Question Back Again with Brother HL-2270DW Printer Problems

[Hutchins4292]

If I had funds to buy a new one, I'd make a boat anchor out of this one!

I'm reasonably certain that the problem is a network problem but I cannot find a solution.

The printer prints its status and settings page per usual when it is reset; therefore I know that it will print.

I have the software from Brother for this model and the setup and user guides. I read the guides. I followed the steps in the setup guide that tells how to reset to factory defaults. I can't be sure I did it correctly, but I think I did.

Windows 11 Pro Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Printers & Scanners shows the device as installed but not connected and 'driver unavailable'. If the device is not connected, I cannot install/update the driver.

I tried to find a user forum for Brother printers but found none. The forum I found is for developers. If anyone knows of a Brother-specific forum, please tell me and I'll ask there, too.

I'm about at wits end with this thing. I suspect that I've looked at the problem for so long that I cannot see it objectively. I seem to keep trying the same solutions and fail each time.

The last time I had a problem with the printer and posted here, the problem resolved itself after a Windows update was applied. I installed the new Windows 11 release about 2 weeks ago and there are not updates showing available when I check in settings. Is it possible the new Windows release caused the problem? IDK

I would very much appreciate any guidance.

 

[triplex1]

If I had funds to buy a new one, I'd make a boat anchor out of this one!

I'm reasonably certain that the problem is a network problem but I cannot find a solution.

The printer prints its status and settings page per usual when it is reset; therefore I know that it will print.

I have the software from Brother for this model and the setup and user guides. I read the guides. I followed the steps in the setup guide that tells how to reset to factory defaults. I can't be sure I did it correctly, but I think I did.

Windows 11 Pro Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Printers & Scanners shows the device as installed but not connected and 'driver unavailable'. If the device is not connected, I cannot install/update the driver.

I tried to find a user forum for Brother printers but found none. The forum I found is for developers. If anyone knows of a Brother-specific forum, please tell me and I'll ask there, too.

I'm about at wits end with this thing. I suspect that I've looked at the problem for so long that I cannot see it objectively. I seem to keep trying the same solutions and fail each time.

The last time I had a problem with the printer and posted here, the problem resolved itself after a Windows update was applied. I installed the new Windows 11 release about 2 weeks ago and there are not updates showing available when I check in settings. Is it possible the new Windows release caused the problem? IDK

I would very much appreciate any guidance.

where do you print from and does it do it after restarting?

 

[Hutchins4292]

In the past, before encountering this problem, we printed from various PC s, iPads, iPhones without problems. Now, of course, we cannot print at all because the printer does not appear in the network.

Heretofore, I tried to connect the printer to the network wirelessly. After speaking with both T-Mobile and Brother, I learned from the latter that the printer must be connected to the router by ethernet cable. Brother emailed me instructions which I think I followed to the letter including connecting the printer to the router. I still got to the point where, when the software expected me to select a printer to add to the network, none appeared in the panel the Brother installation software presented.

This panel states that if no printer appears in the list, to disable the personal firewall. I don't run anything other than Microsoft Security Essentials, which I think includes a firewall; however, I have not clue how to disable or uninstall MSE.

????

 

[triplex1]

The main problem is the network and apparently some other device from the same network is accessing the printer's IP.
Look to make it stable and not DHCP.
I believe you have the brother utilities and iprint&scan installed.
From there you can make corrections and options after connecting usb cable.
For the firewall you will exclude the printer (when it appears on the network) and there will be no problem.
I get prints from brother without disabling anything in win 10 and 11 all the time, so what they tell you to do is nonsense.
*I am focusing your problem on the IP as I said before.
*Also, your printer must have a security code on the back, don't forget it because you might need it and not pay attention to it

 

[pete_101]

Just throwing this out there, may not apply to you. Last time I had network issues with my printer, it turned out that somehow it had changed from the 5GHz network to the slower 2.4GHz, and even though the router is the source of both networks, it doesn't work if they're not all on the same network.

 

[triplex1]

Between the 2 networks 5 and 2.4 if there is the same key there is a problem, you solve it by adding a letter to the end of one (from your router settings)

 

[Hutchins4292]

OK. It's been a long week. I've spent hours on hold and on the phone with Brother technical support. After a long time - better part of an hour - going through steps with the support agent, we got to a point where I had made typos keying in the SSID passkey. I was finally able to do that successfully, but getting the printer on the network was not successful Suddenly I heard a click and the connection was dropped with tech support. I suspect that he reached some threshold where either his patience wore thin or he was about to get into trouble with his supervisor and he dropped the call. At the very beginning of our session he confirmed my phone number was good for a call back in case we were disconnected. It's been about 10 minutes; I've received no callback.

OH, BTW: never accept the offer to have tech support hold your place in line and call you back. They never do. I tried it 3 different times this week.

I'm now to the point that Windows (11 Pro) shows the printer as the default printer but that it is offline. I no longer see the disconnected and no driver messages; so I suppose we've made some progress.

I have only limited capability to discover what's on the network because the T-Mobile app only provides mininal information instead of accurately ID'ng devices. I think the printer is added to the network because I found the IP address of the printer in the T-Mobile DEVICES list.

Now, if someone can tell me how to tell Windows to put the printer online, I would be very grateful. I've searched without finding how to do it.

 

[Hutchins4292]

FOLLOW UP:
My printer is back online on my wifi network. I'm posting to close this thread and report findings.

I don't know what fixed the problem. I spent hours each time over multiple days with Brother support. After going through what seemed to be the same diagnostic and resetting steps again and again, we finally got it to work. I discovered that at least 2 of the apps I print from had the wrong choice selected for the printer (trying to print to a PDF printer which actually saves the print output to a file). I also discovered that I had incorrect settings in Windows 11. Because I found and changed so many things, I don't know for certain which issue caused the problem.