Network printer question...

At home I've got my laptops networked to one printer through my wireless router. It's easy to set up and works like a champ until the power goes out and the router reboots. I think what's happening is the router is assigning the printer a new IP address which doesn't match the setup on the laptop. At this point, the only way I know how to fix it is to uninstall and reinstall the printer on both machines. Is there a way to set up a network printer so it has a fixed address? Am I way off base here?

TIA for suggestions...

two options:
1. figure out the MAC address for the printer and then set a static dhcp ip assignment on the router for that mac address (so the printer gets the same IP every time).
2. assign the printer a static IP out of the DHCP range (so no conflicts occur).

^ What he said.

If you can't do any of the items above. Turn on the printer first every time the power goes out. This will assign the first IP address to the printer.

you could just assign a static ip on the printer. that way it will always have that ip. if the power goes out, it will grab that ip when it is available. if you want to make sure there are no conflicts you can set the dhcp scope on the router so that computers cannot grab that ip out of the pool of ips. if you want tell us what model of router you have, and what model of printer you have. i can tell you how ot set it up.

I was just about to raise my little white flag since I don't know the actual process to set up said fixed IP address. It's by the grace of the Install Wizard that the thing works at all. ;)

I guess it might help if y'all knew what equipment I had...

The router is the one I got from Verizon with my FiOS - the generically-named UltraLine Series 3 9100EM.

The printer is a Samsung CLX-3175FN.

Honestly it would likely take less time to drive over and fix it than to try and help you through it....

+ 1 goofygrin on both his posts

I just bought the queen a Lexmark Platinum Pro 905 with built-in wireless. A little pricey, but black ink cartridges are only $5. Very easy set up and prints faster than the old HP I had.