Creating a peer to peer network connection with standard Ethernet cable

Overview

• This article provides a service technician or user a very useful way to create a peer to peer network using only a single Ethernet cable to access the device embedded web server (EWS).
• This allows the user to make changes or to flash the printer with code.
• This can be used in cases where a security policy will not allow 3rd parties on their network.

Note:  Affected products are all Lexmark products released up to 2020 with at least a 2-line control panel and an Ethernet port

Solution

IMPORTANT! Before you begin, make sure that you have an Ethernet cable and a laptop with at least Windows 7 for the operating system (OS).

1. Connect the printer to the laptop using an Ethernet cable.

   Note:  If it was previously connected to a wired network, perform a power-on-reset (POR) on the printer.



2. Perform any of the following procedures to acquire the IP address and Subnet mask.

   • Print the printer’s Network Setup Page report.
   • View the IP address and subnet mask from the printers Network Setup Menu.
   • Ask the user for the IP address and Subnet mask.


3. If the IP address cannot be known, change the IP address through the Network Setup Menu to 169.254.1.89 with a Subnet mask of 255.255.0.0.

   Note:  Perform a power-on-reset (POR) on the printer if it was previously connected to a wired network.

   Customer Printer IP Address:__ __ __.__ __ __.__ __ __.__ __ __

   Subnet Mask: __ __ __.__ __ __.__ __ __.__ __ __



4. On the user's personal computer (PC), click Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change Adapter Settings



5. Right-click on Local Area Connection, and select Properties.



6. Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).



7. Select Use the following IP address, and enter an IP address identical to the one from the printer except increase the last set of digits by 1 (i.e., 169.254.1.89 increased by 1 = 169.254.1.90), and same Subnet Mask as the device (i.e., 255.255.0.0), then leave the Default Gateway blank.



8. Type the user printer IP address into the address bar of your browser to access the printer’s embedded web server (EWS).

   Note:  Use the printer's actual IP address and not the IP address that was increased by 1.