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Brother printer won't connect to LAN

dleedlpt
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎01-08-2024

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

This is odd. I tried similar combinations again, and it seemed to work - the printer screen said wifi was set up, and it printed a WLAN Report page that just said 'Connection: OK'

I thought great, I'll print something. But the print dialogue on the computer says 'the printer is not responding.'

So the computer is on the LAN, and the printer thinks it is too, but it won't respond to the computer.

I am out of my depth!

 

MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 16,331
Thanks: 6,263
Fixes: 448
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

But the print dialogue on the computer says 'the printer is not responding.'

The IP address of the printer has probably changed, so (assuming its windows) you will probably need to remove and add the printer again.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

dleedlpt
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎01-08-2024

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

Thanks. It's a MacBook Pro. I succeeded in uninstalling the printer. Then tried to reinstall it but the computer dialogue said 'Cannot communicate with printer.'

mystreet1
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 140
Thanks: 53
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎26-01-2024

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

Can you print out a status page. This will give you the ip address of the device. This will ensure that it is indeed connected to your router. Should be something like 192.168.1.xxx
Was a member for years, but moved from PN fttc to fttp from an AltNet. Getting 940Mb up and down. Happy to stay on here and try to help others. 
dleedlpt
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎01-08-2024

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

Yes, thanks. Got the IP address. Went into the printer setup dialogue and tried the fields I've used before, didn't work.

Tried an option I've never used before, 'Internet Printing Protocol', which said it had worked, but when I tried printing it said 'cannot communicate with printer' again. 

bill888
Champion
Posts: 1,255
Thanks: 264
Fixes: 38
Registered: ‎18-10-2008

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

Can you ping the printer's IP address from the macbook?

How far is the printer from the hub?

The HL-2340DW seems to date back to 2015. If it is anything like the MFC-L2700DW, the 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n wifi connectivity doesn't have particularly good range on those Brother laser printers in my experience.

 

 

ex-Plusnet (ADSL, FTTC) 2008-2023. now BT (FTTP) 2023-
Dan_the_Van
Hero
Posts: 3,146
Thanks: 1,568
Fixes: 90
Registered: ‎25-06-2007

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

@dleedlpt 

being an old device it might be having issues with the newer wifi specifications. It might be worth changing the mode found under Wireless settings from 1 to 2

The setting can be found here

H2 - Advanced Settings - Wireless (advanced wireless).png

This mode allows you to tune your wireless features to give you the best performance with all your wireless devices.
Your Plusnet Hub is automatically set to Mode 1

Mode 1: Gives you the fullest featured wireless, maximising throughput and range.

Mode 2: Some devices can sometimes struggle to use the latest Wireless features, if you have any devices that can't get a good wireless connection, try using this mode. Selecting this mode may reduce the wireless range and throughput but improve connectivity.

Mode 3: Change to this mode if your wireless devices don't perform well using mode 1 or 2. Selecting this mode will reduce the latest features as well as wireless range and throughput compared to Mode 1 and 2. This will allow for the broadest range of devices to operate on the wireless.
The features that are reduced include: power saving procedures, traffic aggregation methods and Multiple Concurrent data streams.

HTH

dleedlpt
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎01-08-2024

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

Thank you for your reply. Where can I find the Plusnet Hub manager?

mystreet1
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 140
Thanks: 53
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎26-01-2024

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

In your web browser type

192.168.1.254 username and password will be on the router
Was a member for years, but moved from PN fttc to fttp from an AltNet. Getting 940Mb up and down. Happy to stay on here and try to help others. 
dleedlpt
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎01-08-2024

Re: Brother printer won't connect to LAN

Thank you everyone who has helped on this. Eventually I found a kind neighbour who understands these things and he fixed it.

The problem were at least 2: that the printer had retained memory of previous connections; my neighbour had to do 3 factory resets then it worked. For a while. Then it kept going to sleep and that confused the computer. 

Fingers crossed, all working now.