Brother HL-2270DW Won't Stay Online

[RHH]

I've been having trouble keeping this printer active on my wifi network since signing up with T-Mobile and using their cellular gateway device. The ISP I was with before used a cable modem and router that I owned and I had no problems with the printer. Neither T-Mobile nor Brother have been very helpful in resolving the issue or, for that matter, helping me to learn how to get the device back online after it drops out of the network.

The Brother HL2270-DW is a wireless printer and I have used it for years. It's a great laser printer when I can get it online. I have downloaded the Brother software and driver package for this HL-2270DW printer. I've run it countless times. When I have been successful, I have not been able to identify what actions led to success other than just blind luck. I cannot find a repeatable process for getting the printer operational again. I have done all the usual power fail, power fail and hardware reset, and other troubleshooting processes. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I tried to set up an account with the Brother user forum. I got the account set up but could not figure out how to create a thread for my questions. I gave up in frustration and found this forum searching the web.

My ultimate goal is to learn 1) how to get the printer back on the network with a consistent, repeatable set of steps; 2) find out what is causing the printer to drop off my wifi network. (I suspect that several things may be causing it: power failures, Windows Updates, the T-Mobile cellular gateway device.)

Today, I'll ask a specific question about one step in using the Brother software. The screenshot shows the panel the Brother software presents. I can't figure out what it's telling me to do. There are 4 elements to the instruction that I read as setting Windows settings: 1) set communications mode to ad hoc; 2) set channel to 11; 3) set SSID to SETUP; 4) set encryption mode to none. First, I can find nothing in Windows settings about communcations mode settings; second, I can find nothing in Windows settings to allow setting the channel number (and I have no idea what that might refer to); Third, the network name SSID is the name I assigned to my 2.4GHz wifi band. If I change it, other devices on the network will be affected and have to be changed. Fourth, I don't understand the reference to encryption as related to Windows settings.

If anyone can explain what this step in the Brother software is trying to accomplish for me, that would be a great start. Of course, links to sources I can investigate are also welcome and very much appreciated.

rh

 

[Hogwild]

I'm no expert with wireless printers, but I have a few thoughts.

First, I'm assuming you have the latest firmware fimware version installed on your printer?

Next. according to multiple sources, Ad-hoc mode was deprecated in Windows 10 and is therefore no longer supported. For that reason, Windows 10 doesn't have a graphical tool to manage Ad-hoc WiFi mode.

The spec sheet for your printer suggests it supports Ad-hoc mode only.
https://support.brother.com/g/b/spec.aspx?c=ca&lang=en&prod=hl2270dw_all

Windows 10 officially supports WiFi Direct mode, a sort of improved version of Ad-hoc, but I don't think backwards compatible. What build of Windows were you using with your printer before the problems?

There's a tool that claims to be able configure Ad-hoc mode in Windows, but perhaps that was for older Windows versions/builds. Or perhaps in Windows 10, it's really configuring WiFi Direct mode?

Adhoc Manager
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/adhoc_manager.html



Here's what Perplexity.ai had to say about using the command line (for Ad-hoc mode (maybe it meant WiFi Direct mode:

Setting a WiFi adapter to ad-hoc mode in Windows 10 is not directly supported through the graphical user interface. However, you can create an ad-hoc network using the command prompt with administrator privileges. Here's how to do it:

1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Check if your WiFi adapter supports hosted networks:
   
   text
   netsh wlan show drivers
   Look for "Hosted network supported: Yes"3.
   
   
3. If supported, configure the ad-hoc network:
   
   
   netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=YourNetworkName key=YourPassword
   Replace "YourNetworkName" and "YourPassword" with your desired values.
   
   
4. Start the ad-hoc network:
   
   
   netsh wlan start hostednetwork
   
   
5. Enable Internet Connection Sharing:
   • Go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings
   • Right-click on your internet-connected adapter > Properties > Sharing tab
   • Check "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection"
   • Select the new ad-hoc network interface from the dropdown menu

 

[Hogwild]

Here's what Perplexity had to say about my questions relating to the initial setup process:


WiFi printers often ask you to put your computer in ad hoc WiFi mode during setup for several reasons:

1. Direct communication: Ad hoc mode allows the printer and computer to communicate directly without the need for a router or access point14. This enables a one-to-one connection between the devices, simplifying the initial setup process.
2. No internet required: Ad hoc mode allows you to configure the printer even when there's no internet connection available17. This is particularly useful in situations where you need to set up the printer in a location without WiFi infrastructure.
3. Temporary connection: The ad hoc connection is typically used as a temporary setup method4. It allows the computer to connect directly to the printer to configure its settings, including network information for future use.
4. Simplified discovery: When in ad hoc mode, the computer can more easily discover and connect to the printer without interference from other network devices3. This makes it easier to locate and configure the specific printer you're setting up.
5. Initial configuration: Ad hoc mode is often used to input the necessary network settings into the printer, such as the SSID and password for your regular WiFi network3. Once configured, the printer can then connect to your normal WiFi network for everyday use.

It's important to note that while ad hoc mode is useful for setup, it's generally not recommended for long-term use due to its limitations in terms of security and connectivity to other network resources4. After the initial setup, printers are typically switched to infrastructure mode for regular operation within a WiFi network.

 

[Hogwild]

Oh, and uh...T-Mobile's LTE gateway device is renowned for its unreliability.

 

[RHH]

Thank you for the information. For reasons that I cannot explain, the printer has remained online for about a month now. (Of course it'll drop off now that I've bragged about it.)

 

[Hogwild]

If you can find what the cause was, it could probably be helpful to some other people experiencing the same problem.