Canon is one of the best and most popular printer brands in the market today. Some people prefer it more than others, primarily because of its high printing quality compared to other brands. Probably, you own one, and right now, you’re trying to connect it to your Wireless Network.
Whether it’s in your home or at the workplace, connecting your printer to a wireless network will save you a lot of work, time, and messes caused by numerous floating cables connected to different printers.
Here are steps you need to follow to connect your Canon printer to Wi-Fi successfully.
- It would help if you had the credentials.
Before starting the setup process, you need to make sure you have the Wireless Network Name [SSID] and Wireless Network Key [Password] of the Wi-Fi on which you want to set up to connect your Canon printer. It would help if you noted that most gateways or routers have a label with default credentials printed on it.
You may check the documentation that came with your gateway or router if the credentials aren’t there. In case you are not sure or can’t find them, then it’s advisable to contact your ISP or Router OEM for further assistance.
- When ready with the credentials, you need to determine which connection method you would like to use. Generally, there are two ways of connecting your printer to a Wi-Fi Network. These are;
- Printer’s panel
The printer’s panel method involves starting the setup process on your printer. This method is for supported printer models only.
- USB Setup
In this method, you download the printer’s driver and run the setup file on your computer using a USB cable connected to the printer.
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Connection via printer’s panel
This method is an easy way of connecting your printer wirelessly.
- First of all, you have to plug your printer into the power source and turn it on by pressing the power button on your printer and close down all running applications. Please, ensure that your printer is capable of connecting to the internet before proceeding.
- Be sure that the router is on, too.
- Keep your printer close to the computer when switching it on and during the installation process.
- Go to the control panel of your canon printer.
- Using the Up and Down button, select the WLAN setup and then press the left button function below the display.
- Here you will be prompted to click the WPS button on your router. You can also set up the Wi-Fi manually by pressing the Stop/Start button on display.
- Select the Standard Setup option from the Wireless LAN setup and then click the OK button to proceed to the next step.
- Use the arrow keys to select your Wireless Network and then press the OK button.
- Next, you will be prompted to enter your Wireless Passphrase [Security key]. Press the OK button to edit or enter your Wireless Passphrase.
- Use the arrow keys and OK button to select a character, and then key in your Wireless Passphrase using the arrow keys. When done, select the left function button to select Done.
- When done, end the setup by pressing the left function button.
- You will receive a message stating that your connection to the access point is successful and the printer is ready to use.
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Connecting using the USB Setup
Unlike the other way of connecting your printer via the printer panel, connection through the USB Setup will require your Canon printer driver to connect your printer to your computer. Most of the time, the driver comes on a disk with your printer, or you can also download the relevant driver from the official Canon website.
- Log in to your computer using the administrator’s account and close all running applications before starting the installation process.
- Make sure that you have a good internet speed for downloading the driver.
- You can either run the driver straight from the disk, or you can choose to download it.
- Go to the browser on your computer and navigate to the following web address; https://www.usa.canon.com
- Click on Support, and then under Support Home, select Drivers & Downloads.
- Please enter the model of your Canon printer by selecting it from the drop-down and then click Go.
- Scroll down to where your printer’s recommended driver is and click Select.
- Proceed by clicking Download to start the process of downloading.
- Once the file has completed downloading, open the downloaded file to proceed to the setup process. Depending on the browser you are using, the installing process may vary from one browser to another. For example;
- Internet Explorer; You click on Run to start the installer.
- Google Chrome; Click the downloaded file in the bottom left corner.
- Mozilla Firefox; Click Save File, Click the Download Arrow, and then click the downloaded file to launch it.
- Safari [Apple]; Click the Download Arrow and then select the downloaded file to open.
Please note that, typically, Canon printers use the self-extracting installer. So once you open the downloaded file, the installer program should automatically launch itself.
- After downloading the driver and installing it, now you can connect your printer to the Wi-Fi via your computer.
Please ensure you unplug the USB cable from the computer and printer before starting the USB to Wi-Fi setup process. Later on, you will be prompted to connect the USB cable to the printer during the setup process.
- For the installation process to start, click Next.
- Next, you are required to select your region, your computer’s OS, and then proceed by clicking Next.
- Go ahead and agree to the terms and conditions by clicking Yes.
- Select “Use printer with Wireless LAN Connection” from the dialogue box and tap Next to proceed.
- From the dialogue box, click “Setup the network connection via USB” and then tap Next to proceed to the next step.
- Now you can connect your computer and printer via the USB cable.
- Hit Yes to connect your printer to the Wi-Fi network automatically if you are already connected to Wi-Fi. In case you are not connected to Wi-Fi yet, select your Wireless Network from the list on your computer, and then enter your Wi-Fi password and hit Connect to proceed.
- Now disconnect the USB cable connected to your printer and computer, and then tap Next to proceed.
- When the setup completion screen appears, tap Complete to finish the wireless setup. Then you will get an overview of the setup process.
Conclusion
That is it. Hopefully, you have successfully connected your Canon printer to the Wi-Fi network. Now you can add your printer to Windows or MacOS to start printing right away. If the process was unsuccessful, repeat the whole process to be sure you got everything right.
After connecting to Wi-Fi and your Canon printer is not working correctly, or you get random error notifications, or maybe it doesn’t print at all. The chances are that your printer’s driver is corrupt or outdated. Please try to update it and restart your computer for the update to take effect.