Connecting a Wireless Printer

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

I'm trying to connect a wireless computer to my laptop at the moment, and am having zero luck. It worked previously when it was connected to a home network my brother set up, but since he moved out with his computer the network is lost. I have tried following troubleshooting without much luck, and have tried searching for the printer wirelessly as well but my laptop cannot find it.

Anyone got any ideas to help a computer simpleton out?

 

[some11]

This might be a bit over your head but you may need to assign a static IP to the printer via your modem. This gives it the same IP address all the time for all computers to access instead of a random IP address leased every 24 hours (default) which can stuff up the connection.

Find out the IP address of your modem (will look something like 192.168.1.254, depending on the brand), then look for the DHCP server page - there should be a fixed hosts or static IP option where you assign a static IP to the MAC address of the printer (found via the printer properties).

Note: the static IP should be outside of the range of the DHCP server's IP range.

 

[bileduct]

What model printer is it?

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

This might be a bit over your head but you may need to assign a static IP to the printer via your modem. This gives it the same IP address all the time for all computers to access instead of a random IP address leased every 24 hours (default) which can stuff up the connection.

Find out the IP address of your modem (will look something like 192.168.1.254, depending on the brand), then look for the DHCP server page - there should be a fixed hosts or static IP option where you assign a static IP to the MAC address of the printer (found via the printer properties).

Note: the static IP should be outside of the range of the DHCP server's IP range.

What model printer is it?

Brother MFC-J625DW

 

[Incorrect]

Printer might need a new aerial?

 

[Twizzle]

So you are not connecting it via a router ?

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

I have no idea what I'm doing

 

[Twizzle]

got that, do you have a router in the house of are you connected directly to a internet provider by the wireless network ?

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

I have a D-Link router.

 

[Twizzle]

OK

Go to Brother MFC

Press Menu>Network>SSID The printer will find the router and connect to it.

Then go to puter. Control Panel>Printers and Devices>Add a Printer (via wireless network) and the Brother MFC will come up in the box after a few minutes then click next.

It will ask for the disk or try to find the drivers automatically. Self explanatory from there.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

There is no SSID option when you press network. Options are:

- TCP/IP
- Setup Wizard
- WPS/AOSS
- WPS w/PIN Code
- WLAN Status
- MAC Address
- WLAN Enable (off)
- Network Reset

 

[Twizzle]

Set Up Wizard>SSID

but turn WLAN to On first

 

[Incorrect]

Try Setup Wizard. Hopefully that will have a wireless configuration option and do most of the set up itself.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Set Up Wizard>SSID

but turn WLAN to On first

Grrr...

I have been able to find the printer now, but it is asking for a WPS PIN. When I found the WPS PIN and entered it, I got the wheel of doom followed by a timed out message.

 

[bileduct]

This might be a bit over your head but you may need to assign a static IP to the printer via your modem. This gives it the same IP address all the time for all computers to access instead of a random IP address leased every 24 hours (default) which can stuff up the connection.

DHCP doesn't return random addresses on renewal, the device will continue to use the same IP address until the lease expires. A device will attempt to renew it's lease halfway through the lease period which depending on the router could be anything up to 30 days or more. So if your devices are always or regularly connecting to the network it will always be assigned the same address.

However if your IP leases are expiring it's better to just increase the lease period or set a DHCP reservation for the IP address you want the device to be permanently using.

 

[Incorrect]

DHCP doesn't return random addresses on renewal, the device will continue to use the same IP address until the lease expires. A device will attempt to renew it's lease halfway through the lease period which depending on the router could be anything up to 30 days or more. So if your devices are always or regularly connecting to the network it will always be assigned the same address.

However if your IP leases are expiring it's better to just increase the lease period or set a DHCP reservation for the IP address you want the device to be permanently using.

Well, let me just say....








NERD!!!!

 

[bileduct]

Grrr...

I have been able to find the printer now, but it is asking for a WPS PIN. When I found the WPS PIN and entered it, I got the wheel of doom followed by a timed out message.

What is the model of the D-Link router?

WPS (WiFi Protected Setup) is a method of simplifying joining a device to a wireless network. The model printer you have has two WPS methods, the pin code one you were already using (WPS w/PIN Code), and another called WPS/AOSS where you just press a button on the device and a button on the router and all the magic happens. To use either of these you would need to determine if your router supports them.

Here's the manual for configuring network connectivity -> http://download.brother.com/welcome/doc002847/cv_mfc825dw_eng_net_b.pdf

Go to section 3, page 9. It outlines all your connectivity options.

If your router does not support either of those options then you will need to use the Setup Wizard which will require you to enter in the SSID (Wireless network name) and the network password.

Now, that said.... perhaps you could just connect to it using a USB cable.

http://download.brother.com/welcome/doc002859/mfc625dw_uke_qsg_lx8633004.pdf

Page 12.

 

[retch]

I had a heap of legal papers to print off.

I have a Brother printer plugged into my desk top.

It looks like the hard drive has died [last night]

I unplugged the Brother [USB] and plugged it into my W10 laptop.

First time it said 'try another way'.

I cleared that and tried again and I was able to print off my paperwork.

No drivers required apparently. There must be a program built into W10.

 

[bileduct]

Windows 10 will automatically pull down drivers from the internet.

 

[retch]

Windows 10 will automatically pull down drivers from the internet.

Yeah I thought of that but if it did the time needed to do it was about 1 minute.