How to Set a Printer to a Static IP Address

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Network printers allow you to print from any computer connected to the network.

An IP address is a unique number assigned to a device connected to a computer network. If you wish to set a static IP address for your network printer, you can do so using the printer network configuration menu, which you can access from a connected computer's Web browser. To access the printer network configuration menu, you must know the current IP address of the printer. Accessing the printer network configuration menu also requires that you know the printer user name and password information, if it is password-protected.

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Find IP Address of Printer

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Step 1

Click "Start" and select "Control Panel" on any computer connected to the same network as the printer.

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Step 2

Double-click "Printers and Faxes," and then locate the printer that you want to set a static IP address for in the list of printers.

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Step 3

Right-click the printer from the list and select "Properties."

Step 4

Click on the "Ports" tab and locate the printer you want to set a static IP address for in the list in the middle of the window. Click the printer to highlight it.

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Step 5

Expand the Port column by clicking on the vertical bar between Port and Description and slide it to the right. Locate the the IP address of the printer under the Port column; the IP address is a series of numbers separated by periods and resembles 192.168.1.2.

Set Static IP Address

Step 1

Open your preferred Web browser on a computer connected to the same network as the printer you want to set a static IP address for.

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Step 2

Input the IP address of the printer (that you found in the above section) into the address bar of the browser. Press "Enter."

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Step 3

Input the printer user name and password. If the network printer is not password-protected, input "admin" into the "Username" field and leave the password field blank. Click "OK" to log into your printer network settings page.

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Step 4

Click the "IP Configuration" button or tab on the printer network settings page.

Step 5

Locate the "TCP/IP" or "IP Address Configuration" section and change the value from "Auto" to "Static" or "Manual."

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Step 6

Enter the static IP address that you want to assign to the network printer into the fields provided. This forces the network to assign the designated IP address to the printer each time it attempts to connect to the device.

Step 7

Click "Save" or "Apply" to save the settings, and exit the browser.

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