Re: Orbi Bonjour and Airprint fix - at least for me.

pballbeast · ‎2020-03-30

I have an orbi RB50 (AC3000) with the single satellite. I searched and searched the internet on how I could get Bonjour printers to show up and for airprint to work. I had another Linksys router prior to this and had no issues. When we installed the orbi system it all went south. I thought i was crazy. I had to switch the printers on our computers to print via IP address.

The printer is a Canon MF733Cdw which has airprint enabled. No settings changed other than the router and I couldn't get the iOS devices to see the printer or print to it. I also couldn't get the computers to print consistenty to the printer (two Macbook Pros). They would only print when you made sure the printer was on and or just restarted. Often times it was powered on and it still wouldn't print.

IP printing (printing to an IP address) helped because the Macs knew where the printer was. I reserved the same IP address on the printer and the router (just did this after messing with things during the COVID-19 fun). It was a fix that should have clued me in. I'm not a genius with computers but it makes sense now.

It turns out that either multicast or RIP needs to be enabled. I'm not sure if they are totally related but in the ORBI there is a setting in firmware version 2.5.1.8 that allows RIP over multicast. I was clued in because some people say that bonjour doesn't work without multicast. Others had mentioned RIP Basically this means the router is sending information out (routing tables - I think). This allows the iOS/ iphone / ipad devcies to find the printer and also allows Bonjour to work correctly. It took a lot of research.

So to enable it go to the Orbi admin console --> advanced --> setup --> LAN setup --> in LAN TCP/IP Setup --> RIP version --> RIP_2M should be selected. It might work with RIP_1 or RIP_2B but I didn't try it. I figured it looked like the 2M which is multicast would be better so I chose that and voila it all works as it should.

I literally had been working on this for months. It would tick me off and I'd read and read and find nothing. After reading a bunch of sites I tried this. I don't know why it is disabled by default. It seems like it would cause a lot of problems especially for legacy items. Airprint isn't that old but it must rely on those routing tables to help with discovery. Bonjour is definitely older so that would explain why it relies on that info.

Hope this helps someone and if it does I did my good deed for the day!

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-03-30

Great information. Thanks for posting it. Mark it as solved so others will know.

Enjoy.

View solution in original post

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-03-30

Great information. Thanks for posting it. Mark it as solved so others will know.

Enjoy.

pballbeast · ‎2020-04-07

Thanks and did. Had to mark the reply. But know the answer is in the post! Hope it helps everyone! It’s been working perfect with no hiccups now. Love the orbi overall now that I got this AirPrint bonjour issue fixed.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-04-07

Enjoy.

fp-rctid · ‎2020-04-14

Wanted to add - I did have to reserve the IP of the printer in addition to setting RIP version to RIP_2M. OP mentioned this in passing but it was a necessary piece for me. I have an HP Photosmart 7520. Many thanks to OP for posting this - was going around in circles for a while before seeing this post.

pballbeast · ‎2020-04-14

Thanks! I didn't know that was necessary but it makes sense that it would help regardless. Reserving an IP for printers seems almost necessary on any network and I pretty much assume that I need to do it all the time but I'm glad it helped you as well. I don't know how long I struggled with this demon and I'm not sure why Netgear doesn't enable this by default....dumb if you ask me. Smart devices and routers aren't all that smart!

lagr · ‎2020-04-19

Enabling RIP_2M broke VLC on my Apple TV for me - it couldn't download subtitles from opensubtitles.org nor could I upload media from my computer to VLC's local storage on the ATV. Use this tip with care. All other network stuff I tried on the ATV worked as expected though.

Would be nice to BOTH have Bonjour and working VLC on the ATV. Any suggestions?

jrseidel · ‎2024-07-27

Had the same issue. THANK YOU for the solution. It worked!

I was so frustrated to be out on the patio near the satellite and not be able to send a print job. My previous Deco system worked fine. I was ready to throw this Orbi out the window until I came across your post.

The problem caused confusion for wife and kids even after I tried to explain how they have to reconnect to the router near the printer to get it to work. But now it works anywhere.

Also can access my Sonos in any room which I previously couldn't. That was a bonus.