Printers are the most infuriating thing in most houses, and the reason is almost always the same: something changed on the network the printer relies on.
$39 books an in-person visit and comes straight off the price. Remote help is $39 for 30 minutes. Card only, and you approve the price before we start.
The printer's address moved. Most home networks hand out addresses that expire. After a power cut or a router restart, the printer comes back with a different one, and your computer is still looking at the old one. It's the most common cause.
A new router or a new internet company. Different network name, and the printer is still trying to join the old one.
An update changed the driver. Windows in particular will sometimes swap a working printer driver for a generic one during an update.
There are now four copies of the printer in the list, and the one set as default is a copy that doesn't work.
Third-party ink is usually fine. The catch is that some printers are sold with a subscription that stops the printer working if the plan lapses, even with ink in the machine. If yours suddenly refused to print and it came with a plan, check that first.
There's a point where a printer isn't worth another hour of anybody's time. If yours is more than about six years old, needs a full set of cartridges that cost more than a new printer, or has started chewing paper, we'll tell you so and won't bill you to nurse it along.
If you're buying a new one, ask us first. There are models we wouldn't put in a customer's house.
Some of these fix it outright, in ten minutes, and save you the visit.
We don't do hardware repair, the kind that needs parts or a soldering iron. Better to know that before anybody drives out.
$39 books an in-person visit, and it comes straight off the price of the visit. Our hourly rate steps up with distance from downtown of the city that serves your area: $110 an hour within 25 miles, $130 in the 25 to 50 mile band, and $145 in the 50 to 75 mile band. That's how we cover the drive, so there's no separate travel fee.
Remote help is $39 for a 30-minute session and starts with a phone call at the time you picked. If you use us a few times a year, Nerd on Call is $14.99 a month and includes two remote sessions and an in-person visit each year.
Cards only. Local Nerds aren't permitted to accept cash or checks, so you'll never be asked for either at the door. Full detail is on the FAQ.
Rather talk it through first? Have a Local Nerd call you, free, no obligation.
In-person visits reach up to 75 miles out from downtown of each city we serve, whichever state that address is in. Remote help works anywhere. Check your address on the ZIP checker, or see the whole state on the map.
Nine times out of ten the computer is talking to an address the printer no longer has. Power the printer off at the wall for thirty seconds and back on, clear the print queue, and check you aren't printing to one of several duplicate copies of the printer in your list.
The printer is still looking for the old Wi-Fi network. It needs to be joined to the new one and then re-added on each computer, phone and tablet that prints to it. That last part is what usually gets missed.
Usually yes. Be careful with printers sold alongside an ink subscription, because some of them refuse to print if the plan lapses regardless of what's in the cartridge. If your printer stopped dead and it came with a plan, check the plan before you buy anything.
If it's more than about six years old, needs a full set of cartridges costing more than a new printer, or is starting to chew paper, probably not. We'll say so up front and won't charge you for an hour of nursing it.
Yes, and it's worth doing while we're there. Printing from a phone works well once it's set up, and most folks never had it configured.
Often, yes. A $39 remote session covers most printer problems, because most of them live on the computer and not in the printer. We come out when the printer needs to be moved, rejoined to Wi-Fi from its own screen, or replaced.