Orbi 371 system: mac can't connect to printer

HappyCat​ Doctah​ Based on what you’ve described, my conclusion is that this is much more likely to be a client-specific networking issue than a printer issue. The strongest evidence is that one MacBook Pro can consistently ping and print to the Canon printer while the MacBook Air cannot even ping the printer, despite both being connected to the same Orbi network. If the printer were at fault, I would expect both Macs to experience similar problems. Since the Air cannot even establish basic IP connectivity, the issue appears to be somewhere between that client and the network rather than with the Canon printer or its drivers.

So I have ten! suggestions for you to work through. These will help narrow down the specific problem and quite possibly fix it.

I would start by checking the MacBook Air itself. (1) Verify whether Private Wi-Fi Address is enabled under the Wi-Fi settings for the home network, as turning it off has resolved similar networking issues on some consumer routers. (2) Also check whether iCloud Private Relay, a VPN, or security software such as Tailscale, NordVPN, Cisco AnyConnect, or Little Snitch is active, and temporarily disable them to see if connectivity returns. (3) Next, completely forget the Wi-Fi network on the Air and reconnect, and (4) flush the Mac’s networking caches by running sudo dscacheutil -flushcache followed by sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder from a Terminal app window on the Air.

Since this appears to be a network connectivity issue rather than a printing issue, (5) I’d also compare the networking information from both Macs. Verify that both devices are actually on the same subnet, compare the routing information in a Terminal window using route -n get <printer IP>, and compare the ARP tables with arp -a | grep <printer IP>. If you can't easily compare the two, feel free to post them here.

If the MacBook Air never learns the printer’s MAC address, that would indicate the problem exists at Layer 2 before IP communication is even established. (6) It would also be useful to compare the output of (from Terminal) ipconfig getifaddr en0 (or ifconfig en0 | grep inet) on both Macs to confirm they are receiving comparable network configurations.

Because the Orbi system consists of both a router and a satellite using wireless backhaul, (7) I would also determine which access point each device is associated with. Specifically, note whether the printer, the MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air are connected to the router or the satellite. If the problem only occurs when the Air is connected to one particular node, that could point toward a roaming or backhaul issue. (8) As an additional test, verify whether the Air can successfully ping the router, the satellite, and other local devices. If it can reach everything except the printer, that narrows the problem considerably.

(9) Although I don’t think this is fundamentally a printer issue, it is still worth bypassing Bonjour by removing the printer and re-adding it manually on the Air by using its fixed IP address (selecting AirPrint or HP JetDirect/Socket, depending on what the Canon supports). (10) Finally, if available, temporarily disabling Wi-Fi 6 on the MacBook Air (System Settings/WiFi/Details button of your connected network)/WiFi 6E mode to OFF) would be another useful troubleshooting step, as a handful of printers have exhibited compatibility issues with newer Wi-Fi features.

Overall, my suspicion is that this is a MacBook Air networking issue first, an Orbi client roaming or client-isolation issue second, with a Canon printer problem being much less likely. The fact that one Mac consistently works while the other cannot even ping the printer is the key clue that points away from the printer itself. Post back your results if you want to, we can help further narrow down the problem!