How to Connect Ricoh Printer to Wi-Fi Network

Printers have undergone rapid development over the years to allow connection to the Wi-Fi network directly. This enables any connected device on the network to access the printer and print wirelessly.

Ricoh printer is a top-of-the-line network printer that allows you to connect to the Wi-Fi network and print via any connected PC. This means that the printer can be accessed by more than one person n your organization in different locations. But how do you connect this printer to the Wi-Fi network?

To connect Ricoh printer to Wi-Fi network, download and install the printer drivers on your PC, connect your PC to the Wi-Fi network, connect PC to printer via USB cable, set up an access point, and connect your PC to the printer.

How to connect Ricoh printer

Printers need drivers to be able to connect to the PC. The first thing to do is to download the necessary Ricoh printer driver on your PC and install it. If you are going to install the driver via CD, ensure that your PC has a CD ROM, else you should be good to go if you’ve already downloaded the software on your PC.

Make sure your PC is connected to the Wi-Fi network and on the printer, press the power button to turn it on and press and hold it again for about 1-2 seconds. Check the power LED for a color change and ensure it turns blue. This means that Wi-Fi is now enabled on your Ricoh printer. It’s time to now install the printer driver on your PC. Insert the CD in the CD ROM and launch the installation process. On your screen, you should see the installation menu and you will be prompted to select an installation type. Select the ‘Wi-Fi Configuration and installation’ option to proceed and click on the ‘accept license agreement’ checkbox at the bottom of the page to proceed. Next, connect your PC to the printer using a compatible USB cable and click on ‘Next’. On the next screen, you will see a list of access points, select an access point and click on Next. On the next screen, so as to connect to the selected access point, enter a password and click on Next.

Select the Ricoh printer from the list on the next page and wait for the installation process to be complete. When complete, you will be notified via a message telling you that the setup is complete and the Ricoh printer icon should appear on your desktop.

Access point setup

To use the Ricoh printer with your PC, you need to set up an access point. Go to your Ricoh printer, press and hold the power button to restart the printer. There are three ways to connect the printer to the PC – using a USB cable, SoftAP software, or directly to the Wi-Fi router. We will connect the printer to the PC using the SoftAP function. This is because the Ricoh printer supports the SoftAP function which aids the printer to function as a virtual router or access point.

On the Wi-Fi setup, select ‘search Wi-Fi’ and then select ‘setup access point manually’ which allows you to set up using SSID, password, or encryption, and finally click on ‘Apply’ to proceed. After the connection has been established, go ahead and select an access point from the dropdown list. Next, enter the password and connect to the access point.

Go to your desktop and click on the Ricoh printer icon to launch it. Check your Wi-Fi settings by clicking on the Settings tab and then select Wi-Fi. If the Wi-Fi settings are disabled, click o the Wi-Fi button to switch it on. You should now see a list of access points. Select an access point and connect it. On the same tab, if you see WEP options, you need to select an option that matches your SSID and password. In case the settings have been modified, an ‘authentication password’ screen will appear after you click on the connect button. In this case, enter the 888888 which is the admin password, and restart the printer. Now you should be able to print from your PC wirelessly.

A Summary table

FAQs

Why can’t I connect the printer to the network directly?

It’s not advisable to connect your printer directly to the network because the network security will weaken and the connection procedure will be more complicated. So it’s best if you connect the printer with an access point such as a wireless LAN router.

What is a SoftAP function?

A SoftAP or software-enabled access point in full is software that enables a PC not specially made to be a router to act as a wireless access point.