My PC recently died, and I've resurrected an old Windows 10 (upgraded to Windows 11 earlier today) machine to use as my primary PC. I want to setup this machine to be able to print to an HP LJ M203dw printer in another room. There's a complication.

I moved earlier this month, and I'd not setup my printer yet at the new place. I did that this morning. In the past, I've always plugged the printer into my home network via ethernet, let it obtain an IP address, and then created a printer with that IP on my desktop. I can't do that at this new place. Ethernet isn't going to reach. I'm going to have to print directly to the printer via wifi. I printed a configuration page and got the printer's wifi password. Good to go, I thought. Default password, and an easy one to remember.


In Windows I chose Add Printer. The printer that I want to print to is the only one that showed up. Good.


It asks for my PIN


but the process fails, and I'm not given any sort of error code. I'm told to try again.


I've tried about a half dozen times. Rebooting didn't fix it, and I don't know what else to try. I would appreciate any advice any of you might have.

Thank you

I've also tried using the HP Easy Start utility, which is their recommended method for installing the printer. It tells me that I need to connect to a wireless network. The only Internet connection this machine has is wireless. Frustrating.

I fixed my own problem. I had to disconnect from my regular wifi connection and connect directly to the printer (leaving me with no internet). Then I was able to add the printer and print a test page. Looks like I'll need to move my workstation to an ethernet connection if I want any practical way to print.

Correct. Your PC wifi can only be connected to one place at a time, either/or.

Glad you figured that out.

The Sun said:

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If you have a wifi network, why not connect the printer to that rather than utilize the wifi direct?

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My question, exactly. This seems like a weird way to do this in 2025. All devices should just be networked together, not directly connected with USB cables and such.

The Sun said:

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If you have a wifi network, why not connect the printer to that rather than utilize the wifi direct?

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Bingo. My Brother printer is connected to my house wifi and that is how I print.

I didn't realize this thread had lived on.

My basic problem was that I had no way to authenticate my printer to my wireless network in order to get an IP address. I tried connecting an Ubuntu laptop to it w/USB cable and using the HP utility for Linux. It saw the printer and showed the correct wireless network. It wouldn't allow me to enter a password for that network though. It insisted on trying to connect the printer with a blank password. Guessing this was fixable if I'd edited the right file somewhere under /etc.

Instead, I wound up putting the printer on my bed to get it close enough to my Windows desktop to use the USB cable. The Windows version of the utility worked perfectly, and I was able to give the printer an IP address. I've moved it back into the the other room, and it's working great.