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Problem Connecting Nest WiFi to Epson Artisan 730 Printer

fp-444
Community Member

I am using an Epson Artisan 730 printer that is WPA-PSK (TKIP/AES) WPA2 compliant. Things were working okay until recently when I switched on WPA3 security on my Nest. Now I can't connect to the printer to print or scan. When I check the network connection from my printer, I am getting a FAIL on the MAC Address Filtering Check. It goes on to say that the MAC address of your printer may be filtered. Check whether your router / access point has restrictions such as MAC address filtering.

From what I can tell, Nest does not use MAC address filtering so there is nothing to turn off. Other devices (e.g. smart TV, iPhone, iPad) connect to the network connect with no problems whatsoever. I never had to enter their MAC addresses into any Nest whitelist so do not think that MAC address filtering is really the problem.

I have not turned off WPA3 security on Nest and tried again the old way because that requires shutting down the whole network and firing it up again. I can do that and revert back to the WPA2 security if I have to but would prefer the improved security of WPA3.

My fear is that the Epson 730 may not support WPA3 security. If it doesn't, I will have to revert to WPA2 security or 
buy a new printer. But I'm hoping that there is some way around this problem.

Below is some info that may be helpful. Any advice is most appreciated. Thanks very much.

Network Status (according to printer)
Printer Name:  EPSON4491C
Printer Model:  Artisan 730
Network Type:  Wireless LAN
Connection:  Disconnected
TCP/IP Setup: Auto
IP Address:  0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask:  255.255.255.0
Network Name:  (I'm leaving this blank)
Communication Mode: Infrastructure
Security:  WPA-PSK (AES)
Signal Strength:  Poor (strange because printer is 10 feet from Nest)
MAC Address:  (I'm leaving this blank)
Epson Connect:  Disable
Google Cloud Print: Disable
Google Cloud Print Configuration: http://0.0.0.0/

1 Recommended Answer

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Hello @fp-444 

Oof. Ok, that Epson technical support person is, charitably, mistaken about a number of things. The WiFi system in your home is from Google – not your ISP (though many people do use ISP-provided WiFi systems). So, calling them isn't going to help in your case. But, if your printer has a WiFi interface, it definitely has a MAC address, and if it also has an Ethernet port, then it has another (different) MAC address for that interface as well. You don't have MAC filtering turned on, so using the Ethernet port will very likely work. The simplest solution here is to disable WPA3. The next simplest is to try to connect it via Ethernet. If you aren't comfortable with either of those, then you may be able to connect it to a computer via USB and have the computer share it on the network.

View Recommended Answer in original post

7 REPLIES 7

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Hello @fp-444 

It certainly looks like that printer may have issues with WPA3. That's somewhat rare, but not unheard of. I expect going back to WPA2 will make it work again, but as you say, that is a bit less secure. If that printer has an Ethernet port, and you can connect it to the Nest WiFi Router's LAN Ethernet port (either directly or through one or more Ethernet switches), then you could sidestep the WiFi entirely and leave WPA3 enabled.

fp-444
Community Member

Hi MichaelP,


Thanks very much for the information and suggestions. I called Epson technical support to try to get them to tell me whether this printer will work with WPA3 security. The technician told me that I needed to contact my internet service provider. He said that this Epson printer has no MAC address and that my internet service provider must have the MAC address filtering check turned on. This seems doubtful to me because the printer worked before I switched from WPA2 to WPA3. I also asked if the printer would work using a wired ethernet connection as you suggested. He said that an ethernet connection would not work either because the MAC address checking that (he thinks) is occurring would occur in that situation too. I'll try calling my ISP but I'm not overly optimistic that is where the problem lies. Thanks again for your help.
 
fp-444

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Hello @fp-444 

Oof. Ok, that Epson technical support person is, charitably, mistaken about a number of things. The WiFi system in your home is from Google – not your ISP (though many people do use ISP-provided WiFi systems). So, calling them isn't going to help in your case. But, if your printer has a WiFi interface, it definitely has a MAC address, and if it also has an Ethernet port, then it has another (different) MAC address for that interface as well. You don't have MAC filtering turned on, so using the Ethernet port will very likely work. The simplest solution here is to disable WPA3. The next simplest is to try to connect it via Ethernet. If you aren't comfortable with either of those, then you may be able to connect it to a computer via USB and have the computer share it on the network.

fp-444
Community Member

Hello MichaelP,

Thanks for confirming my suspicions that the Epson technical support person wasn't exactly on target with his advice. As it turns out, the printer is in the same room as my Google Nest so I bought an inexpensive Ethernet switch and connected to the printer via an Ethernet cable. So far, it is working well so thanks very much for all of your help. I really appreciate it.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, fp-444.

It looks like with MichealP's help you were able to sort this out and get to a solution. I just wanted to make sure you were all set here and to see if there's anything else you needed. If so, just let me know and I'll be happy to help as well.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, everyone.
Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.
Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, everyone.
As we haven't had any activity here recently I'm going to go ahead and close the thread. If you have more to add, feel free to start a new discussion.
Thanks