I have had problems printing for a while. Everything worked OK until I moved from a direct connection to my printer to WiFi wireless printing.
I tracked down the problem: my WiFi printer only supports 2.4GHz WiFi, not 5 GHz. I can print if I set my WiFi router to use 2.4 GHz.
I want to use 5 GHz for WiFi. My download speeds are about 6 times faster with 5 GHz vs. 2.4 GHz.
What to do? I decided to upgrade my printer and get one that works on 5 GHz WiFi: The HP Tango.
Tango is a very different printer. It does not have a screen. It does not support a direct connection. It is designed for use via WiFi, both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.
My favorite thing about Tango is how you can hide it when it is not in use. This is what it looks like when I don’t need to print (i.e. most of the time)…
I bought an Indigo linen cover that fits the printer like a book cover. You wouldn’t know it is a printer. It is out of sight/out of mind. No lights. Nothing digital.
The printer is small enough to easily fit on my bookshelf. The only cable is a white power cable that blends in with the wall.
When I need to print, I take the paper off the top of the printer, open the cover, open the printer, place the paper in printer…
Here is a video of the process…
There is something magical about this printer: how does it connect to WiFi in the first place? It does not have a display or buttons for you to choose a connection and enter a password.
I actually do not know the answer to this question. The HP setup app showed that there was a Tango printer that I could setup. How did my computer know there was a printer it could setup?
Once I selected to setup my new Tango printer, I was asked if I wanted to use the same WiFi my computer is using. I said I did, and then my printer started working.
Magical.
There is a Tango and a Tango X. What is the difference? The Tango X is a Tango with an included cover. The Tango is $150. The Tango X is $200. A cover is $50.
Print quality is great. It is very fast. It is out of the way. And it works.
5/5 stars
That doesn’t even look like a printer. It’s beautiful!!!
I am convinced there is witch craft involved…surely. Gorgeous! My current situation… Seven year old printer half the size of my desk that I had to retrieve from Sean’s now home office for our school room. Quite lovely… Ties the room together!? Your printer is now, officially on my teacher wish list!!
I assume it doesn’t copy or scan…true?
Love the look and set-up!
Correct. It only prints.
I think a lot of WiFi stuff nowadays broadcasts its own SSID, which the software picks up on, and once you consent to switch it to your normal SSID it does it and off you go. This is the way my Fitbit scale, thermostats, etc. all got setup.
This is the way.
@Ian That could be it. When I setup my Fitbit scale (I have one too!), I had to manually switch to the fitbit scale wifi and the manually switch back to my normal wifi.
With this setup…I never had change my WiFi. The setup app said “I found a Tango, do you want to set it up?”. Then it said, “Do you want Tango to use the same WiFi as your computer?”. That was it.
That’s definitely slick! You’re right, the old way is to manually jump to the device’s Wifi and configure the new WiFi on it to match your home. This app takes that step out though it’s basically doing the same thing, just doing it for you. What a time we live in.
and no, I don’t get notified if you reply to a thread.
Thanks Ian…I updated the site to support subscribing to comments.