A post-move Wi-Fi troubleshooting story that went through printer setup, router login, password reset, and finally came back to the cable
After moving, I tried to print and got a communication error.
The printer’s Wi-Fi light was blinking strangely, so the obvious conclusion was: the wireless environment changed, therefore the printer must be reconfigured.
That was the beginning of the rabbit hole.
The printer had no screen, so there was no simple place to type an SSID and password. The vendor’s setup utility appeared. WPS was unavailable. USB setup looked possible, but annoying.
Then came a clever idea: instead of reconfiguring the printer, restore the old router and keep the same Wi-Fi name and password so the printer can reconnect by itself.
That led to the router login page. tplinkwifi.net did not open. The default gateway pointed somewhere else. In access-point mode, the management address was different. 192.168.0.254 finally opened the page, but the login password was forgotten. Password reset was awkward because the router itself had no working internet connection.
All this for one print job.
The final culprit was not the printer, the driver, the Wi-Fi password, or a dead router.
There were multiple Ethernet wall jacks, and the first one being used was not actually connected to the upstream network.
The moment the router was moved to the other wall jack, its Internet LED came on. The phone regained internet access. A little later, the printer quietly returned to “Ready to print.”
It had been innocent the whole time.
This article turns that detour into a five-minute diagnostic routine.
0. The 30-second version: check the physical link before the settings page
When a Wi-Fi printer suddenly stops working after a move, do not start with driver reinstalls or factory resets.
Use this order:
- Confirm router power.
- Confirm the 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz Wi-Fi indicators.
- Check the Internet / WAN indicator.
- If the room has multiple Ethernet wall jacks, try another one.
- Connect a phone to that Wi-Fi and actually open a website.
- Only after those pass should you troubleshoot the printer.
A useful mental model is:
power → cable → wall jack → WAN link → internet → Wi-Fi → printer
Start from the bottom of the stack.
1. Why it looked like a printer failure
The visible error appeared on the printer side: Windows reported a communication error and the printer’s wireless indicator looked unhappy.
The PC, meanwhile, had normal internet over Ethernet.
That was the misleading part.
The real topology was effectively:
- PC → a working wall Ethernet jack
- router → a different, non-working wall Ethernet jack
- phone and printer → the router’s Wi-Fi
So the PC said “internet works,” the phone said “connected to Wi-Fi, no internet,” and the printer said “communication error.”
None of those messages contradicted each other. They were describing different parts of the network.
2. Wi-Fi existing does not mean the internet exists
A router can keep broadcasting an SSID even when its upstream connection is dead.
That creates the classic state:
“Connected to Wi-Fi”
but
“No internet.”
A home router is doing at least two different jobs: receiving an upstream network and distributing local wireless access. The second job can continue when the first one fails.
That is why seeing your Wi-Fi name is not proof that the path beyond the router is alive.
3. A wall jack labeled “LAN” is not a guarantee of live internet
Two Ethernet wall jacks can look identical while being wired differently behind the wall.
One may be patched to the building network while another may be intended for room-to-room wiring, a different VLAN, future use, or simply left unpatched.
So a CAT5e/LAN label tells you the connector type. It does not guarantee that the jack currently carries your upstream internet service.
The fastest test is practical: connect the router and see whether the physical link comes up.
In this case, one jack left the Internet LED off. The other made it light immediately.
Mystery solved.
4. Router LEDs can be more useful than the admin password
For Archer A10 V1, TP-Link documents separate LEDs for power, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, 5 GHz Wi-Fi, Internet, Ethernet, and WPS.[1]
The Internet LED is especially useful:
- blue: internet service available
- orange: Internet port connected, but internet service unavailable
- off: Internet port not connected
If both Wi-Fi bands are lit but the Internet LED is off, printer configuration should not be your first suspect.
Look upstream first: WAN port, cable, and wall jack.
5. Access-point mode makes the admin-page detour even easier to fall into
A router used as an access point or bridge may no longer live at the familiar 192.168.0.1 address.
TP-Link documents a recovery path for bridge-mode devices using tplinkwifi.net or 192.168.0.254 when disconnected from the upstream router.[2]
TP-Link also recommends connecting the upstream wired router to the Archer A10’s WAN port when using access-point mode.[3]
Without that context, it is easy to waste time on a chain like:
“192.168.0.1 does not open”
→ “Is the router broken?”
→ “Is this a TP-Link ID problem?”
→ “Should I reset the password?”
→ “Why does password reset fail when the router has no internet?”
The management-page problem was real, but it was not the root cause.
6. Why the printer came back without reconfiguration
Epson provides Web Installer / Setup Navi procedures for screenless printers such as the PX-S155 when Wi-Fi configuration really does need to be changed.[4][5]
In this case, it did not.
The printer still had its previous wireless profile. The router still used the same wireless settings. Once the router’s upstream connection was restored, the printer rejoined the network it already knew and became reachable again.
The problem was not:
“the printer cannot join Wi-Fi.”
It was:
“the Wi-Fi that the printer joined had nowhere to go.”
That distinction can save a factory reset.
7. The wrong troubleshooting order
None of these actions is inherently wrong:
- reconfigure printer Wi-Fi
- run the vendor installer
- try WPS
- use temporary USB setup
- log into the router
- reset the cloud-account password
- factory-reset the router
But they are expensive when the physical uplink is broken.
A factory reset is especially dangerous as an early move because it destroys settings that may already be correct.
Troubleshoot the lower layer before rewriting the upper layer.
8. The shortest checklist for next time
A. Test with a phone
Join the router’s Wi-Fi and open a real website.
If that fails, stop blaming the printer.
B. Look at the Internet / WAN LED
If it is off, inspect the cable path before opening any settings page.
C. Try every plausible wall Ethernet jack
Do not assume all identical-looking jacks are patched.
D. Compare using the same cable
Use one known-good cable and one known-good wall jack with different devices. This quickly narrows down the faulty segment.
E. Only then touch the printer
Restart it, check Wi-Fi settings, and reinstall software only after the upstream network is proven good.
9. Preventing the same physical-work nightmare
The most annoying part was not networking theory.
It was crawling under a desk, moving a cable basket, reaching behind furniture, swapping a cable, standing up to inspect LEDs, and crawling back down again.
After recovery, two tiny actions provide disproportionate value:
- Mark the known-good wall Ethernet jack.
- Take one photo of the working cable layout.
You do not need museum-quality cable management.
You need a future version of yourself who can restore the setup in five seconds.
10. Cases where the cause may be different
Not every “Wi-Fi connected, no internet” problem comes from the wall jack.
Other possibilities include building-network authentication, MAC registration, DHCP problems, PPPoE/IPoE configuration, VLANs, a failing WAN port, a bad cable, DNS failure, 2.4 GHz compatibility, or changed SSID/security settings.
The lesson is therefore broader than “try the other wall jack.”
It is:
Before debugging configuration, confirm that the signal and link actually reach the device.
Conclusion: sometimes the final boss is not software. It is a hole in the wall.
The journey started with a printer communication error.
It passed through printer Wi-Fi setup, vendor software, WPS, USB, router management pages, gateways, access-point mode, and account passwords.
The actual fix was:
move one Ethernet cable to the other wall jack.
Internet LED on.
Phone online.
Printer back.
Ready to print.
When troubleshooting networks, the most sophisticated-looking explanation is not always the right first one.
Check the cable, the port, and the light.
Sometimes the wall did it.
Sources
- TP-Link, Archer A10 V1 User Guide — Front Panel / LED explanation tp-link.com
- TP-Link Japan, ブリッジモード（アクセスポイントモード）のルーターのIPアドレスを固定するには tp-link.com
- TP-Link Japan, ブリッジモード（アクセスポイントモード）への動作モード切り替え方法 tp-link.com
- Epson Japan, 液晶画面のないプリンターで無線LAN（Wi-Fi）設定する方法 faq2.epson.jp
- Epson Japan, PX-S155 ドライバー・ソフトウェアダウンロード epson.jp
