Printer status not available at this time

[TonyP-Xerox]

You can print becuase most firewalls pass the Printing Protocols automatically: 

• IPP which is port TCP 631
• LPR/LPD - TCP 515
• Raw - TCP 9100

While I"m not sure which protocols are bing used in your case, I would ensure that SNMP is enabled.

UDP PORT 161: The SNMP agent receives requests through this port.

UDP PORT 162: The SNMP agent receives notifications (Traps) through this port.

There could be other ports but that is where I would start. 

Tony

[brenti]

Hello

Can you be more specific as to which VPN communications protocols are being blocked?

How do i ask network to check if bidirectional comms are blocked?

I connect my laptop to my home network. I then connect to office network with VPN. I am printing from my laptop to a Xerox b400 network printer. The printer is connected to a print server.

After the print is completed i should get a job completed message on my laptop from the Xerox Job tracker service but i only get the "Printer Status is not available at this time". 

Is the job completed message being sent back from the print server or printer?

[TonyP-Xerox]

HI Brenti, you are most likely receiving this message becuase the VPN is blocking the bidirectional communication protocols to the printer but not the standard print protocols

Network administrators frequently block certain protocols from a VPN to limit the traffic and ensure the VPN operates more efficiently. 

TonyP

[brenti]

I am connected to my office via VPN on my laptop. 

There is a Veralink B400 printer installed on a print server on my office network. I installed the printer driver on my laptop.

When i try printing while on VPN i get a popup "Printer status is not available at this time". I see an Xerox job tracker icon in the taskbar.

If i try printing from my PC at the office i do not get this message. I receive a job completed message. I am also able to get other printer status information (paper, toner, etc) 

Why am i getting "Printer status not available ..." only when i'm connected via VPN