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Brother HL-5370DW setup, Airport Time Capsule

Why is this so hard? I just installed the new Airport Time Capsule. My Brother wireless printer obviously needs to be set up to work with it. How do I do it?


I've searched all the discussions online, but it seems everybody has different particulars, and nobody is talking about the new Time Capsule.


Printer works fine when connected with Ethernet cable. (Tiime Capsule up and running ok.) I restored printer to factory settings, downloaded the latest drivers from Brother. Tried Print & Scan preferences, tried "adding" printer from the print popup. The printer shows up, but doesn't print wirelessly. The Brother website gives me a headache. I have IP addresses, but I'm not sure which is what.


Help!


(iMAC, Mountain Lion all up to date)

iMac 27", MBP (i5), iPad, Mac OS X (10.6.6), Everything always up to date

Posted on Jul 29, 2013 5:27 PM

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Posted on Jul 29, 2013 6:23 PM

If the printer works ok from ethernet then it is on the network and printing.. the setup in the computer would not change because you change the printer over to wireless connection. But the wireless in the printer needs to be setup correctly to the router.. in your case the TC.. to do that you need to access the printer setup utility and set the username and password of the wireless.. but.. and this is where things go wrong.. the rest of the world is windows.. sorry and all but face it.. everything is designed for windows first..


Windows has different network rules to Apple.. names in particular must be SMB readable.. Apple names with spaces and apostrophe are not.. So change all names on the TC to meet SMB rules..


Short.. 2-20 characters


No spaces..


Pure alphanumeric. (this is not strictly true but easier to stick to).


TC name, wireless name/s hard disk share name.. all must conform.


Secondly.. windows stuff nowadays uses WPS for easy configuration.. WPS pin is available in the TC setup but not in standard windows methods.. which is a button.. the button therefore is purely electronic sofware kind.


See info on setting up printers in apple router.


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3500

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Jul 29, 2013 6:23 PM in response to Stevee00

If the printer works ok from ethernet then it is on the network and printing.. the setup in the computer would not change because you change the printer over to wireless connection. But the wireless in the printer needs to be setup correctly to the router.. in your case the TC.. to do that you need to access the printer setup utility and set the username and password of the wireless.. but.. and this is where things go wrong.. the rest of the world is windows.. sorry and all but face it.. everything is designed for windows first..


Windows has different network rules to Apple.. names in particular must be SMB readable.. Apple names with spaces and apostrophe are not.. So change all names on the TC to meet SMB rules..


Short.. 2-20 characters


No spaces..


Pure alphanumeric. (this is not strictly true but easier to stick to).


TC name, wireless name/s hard disk share name.. all must conform.


Secondly.. windows stuff nowadays uses WPS for easy configuration.. WPS pin is available in the TC setup but not in standard windows methods.. which is a button.. the button therefore is purely electronic sofware kind.


See info on setting up printers in apple router.


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3500

Jul 29, 2013 7:40 PM in response to LaPastenague

This helped, but not completely.


What is WPS? I don't see that anywhere in the TC setup, including the submenus.


I think I have all names Windows complient. No spaces or '''''.


And I can't see where to find the printer setup utility. Actually, I did try some different things provided by Brother, but they were all f(#*ked up. I would get to a point where me results didn't match what they wanted, and there was no alternative. Bad UI design, for sure!


I guess I need to contract Brother. But I did learn more about how my TC works.


Thanks.

Jul 30, 2013 12:31 AM in response to Stevee00

Stevee00 wrote:


This helped, but not completely.


What is WPS? I don't see that anywhere in the TC setup, including the submenus.


Wireless Protected Setup.


Printers depend on it for wireless setup .. although if you plug the Printer directly into the computer by USB and use the printer setup utility you should be able to setup wireless manually.


WPS is available in the airport utility.. it is in the main menu.. hidden perhaps. None of us thinks to look there anymore.


User uploaded file


Click on base station


User uploaded file


Click on add wps printer.


User uploaded file

Jul 30, 2013 6:28 AM in response to LaPastenague

You're right, I never would have thought to look up in the menu bar. And the WPS part is really hidden--ONLY shows up if you've already clicked edit in the Airport Utility.


I tried it, and nothing happened. Then I Google "pin" and the printer name, and found this:


http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/BSC/public/us/us/en/faq/faq/000000/002000/0 00037/faq002037_020.html?reg=us&c=us&lang=en&prod=hl5370dw_us


It says to poke a sharp object into a little hole in the back of the printer, but only after "Hold down the SecureEasySetup™, WPS or AOSS™ button on your WLAN access point/router for a few seconds." This is one of the many little translations that makes this is so hard for normal people. AT doesn't have a button. That's what the menu bar command is.


So I did it. Also got the PIN number in the process (hold down the button for more than 2 seconds and it shifts to PIN mode. Great!). Tried both ways a few times. Airport Utility and the printer acknowledge a connection made. Looks good. BUT THE F*&KING PRINTER STILL DOESN'T PRINT! (And, yes, I do have the latest drivers and it shows up in the printer preferences). Time to try a full reboot and burning insense while turning around three times ...

Jul 30, 2013 3:29 PM in response to Stevee00

Time to try a full reboot and burning insense while turning around three times ...


All wireless is voodoo.. so I am glad to see you have thrown away your scientific manuals and howtos.. and reverted to black arts. Unfortunately printer wireless is like voodoo with gremlins on top.


I have never ever been successful with pins and WPS and whatnots.. I am old school.. I do it from first principles.. use the printer utility.. in the printer utility there is a method of setting wireless to Infrastructure mode.. this is vital.. it will not work in adhoc.. and you can set wireless name and security settings of the AP you use.. remembering of course that it is SMB compatible.. short, no spaces and pure alphanumeric.


After setting up a brother on a Mac.. and beating it with a large stick for a couple of hours.. (figuratively) I won.. in the process I deleted the printer settings in the Mac and started over from scratch half a dozen times.. (after offering of incense and chicken livers).


"This type do not come out without prayer and fasting".. you need to exorcise the demon.. (gremlin) to manage only the wireless voodoo.


BTW.. i use ethernet for all printers.. never again will I use wireless. I buy network printers with real printer network cards in them.


I recommend you get, borrow .. invite over friends with PC laptops who know something about networks.. and get them to setup the Brother from PC. Frankly these things are designed for the windows world.. it will usually work fine in the Mac.. but the setup has to be done in a PC.. and seen and known to work in the PC. Apple is still too small a market for printer manufacturers to worry if it works with all bells and whistles.. also Apple keep changing the OS and the old drivers stop working.. lots of printers that used to work up to Lion gave up the ghost on Mountain Lion.. for no good reason.

Jul 31, 2013 7:39 AM in response to LaPastenague

All good advice. Except, I'm happy to report, I got the thing to work using the adhoc. The steps I explained in my last post did established the wireless connection. The stupid hangup (me stupid) was that I hadn't deleted the old settings, or beat it long enough with a stick, and I used the wrong chicken livers (you want the red kind).


So this worked: deleted all the printer settings in Print&Scan (OS System Preferences). Turned off the printer. Turned on the printer. Threw the chicken over the roof of the house, then ate it. Went to Print&Scan and clicked the button to add printer. There it was. Worked first time after that.


Thanks LaPastanague for your help.


No goats were harmed in the making of this story.


Steve

Jul 31, 2013 3:30 PM in response to Stevee00

Ok.. adhoc mode means you wireless connect to printer.. and not the network.. the printer becomes an AP in its own right.. I am not sure this would be suitable for most people.


But glad the mix of various arts .. black and otherwise you managed it.. some humour is necessary to ever get through these things.. of course I can prove my sanity.. i have a cert from the hospital.. !!

Feb 3, 2014 10:56 AM in response to natals8

I have owed a Brother HL-2270DW for 2 years... I finally got my Brother "wireless" printer/Airport Extreme hardware combination to work!!!.

I slightly modified Lapastenague's PIN approach because there is no display on the HL-2270DW printer. This approach lets the Brother printer and Airport Extreme negotiate on their own how they want to connect.


1) Your printer:

  • Use a pointy object such as a ballpoint pen to press the one-push setup mode button once (refer to your printer manual if you can’t find it). The printer enters the wireless setup mode and (for 2 minutes) will search for a WLAN access point/router that supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). During that time, the Toner LED will blink (turn on for 0.2 seconds and off for 0.1 second)
  • Caution: Do not press the printer wireless setup button for more than 3 seconds. (If you do the Printer will change to the PIN Method of the Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ mode. To clear this mode, turn the printer power switch off and then turn it on again. After clearing this mode, press the wireless setup button and try again).


2) Your Airport:

  • While the the printer Toner LED is blinking (remember you only have 2 minutes!), Go to the Airport Extreme Utility drop down menu: Base Station/Add WPS Printer/
  • There will be 2 options, PIN and First attempt. Choose: First attempt.
  • While the printer is negotiating with the Airport Extreme, the Toner and Drum LEDs will blink (turn on for 0.2 seconds and off for 0.1 second).
  • When your printer Ready LED is flashing green this means the printer has successfully connected to your Airport Extreme.


1) Your Mac:

Go to: System Preferences/Print & Scan. Add your new wireless printer.


If this doesn't work... Buy fresher chicken livers...


RossQ


Reference:

google: Date:22/03/2013 ID:faq002037_011

or

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/BSC/public/eu/gb/en/faq/faq/000000/002000/0 00037/faq002037_011.html?reg=eu&c=gb&lang=en&prod=hl2135w_us_eu_as

Feb 6, 2015 11:31 AM in response to RossQ

Thank you!!! This method also worked for connecting my Brother HL2270DW. My original Time Capsule crashed so I had to replace it and it wouldn't link to the printer. This solved the problem.


In Airport Extreme I did have to click on the time capsule icon and log in to it before I could use the Base Station/Add WPS Printer dropdown. But once I did this, it discovered the printer. Hooray. God bless American and Apple Support Communities!

Brother HL-5370DW setup, Airport Time Capsule

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