You swapped to a mesh network like Eero, Orbi, or TP-Link Deco for better coverage, and now your Canon PIXMA TR8620a refuses to connect or keeps dropping offline. It's a common bump when mixing an older 2.4 GHz printer with modern mesh defaults. The TR8620a is a solid all-in-one that uses five individual cartridges, but it's strictly a 2.4 GHz device, which creates specific headaches with mesh systems.
The fastest path to a fix is changing your mesh security from WPA3 to WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode. This usually resolves it within a minute or two. Here's the rest of the plan if that doesn't do the trick.
Switch Your Mesh to WPA2/WPA3 Mixed Mode
Open your mesh app and find the WiFi settings. Look for the security protocol and change it from WPA3 to WPA2/WPA3 Mixed or Transitional mode. The TR8620a can't handle WPA3-only networks with PMF requirements enforced.
Save the change and let the network cycle for about a minute. Then grab the Canon PRINT app on your phone and try pairing the printer fresh. This clears the biggest compatibility hurdle between the TR8620a and modern mesh hardware.
Enable Local Network Discovery in Your Mesh App
Even after the printer connects, your phone or computer might not find it. That usually points to mDNS or Bonjour traffic being blocked between mesh nodes. Your TR8620a broadcasts itself over the network, and your devices need to hear that broadcast.
Dig into your mesh app's advanced settings. Look for toggles labeled mDNS, Bonjour, IGMP Snooping, or AirPrint forwarding. Turn them on. Without that forwarding, the printer shows up fine on the node it's connected to but disappears from everything else.
This is a very frequent cause of the "slow discovery" issue the TR8620a has on mesh networks. Flipping this single setting often makes the Canon PRINT app much faster at finding the printer.
Connect the TR8620a Via Ethernet
If WiFi keeps giving you headaches, skip it entirely. The TR8620a has an Ethernet port on the back that bypasses every WiFi-specific mesh problem. Grab a Cat 5e or better cable and plug it directly into the nearest mesh node.
The printer grabs an IP address within thirty seconds. Once it does, add the printer on your computer using that IP address. Wired connections are immune to WPA3 blocks, band steering issues, and node roaming dropouts.
This is the single most reliable fix for stability. If the printer sits anywhere near a mesh node, Ethernet will completely solve the problem.
Check Your ISP Gateway for Double NAT
Got a combined modem and router from your internet provider with a mesh system plugged into it? You likely have double NAT running. When that happens, the TR8620a can end up on a different subnet than your computer, which breaks discovery instantly.
Log into your ISP gateway's admin page. Look for a setting called Bridge Mode, Pass-Through, or IP Passthrough. Enable it and save. This hands all routing duties to your mesh system.
Restart everything after making the change. The printer usually pairs cleanly once it's on the same flat network as everything else.
Set a Static IP for the Printer
Does the TR8620a keep disappearing from your computer after a mesh node reboots? The mesh is likely handing it a different IP address every time it reconnects. Your computer loses track of it because the old IP is suddenly empty.
Open your mesh app, find the TR8620a in the connected device list, and look for a Reserve IP or Static IP option. Turn it on. The printer will always get the same address, even after power cycles or network reboots.
This takes about thirty seconds and prevents the most annoying "it was working yesterday" problem.
Lock the Printer to the 2.4 GHz Band
Here is the critical one for the TR8620a: it is a 2.4 GHz only device. Period. If your mesh system uses band steering, it will try to push the printer to a 5 GHz band it cannot use. The connection fails silently.
Check your mesh app for per-device settings. If you can manually assign a band, force the TR8620a to stay on 2.4 GHz. If your app doesn't allow per-device band selection, temporarily disable the 5 GHz broadcast on your main SSID while you finish setup. Turn 5 GHz back on afterward. The printer remembers its connection to the 2.4 GHz band.
Turn Off Client Isolation
Some mesh networks enable client isolation by default as a security feature. It blocks devices from seeing each other, which completely kills printer discovery. Your phone connects to the network but can't see the TR8620a at all.
Look in your mesh app under WiFi or Security settings. Find Client Isolation and make sure it is switched off. Also confirm your computer and the printer are on the main network, not a guest network. Guest networks almost always have isolation locked on.
Restart the Entire Mesh Network
If you have tried a few of these and pairing is still failing, do a full mesh reboot. Unplug all nodes from power, including the main router and every satellite. Wait a full sixty seconds.
Plug the main router back in and let it fully boot before touching the satellites. That usually takes around ninety seconds. Then plug the satellites back in one at a time, waiting about thirty seconds between each.
A clean boot flushes stale routing tables that sometimes cause the TR8620a to fail during the handshake process.
Perform a Network Reset on the TR8620a
Still stuck? The printer might be holding onto corrupted network data from your old router or a previous failed pairing attempt. You need to clear that out completely.
On the printer's touchscreen, go to Menu > Setup > Device settings > Reset settings > Reset all. Confirm the reset. It clears the saved WiFi config but leaves your personal settings and ink information intact.
Once the printer reboots, open the Canon PRINT app and walk through the setup steps again. With the mesh already configured for WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode and mDNS enabled, the TR8620a usually finds the network and pairs on the first attempt.
