Brother printer, AirPrint and the tale of two networks

[timeshifter]

A Brother laser printer model HL-L2360DW that has AirPrint capability was having trouble with printing from iPhones and iPads. Once the printer was turned on any iOS device could print to it for about one minute. After one minute or so when you tried to print you'd get the message saying that no AirPrint printers were found.

Went through lots of troubleshooting steps including a lengthy conversation with Brother tech support. Their conclusion was that as long as the printer functioned with normal printing techniques (i.e. printing from a Windows PC or printing from iOS with their app) then it was considered normal and not defective and they were not willing to do anything to remedy it.

It was in a very simple environment:

Cable Internet with modem router combo Ubee DVW3201
HP laptop running Windows 7 connected via WiFi
Sonos Connect:Amp connected via Ethernet
Brother HL-L2360DW printer connected via Ethernet
iPhone and iPad

So, wondering if it's the printer, the router, something to do with the PC or Sonos maybe (in that order)?

I bring the printer home and set up a Cisco Meraki Z1 router with the same IP settings. Plug the printer in and connect my iPhone to the WiFi. WORKS EVERY TIME. IT WORKS AFTER SEVERAL HOURS.

At this point I'm pretty sure the solution lies in a new router or a setting or two on the current router. Since it's a leased device from the cable company it might take a bit of arguing and complaining to get them to swap it for a different one. Seems that I recall that some routers have settings that allow or block Bonjour which might be the key.

Am I on the right track? Do you know what settings to change, if any?

 

[Brunski Tech]

Where does the Cisco router get its DHCP? Can try to make the things that are connected to router static IP ( so when the device is connected it gets the same IP). I would disconnect the modem from the Cisco router (unless there is a reason not to) and see if that part of the network works as intended then connect the modem and see what changes. After several hours then it works points to a DHCP lease issue most likely.

 

[timeshifter]

The printer has had a static IP, set manually on the printer itself, on both networks.

 

[Brunski Tech]

The printer has had a static IP, set manually on the printer itself, on both networks.

Ok, maybe I am not reading that correctly.. You saying that the printer is generating its own static IP address? Other than generating an IP address of 169.254.x.x I haven't heard of a LayerL 7/Layer 4 (OSI/TCP/IP model) able to do that. If it is generating a 169.254.x.x address then the problem is between the DHCP and the printer.

 

[Markverhyden]

I've never liked any ISP's modems. They have their proprietary firmware which is full of undocumented features. And even the L2 and L3 engineers can't do much with them. So I always go for bypassing the modem router function and use reliable routers like Ubiquiti ERL3's. Also you should be able to get the ISP to swap it out. ISP's are notorious for not actively managing their fleet by replacing obsolete equipment without customer complaints.

 

[Brunski Tech]

I think I might have an idea what is happening will have to look at it further to confirm.

 

[timeshifter]

Ok, maybe I am not reading that correctly.. You saying that the printer is generating its own static IP address? Other than generating an IP address of 169.254.x.x I haven't heard of a LayerL 7/Layer 4 (OSI/TCP/IP model) able to do that. If it is generating a 169.254.x.x address then the problem is between the DHCP and the printer.

No, the printer is not generating anything. The address 192.168.0.8 was manually programmed into the printer.

 

[timeshifter]

I've never liked any ISP's modems. They have their proprietary firmware which is full of undocumented features. And even the L2 and L3 engineers can't do much with them. So I always go for bypassing the modem router function and use reliable routers like Ubiquiti ERL3's. Also you should be able to get the ISP to swap it out. ISP's are notorious for not actively managing their fleet by replacing obsolete equipment without customer complaints.

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I don't think it was a B model, just DVW3201. There was no voice feature either. But, probably EOL just like the DVW3201B you linked. And I agree - hate the ISP provided modem / router combos.

 

[mr m]

This is a long shot but I had issues with a different model Brother laser and Airprint. Since I'm not an Apple guy I immediately Googled and the general consensus was to enable IPv6 on the printer and update the printers firmware.

Enabling IPv6 on the Brother printer did it for me. It comes disabled by default. If I remember right I had to power cycle the printer after enabling IPv6.

 

[Brunski Tech]

This is a long shot but I had issues with a different model Brother laser and Airprint. Since I'm not an Apple guy I immediately Googled and the general consensus was to enable IPv6 on the printer and update the printers firmware.

Enabling IPv6 on the Brother printer did it for me. It comes disabled by default. If I remember right I had to power cycle the printer after enabling IPv6.

That long shot might actually the best way to do it...

 

[timeshifter]

We did enable IPv6 at Brother’s direction. It didn’t help. Unless maybe there wasn’t a full shutdown and restart in between. We did check the network settings print out and it showed it as enabled.

 

[Brunski Tech]

We did enable IPv6 at Brother’s direction. It didn’t help. Unless maybe there wasn’t a full shutdown and restart in between. We did check the network settings print out and it showed it as enabled.

make sure the router or modem will either accept the IPV6 or pass it thru to each device.

 

[Brunski Tech]

No, the printer is not generating anything. The address 192.168.0.8 was manually programmed into the printer.

ok so the network id: is 192.168.0.1 sub mask: 255.255.255.0 or CIDR /24 broadcast id: 192.168.0.255?

worst case you can use the ciso router then have it pick up the DHCP of the modem.

for what it is worth just because the printer is set to an ip address if it not reserved for the printer in router it not going to work 100 % of the time.

 

[G8racingfool]

I'd go with @Markverhyden and just put a router after the modem and call it a day. The modem/router combos suck and the one in question is old enough that working with AirPrint would be ticky-tacky anyway. As a plus, depending on their situation and what wireless solution you decide to go with, you can also bundle in "improved wireless coverage" to your pitch and make them feel like they're really getting an upgrade.