettably, there's no upgrade possible here ... The box pretty much needs to be replaced. Talk to you tech professional for getting this done before too much time goes on beyond April.
r