HT203343: Resolve printer issues on your Mac

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enuenu
Level 1 (4 points)

Q: Air Print does not work for me

I just bought a Brother HL-L2365DW laser mono printer in the hope of using Air Print from the family iPads and iPhones. I have an iMac and Billion 7404VGP also.

Air Print has been very problematic. I'm about 10 hours into trying to make it work consistently without success. It will work for a while, then all of a sudden the printer cannot be found. It works around 50% of the time.

Brother have said they think it is something to do with the router. When I power down the router and then power it back on, the printer usually becomes visible to devices again. Here is what Brother tech support said;

"The Apple AirPrint service uses specific ports to allow connection on a network.
If the ports are not open, this kind of issue will occur. Restarting the router will temporarily open the ports for a few minutes, and then it will stop working."

Try opening the following ports within your router:
· TCP 5297
· TCP/UDP 5298
· UDP 5350
· UDP 5351
· UDP 5353
· UDP 49159
· UDP 49163

Only problem is that I have little idea how to do this. I've done some research on it and I'm still very confused. From what I can discern it seems that to do the required port forwarding I will first have to assign a static IP to my iMac, all iPads and iPhones that want to use the printer. That's just the start. Surely getting a printer to work at home wasn't meant to be this complex.

I thought this printer would seamlessly work as it has the Air Print logo on it. I was wrong. It has been a huge hassle and I am close to returning it. It seems that getting this Air Print system to work requires skills well beyond those held by the average home user like me. Creating Static IP addresses, port forwarding in routers, virtual servers etc, not exactly plug and play. Do I need a new router to make it work?

This new HL-L2365DW replaced a Brother HL-2135W which ran out of toner. It worked fine and never had these issues.

Any help appreciated

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9), iMovie

Posted on Oct 8, 2014 3:33 AM

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enuenu

Q: Air Print does not work for me

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Csound1,Helpful

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 8, 2014 3:45 AM in response to enuenu
    Level 9 (50,297 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 8, 2014 3:45 AM in response to enuenu

    Forget Airprint and set your printer up as an IP printer instead. Anything on the same network will be able to print to it.

  • by Matt Clifton,

    Matt Clifton Matt Clifton Oct 8, 2014 4:00 AM in response to enuenu
    Level 7 (29,905 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 4:00 AM in response to enuenu

    What is your router model? Did you purchase it separately or did it come from your internet provider?

     

    Matt

  • by enuenu,

    enuenu enuenu Oct 8, 2014 4:48 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 4:48 AM in response to Csound1

    Thanks Csound1. I must admit it has now dawned on me, what is AirPrint actually doing if my existing wireless network is being used to carry out the printing tasks?  Originally I thought AirPrint meant the iPad/iPhone/iMac could communicate directly with the printer via a wireless network of sorts created by the printer itself, a bit like Bluetooth. Obviously I still don't really understand the system.

     

    So if I set the printer up as an IP printer will all the apps on the Apple iOS devices see the printer? When you select PRINT from these apps it will say "No AirPrint printer found" if that is the case. This indicates to me maybe this AirPrint system is somehow necessary.

  • by enuenu,

    enuenu enuenu Oct 8, 2014 4:46 AM in response to Matt Clifton
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 4:46 AM in response to Matt Clifton

    Matt, I have a Billion 7404VGP modem/router that I have had for quite some time. I bought it through my ISP originally but I believe it is a stock unit.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 8, 2014 4:48 AM in response to enuenu
    Level 9 (50,297 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 8, 2014 4:48 AM in response to enuenu

    enuenu wrote:

     

    So if I set the printer up as an IP printer will all the apps on the Apple iOS devices see the printer? When you select PRINT from these apps it will say "No AirPrint printer found" if that is the case. This indicates to me maybe this AirPrint system is somehow necessary.

    Anything and everything connected to the same network will be able to use the printer.

  • by Matt Clifton,

    Matt Clifton Matt Clifton Oct 8, 2014 4:58 AM in response to enuenu
    Level 7 (29,905 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 4:58 AM in response to enuenu

    Do you know how to access the router admin webpage? You should try this:

     

    - find and enable the "filter multicast" setting

     

    Let me know if you need help locating it - it may be in an advanced menu.

     

    Matt

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Oct 8, 2014 2:53 PM in response to enuenu
    Level 10 (207,936 points)
    Applications
    Oct 8, 2014 2:53 PM in response to enuenu

    Contrary to what you're being told, iOS devices can only print to AirPrint queues, not to any IP printer. Brother printers are known to have issues with AirPrint. However, there is a free Brother app in the iTunes App Store that partially works around the problem.

  • by enuenu,

    enuenu enuenu Oct 8, 2014 5:58 PM in response to Matt Clifton
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 5:58 PM in response to Matt Clifton

    Thanks. I can log into the router's admin but couldn't find that setting anywhere.

  • by enuenu,

    enuenu enuenu Oct 8, 2014 5:59 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 5:59 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks. I'm close to returning the printer, I don't have time for this. It doesn't work as advertised and the big chain I bought it from gives refunds in these circumstances without hassle. I wonder which brand has worked out how to make AirPrint work reliably? After a basic laser mono.

  • by enuenu,

    enuenu enuenu Oct 8, 2014 7:54 PM in response to enuenu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 7:54 PM in response to enuenu

    Brother had me change the IP address of the printer. This worked, for a while. Came back 2 hrs later and nothing can find the printer again. Back for a refund.