Brother wireless printer issues

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BiggusDoggus

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#108756 5-Sep-2012 09:45

Hi all.

We have just bought a Brother MFC-J430W wireless printer. Wireless so my wife can work on her studies on her laptop and be able to print without having to disconnect the printer from the desktop PC and connect it to the laptop via the USB cable, or transer the file to a flash drive and transfer to the PC then print, etc etc.

After a number of hours struggling to set it up, I finally got the laptop to "find" the printer - apparently the optimum method is to set it up via the Thomson wireless router. And it worked fine - yay, great celebrations at 2.00am.

Now, the issue is every time the laptop is turned off and back on again, the router needs to be restarted, otherwise the laptop shows the printer as being "offline". Once restarted, the printer comes "online" according to the laptop.
Weird thing is, while the status is "offline", in the Thomson Gateway setup thingie on the PC it still shows the printer as connecting to the router. I hope that makes sense.

The Brother helpdesk has e-mailed me suggesting that I set up as "Ad-Hoc" - however, they have said that this setup means the laptop can't connect to the internet, for whatever reason.
They also suggested we connect the laptop to the printer via the the USB cable, wich rather destroys the point of us buying a wireless printer in the first place.

So - any ideas around why we need to restart the router all the time, and how to fix it please? Or is Ad Hoc the way to go (there is no "network" to speak of - just the laptop and the PC).

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

BiggusDoggus

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#681630 5-Sep-2012 10:11

Update - Brother have now said -

"If you set up to Ad-Hoc then your computer won`t be connect to internet because there is only one network allowable at a time.

Your problem is a router issue. The Thomson router is a entry level router, it will drop the most inactive device(most time is printer, it is in active only when it print/fax/scan) if there are more than 3 devices connect to its network.".

I'm not entirely sure that's correct. But if it is, will a Gateway router work better?

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

CYaBro

4589 posts

Uber Geek

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#681640 5-Sep-2012 10:26

How far is the printer from the router? Could you just plug it into the router with an Ethernet cable?
That would still allow both computers to print independent of the other and the laptop could still print over the wireless network so no need for the USB cable.
Both machines would still have Internet access too.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

BiggusDoggus

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#681653 5-Sep-2012 10:40

That would be a great idea, except unfortunately the printer doesn't have the capability of ethernet connection. It's pretty basic - USB cable to the PC, phone cable, and some kind of extension port for a PABX or something. That's it.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

CYaBro

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#681660 5-Sep-2012 10:59

Damn! They really are getting cheap to remove the ethernet port.
That's the first printer I've seen with wireless that doesn't also have an ethernet port.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

BiggusDoggus

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#681661 5-Sep-2012 11:02

I agree - you get what you pay for, of course, but regardleess, $69 is damn cheap IMHO. Especially for our relatively basic needs.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/printing/3327885/brother-mfc-j430w-review/

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

mmlakeman

106 posts

Master Geek

#681676 5-Sep-2012 11:25

I know it defeats the wireless point a bit but can you not connect it to the PC with the USB cable then share it from there to the rest of the network?

BiggusDoggus

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#681680 5-Sep-2012 11:35

The printer is connected to the PC via USB, but the PC doesn't have wireless capability so unsure how the laptop would connect to the printer?

Basically, the wireless works, but only after restarting the router each time. I can borrow a Gateway router, so might try that and see if it works.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

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mmlakeman

106 posts

Master Geek

#681685 5-Sep-2012 11:39

Only the laptop needs to use the wireless - as long as the PC is plugged in with a network cable they are on the same network - the PC can share the printer and other devices on the network can use it (Doesn't matter if they are connected with a cable or wirelessly)....but if you can get another router and it solves it then all good (-;

floydbloke

3523 posts

Uber Geek

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#681691 5-Sep-2012 11:42

I wonder if the router drops the wifi connection or the DHCP lease to the printer.

Is it worth (if possible) assigning a fixed IP address to the the printer.

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

floydbloke

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#681705 5-Sep-2012 11:54

Some more info here
Wireless Brother Printer Setup

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

BiggusDoggus

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#681728 5-Sep-2012 12:21

Thanks for that floyd.

As I said though - I can connect wirelessly to the printer with the laptop with no issues. Works like a charm. Except - I have to restart the router every time the laptop is turned off and back on again.

Which is a pain in the behind, obviously. That's the only issue I'm trying to resolve.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

SATTV

1648 posts

Uber Geek

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#681748 5-Sep-2012 12:42

I install a lot of Brother printers and I have only had one play up on wireless and it was because the wireless signal was too low.

I ALWAYS use a static IP being a thompson router use something like 192.168.1.50 ( you set this on the networking tab on your printer )
Make sure the gateway is correct probably 192.168.1.254

Tell your printer driver to pint to the IP address rather than the printer name i.e BRWxxxxx

should be solid from there.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

BiggusDoggus

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#683780 10-Sep-2012 12:24

I realise there are probably thousands of people who have been waiting in breathless anticipation to see if my wireless printer issues have been resolved.

I am delighted to announce they have (I will be circulating the same to E! and TMZ as well).

Replaced the Thomson router with a Gateway, and it works flawlessly. Thanks for everybody's input.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries