Printers & scanners
The printer says offline. It isn't.
Wireless printing that works on Tuesday and not on Thursday is the most common call I get — and it's almost always fixable in under an hour.
Printers are the single most frustrating device in most homes and small offices, and it's not really their fault. They sit at the intersection of your network, your operating system, and a driver written by a manufacturer who stopped supporting the model three years ago.
So when it says "offline" while sitting three feet away with a green light on, there's a real cause — usually the printer changing IP address, a driver Windows quietly replaced during an update, or a network the printer can no longer see. I find which one it is and fix it so it stops coming back.
Symptoms
The usual suspects
It says offline but it's right there
Powered on, connected, ignored. Nearly always an address or driver problem, not a broken printer.
It printed yesterday, not today
Something changed underneath — a router reboot, a Windows update, a new IP address.
Only one computer can print
Works from the laptop, invisible to the desktop. Two machines, two different setups.
Scan to computer stopped working
Printing is fine, scanning vanished. A separate piece of software that quietly broke.
Phone and tablet can't find it
AirPrint or Mobile Print never set up, or blocked by how the network is segmented.
Setup on a new computer failed
New machine, old printer, and a driver that doesn't exist for the current OS version.
- Find the real cause. IP change, driver conflict, spooler failure, network segmentation or genuine hardware fault — each has a different fix and I check rather than guess.
- Give the printer a fixed address. The single most effective permanent fix for "it keeps going offline", and the step most setups skip.
- Clean driver installation. The correct current driver for your operating system, with the broken and duplicate installs removed first.
- Every device set up. Every computer, phone and tablet in the house printing — not just the one you called about.
- Scanning working again. Scan to computer, scan to email or scan to a folder, configured and tested.
- Honest advice on ink. What's worth buying, what isn't, and when a printer is genuinely cheaper to replace than to keep feeding.
- A test print before I leave. From every device. If it doesn't work in front of me, it isn't finished.
What it costs
$100 an hour, flat
Billed for actual time on site. No diagnostic fee, no call-out charge, and quick questions are always free. If the problem comes back, so do I — at no cost.
- Same-day and next-day visits usually available
- No trip charge inside Passaic, Morris or Bergen county
- You get me on the phone, not a call centre
- Remote support by text, phone or video: $25 for up to 20 minutes
- Monthly and annual support memberships available
- Licensed New Jersey LLC, carrying liability insurance
Before you call
Questions about printer troubleshooting
My printer is old. Is it worth fixing?
Can you set up printing from my phone?
It goes offline every few weeks. Can that be permanently fixed?
Do you work on office printers and copiers?
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Tell me what's not working.
Call and you'll get me, not a menu. Or send a note and I'll come back to you the same day — usually within a couple of hours.
Request a visit
The more you tell me, the better prepared I'll show up.