Printers are the most infuriating thing in most houses, and the reason is almost always the same: something changed on the network, not on the printer.
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. This is the single most common cause and it explains the whole 'nothing changed' feeling.
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 does not work. Worth checking before anything else.
Third-party ink is usually fine. What is not fine is that some printers are sold with a subscription that will stop the printer working if the plan lapses, even with ink in the machine. If your printer has suddenly refused to print and it came with a plan, check that first.
There is a point where a printer is not 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 a paper feed that has started chewing, we will tell you that instead of billing you to nurse it along.
If you are buying a new one, ask us first. There are models we would not put in a customer's house, and it costs you nothing to ask.
Some of these will fix it outright, and that is fine. We would rather you solved it in ten minutes than paid us to do it.
We are a support and setup service, not a repair shop. Saying so plainly saves everybody a wasted trip.
$39 books an in-person visit, and it comes straight off the price of the visit. Our hourly rate steps up with distance from the town your Local Nerd works from: $110 an hour within 25 miles, $130 in the 25 to 50 mile band, and $145 in the 50 to 75 mile band. That is how we cover the drive, so there is 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 are not permitted to accept cash or checks, so you will never be asked for either at the door. Full detail is on the FAQ.
In-person visits reach up to 75 miles out from the town each Local Nerd works from, whichever state that address is in. Remote help works anywhere. Check your own 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 are not 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 will refuse to print if the plan lapses regardless of what is in the cartridge. If your printer stopped dead and it came with a plan, check the plan before you buy anything.
If it is 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 will give you a straight answer rather than charge you for an hour of nursing it.
Yes, and it is worth doing while we are there. Printing from a phone works well these days once it is set up properly, 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 rather than in the printer. We come out when the printer needs to be physically moved, rejoined to Wi-Fi from its own screen, or replaced.