[SOLVED] WLAN printer, ok admin access, won't print

[AzGenie]

Brother HL-3170CDW printer; Windows 10; HP Laptop WiFi connect to Century Link C1100T modem/router; printer in WLAN connection mode and prints Network Status page as "connected".

Latest W-10 driver installed and seems to be recognizing the printer - shows in "Control Panel", selectable as default printer, Brother Utility -> Status correctly shows printer status as eg. Sleep or Ready, and shows toner quantities.

O.K. so far... "Print Test Page" goes through the motions, page sent to printer -> "What's printing now" shows file with "printing" state but nothing prints and eventually it times out and gives error message "print to Brother HL-3170CDW failed."

Admin access, via browser, to 192.168.0.3 (as setup from printer control panel) appears to show relevant data EXCEPT when selecting "Find Device" the browser page updates with -nothing- listed in the device table area.

I have seen conflicting advice regarding the "SNMP" option in the Windows network port setup: one source says NOT select SNMP to avoid printer appearing to be offline when it is actually ready; a second source says YES select SNMP to allow Windows to query printer of ready status, etc.

Which is best? Or, what else can be wrong?

[Moderator edit to break up "wall of text".]

 

[Ralston18]

Just to confirm my understanding: you set the printer up to use a static IP address (192.168.0.3) and reserved that IP on the router using the printer's MAC - correct?

And 192.168.0.3 is outside of the DHCP IP address range allowed to the router.

What does the printer's installation manual state with respect to the SNMP option? The setting may be contingent on some other factors or configuration settings.

 

[AzGenie]

Just to confirm my understanding: you set the printer up to use a static IP address (192.168.0.3) and reserved that IP on the router using the printer's MAC - correct?

And 192.168.0.3 is outside of the DHCP IP address range allowed to the router.

What does the printer's installation manual state with respect to the SNMP option? The setting may be contingent on some other factors or configuration settings.

 

[AzGenie]

The 192.168.0.3 IP came from setting up the Brother via its (on the printer panel) setup "wizard" which I presume was "given" that IP by the router and is shown in the printers local "print network status" page. From the Windows side I've kept that address to match. And of course that is the IP that connects, via browser, to the printer administrative web page(s). The router itself is 192.168.0.1 and the HP laptop is assigned 192.168.0.2. Since the administrative web pages are displayed I assume that IP is valid.
As to the printer manual references to SNMP, there is no recommended setting. In fact there are only 4 mentions of SNMP in the whole 206 page manual and they are in the appendix of Network Supported Protocols, listed as supported for IPv4, IPv6, Security Protocols Wired, and Security Protocols Wireless.
In my most recent attempts I have SNMP=DISABLED. I know that many trials ago SNMP was ENABLED but with that setting I could not get an "online" status of the printer. I am aware that something else could have been the real cause but just following various on-line suggestions regarding wireless printers stuck in "offline" status. I have tried so many combinations of settings that I can't reliably remember all the Windows settings (ports, protocols, etc.) I've tried. If I were confident of the correct SNMP option that would at least cut the number of combinations in half!

 

[Ralston18]

Does your router present any listing or diagram of network devices?

If the router is assigning a DHCP IP address (which can change) then the printer should be assigned a static IP address outside of the DHCP IP address range allowed to the router. And the static IP address should be reserved for printer via the printer's MAC.

From the command prompt run "arp -a" (without quotes).

Look for the printer's IP address and the associated physical address (aka MAC).

Do the values match the printer?

Here is a link (not 206 pages) that may be helpful:

https://support.brother.com/g/b/faq...rod=mfcl3710cw_us_eu_as&faqid=faq00100426_012

 

[AzGenie]

... Moderator Ralston18 may mark this thread as "Solved" although reading to the end of this post the "solution" is not exactly what one might be looking for...

Regarding "arp -a" query:
Windows displays
192.168.0.1 20-b0-01-5c-25-fa (router device/port)
192.168.0.2 (laptop wireless)
192.168.0.3 54-13-79-1c-c0-c0 (printer port - yes MAC matches)
... and more DNS etc.

Regarding "router tables":
dst = 192.168.0.0/24 gw=192.168.0.1
devices -
192.168.0.3 ...MAC as above... SSID-1

Regarding "router DHCP range":
from C1100T router.
begin 192.168.0.2 end 192.168.0.254
reserved 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.101

ping 192.168.0.1 o.k.
ping 192.168.0.3 host unreachable

As previously noted, the web administrative page (192.168.0.3:80) for the printer responds normally (as far as I can tell); the Brothers Utilities on the laptop show correct Ready/Sleep state and correct toner quantities The laptop "Control Panel" shows the printer as ready and will show print spool jobs when they are created (with "Printing" status) but nothing ever gets printed and the spooled job eventually times out with "printer error" status. Windows troubleshooter is non-specific in its diagnosis - "check that the printer is turned on" etc. Firewall on/off made no difference.

All indications, to me, point to an issue within the router. Why will a
"ping" to the printer report host unreachable and then a browser connection to the printer proceed normally???

SOLUTION: I have abandoned the attempt at wireless connection. Connected printer to router with Ethernet cable, re-installed printer driver with wired network mode selected, left the printer IP as already set, chose printer "interface=auto", driver installation completed without error and test page printed.