I just spent another hour with Brother support trying to use the printer wireless.
After all that time the conclusion was something is wrong with your router.
Anyone else had this problem? Thanks
Hm. that seems unlikely.
The one thing that can cause issues is that most devices like printers will only have 2.4GHz radios in them. The Airport will, by default, bind the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios to the SSID, which can confuse some devices.
Try telling your airport to use separates SSIDs for the two frequencies and see if the printer gets online. Ignore anything about WPS, just connect the printer manually to the WiFi.
Charles,
Instructions for connecting a wireless printer are confusing at best, regardless of vendor – Brother, Canon, HP, or other.
You need to provide more data. What exactly is the problem? What model Printer? What did you expect the Airport Extreme to do?
I have only Brother Printers (having formerly used Cannon, Epson, HP & Apple).
For many years Brother printers were a no brainer, the just connected and worked. About 2 years ago after an update to OS X, things began to not work so well. My two laser printers (HL-2270DW’s) continue to work via Wi-Fi with no issues. My inkjet however is another story, it’s a MFC-J430W. It previously worked without issue, but 2 years ago Wi-Fi issues began and continue to remain unresolved. If I used it every couple of days all was well, but any longer than that the connection would “break” and the simplest way to reconnect was via WPS. (I had and have a Airport Extreme but switched to TP-Link Archer 1750’s about 4 years ago as my primary Router.) Several months ago I got tired of the hassle and ran a USB cable to the MFC-J430W and now it works fine all the time. So I do not have a solution to your issue but yes, I have had Wi-Fi issues. I do not think it is the router, since mine always worked once reconnected via WPS. I am also not sure if it’s Apples issue. because the drivers are Brothers.
I do understand the USB connection, since that has been the only thing that worked for the last 3 years. I was trying WIFI again to use the OS app with my new iPhone X. I will try Kreme suggestion if I can figure out how to do that. I too have settled to only Brother printers - they work most of the time and the consumables are reasonable. The printer is HL-L 2340DW.
Thanks for your reply.
The Brother tech did mention that the Extreme uses 2.4GHz and 5GHz. I am working on how to tell the airport to separate the SSIDs. Any further instructions will be appreciated.
Thanks for your help
The printer is HL-L 2340DW (Brother) — We were trying to set up a wireless connection to my network and were unsuccessful. I think the tech was confused also.
Thanks for your reply
“Take Control of Your Apple Wi-Fi Network” explains how to do this. You might also be able to figure it out via Apple’s Airport Utility app.
Relative to a Brother 5200D. Is it possble to use a Wi-Fi (AirPort) connection -which works for me- and a USB connection at the same time, alternativly more precisely…
Sure…just leave the cable plugged in and hanging where it’s available…and then specify 2 printers in System preferences.
A solution to my inquiry that was easy for me to apply! It works in both Wireless and USB modes.
Thanking you for the response.
From Québec,
Bertrand