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Wireless Printing
I have my internet service with xfinity using the FXI modem/router with the gigabit plan. I am having problems with whole home coverage thus am considering the Orbi 860 or above. However, before i spend the money i want to make sure i can print wirelessly. Today I have to only use the 2.4 band with wpa2 security in order to print. They do not make a wap3 printer that i can find. Will this Orbi system or any Orbi system allow me to print wirelessly?
Thanks...
A separate IoT WiFi network is not a requirement. As the screen shot in message 8 above illustrates, the Orbi 860 product supports WPA2 authentication on the primary and guest WiFi networks, as does every other Orbi router I have found. (As does every Xfinity WiFi router as the screen shot in message 16 shows.)
For the vast majority of us, WPA3 authentication is a distraction with no practical value. 99.9% of the devices we already own are not compatible with WPA3, so making WPA3 the only authentication protocol would immediately block them all from connecting. Thus, newer systems now support either only WPA2 or a combination WPA2/WPA3. This allows that one new device to be "more secure" (HA) when it could just as easily connect with WPA2 and be done with it.
32 Replies
Yes.
It's up to the printer mfr to support WPA modes and implement that on there products. NG routers support up to WPA3. There are mixed modes and signel mode WPA2 that is most common mode to use.
Something you'll need to ask the printers mfr about and see about it's configuration and information.
Thanks for the response. I understand that but I have contacted every printer manufacturer I know and none support wpa3 and I can't find any that support the mixed wpa2/wpa3 personal thus that is why I can't even untilize what the fxi offers. I have never used a wired printer at home or work, is this just something about the new routers that they want to force the printer manufactures to support wpa?
Printer manufaturers please feel free to step up and promote your product if it will support wpa3 for I am sure the millions of people out their that print wirelessly would love to take a look at your product.
tnchatmonk wrote:
Will this Orbi system or any Orbi system allow me to print wirelessly?
Yes, of course. All Orbi models support 2.4G WiFi. And they all support WPA2 WiFi security. From the 860 User Manual:
Thanks CrimpOn,
If I choose the 2.4 gh wpa2 option, due to my printer, does that mean that all devices will be restricted to that and can't take advantage of the WIFI5, 6, 6e or 7 bands?
One last thought CrimpOn,
Playing i am like Elon Musk, I can envision a country/world without any cables and how are we going to adapt? I am sure Netgear is thinking about that, I would thing Printer manufacturers are thinking about that, everyone for that matter as we don't know where everything is going but if Printer Manufactures can only support one security protocol or Wireless Manufactures can"t allow devices to be assigned to different protocols, or whatever the future calls them, we are not headed in the direction of future proof. Just my opinion...
CrimpOn,
Does your reply mean that everything would then have to be on the the 2.4gh band?
All Orbi WiFi routers contain radio chips and antennas that support 2.4G WiFi, 5G WiFi (and some 6G WiFi) at the same time.
Devices that contain only a 2.4G radio chip are obviously limited to the 2.4G band because that is the only band they can detect. Devices which support both 2.4G and 5G will pick which band gives them the best connection. i.e., when close to the WiFi access point, they will pick a 5G connection. If the 5G signal is too weak, they will pick the 2.4G signal. They cannot pick a 6G signal because they cannot detect it. Devices which support all three bands do the same: they pick the best connection.
Most Orbi WiFi routers do not support WPA3 (because it was not popular when the radio chip sets in those products were developed.
If the choice of WPA2 and WPA3 Personal is chosen, then devices which are capable of WPA3 can authenticate using WPA3 and devices which are capable of only WPA2 can authenticate using WPA2.
Thus this printer which has only a 2.4G radio and is capable of only WPA2 will be just fine. At the same time, every other device will be able to connect using whatever speed and protocol they support.
- The IOT WiFi network on the 960 series supports WPA2 and WPA2-Personal. It actually does not even support WPA3.
Would really like to know which printer this is.
I currently have the HP Officejet Pro 8630e...Works fine, haven't seen any need to upgrade it yet?
