Chosen Solution

I bought this printer a year ago. Since getting a new modem/router, the printer WILL NOT stay connected to my wifi. I am able to successfully configure it and it works for an hour or so but the next day it displays an error message of “check connection”. I am beyond frustrated and I refuse to reset it up each and every time I have to print. I called Brother and their response was that the printer needs to be within three to five feet of the router (???!?!?). They said that the printers are “very sensitive” yet it’s a “wifi issue, not a printer issue”. I never would have spent $150 for a wifi printer that needs to be literally next to my modem to work. I may as well have it wired directly. I have a small condo (1000 square feet) and the printer is in the room next to where my modem is located. It’s maybe twenty or thirty feet away. There is no solid wall separating the two rooms–there’s a large double doorway between them. I’m so frustrated and upset that something so new and not inexpensive is useless. Do I have any options to keep the machine from constantly dropping the connection? I read somewhere else about “fixing” the IP address but before I mess with that want to make sure that is the right thing to do. Thanks!

Hi @jamby75, some things you can try is to update both your router firmware to the latest, so as your printer too.

  1. For the WiFi settings in the router, what settings do you set, e.g. wpa2 , with AES / TKIP? another possible to check is to change to a less congested channel if using 2.4Ghz. Do note that 5Ghz range is limited, but lesser interference.
  2. else if possible, use LAN cable to connect directly to the router
  3. for static ip, is there any other devices configured? one way is to connect to your network, either by wired or wireless, execute ipconfig in command prompt (windows) or ifconfig in terminal for mac. e.g

Hello, I found a solution to this for my Brother HL-3140CW. I think it will work for you as it’s likely a setting for all Brother printers. You need to activate IPv6 (it’s default is turned off). Here’s how I changed mine. Go to your printer settings on a computer, I went it from 192.168.0.7. If your printer won’t connect to wifi, you won’t be able to access this (as it’s already offline) so one way is to reset your wifi setting on the printer, it should connect for a short period. Another way I found it would connect was to plug in via USB (it then made it connect to WiFi). Click on NETWORK, then click WIRELESS, then click TCP/IP, then click IPv6, then click Enabled.

After a lightening strike, my Arris router had to be replaced.  After that, when my Brother Printer MFC 8710-DW would sleep, it would disconnect from my iMAC (OS version 10.13.6).   Here is the series of things I did, and what happened. It appears so far that my connection is no longer being dropped.  This took several hours, and hopefully my writing this will save someone else similar frustration and time.   1.     I installed new printer drivers from the Brother web site; this did not seem to help. 2.     I installed new printer firmware from the web site, this did not seem to help. 3.     While the printer was temporarily connected, I went to settings>  printers and faxes> options and supplies> Show printer webpage> network>Protocol>  and deselected “air print.”  This did not seem to help, but I left it deselected. 4.     Then I went to “show computer webpage” as above, then >Network> clicked on IPv6(wireless) button, then clicked to “enable IPv6.” My printer still disconnected from the Mac upon sleeping. 5.     I enabled CUPS Interface for my Mac. This, perhaps in addition to the above, kept me connected to my printer.   Here are the details on CUPS   CUPS = Common UNIX Printing System. It ay be disabled by default on a MAC   To see if CUPS is disabled on your printer, go to:   http://localhost:631/printers     If you see a screen “Web Interface is Disabled” then your MAC does not have CUPS enabled.   To enable CUPS:”   Go to the Top right of your mac, and select the magnifying glass.  This brings up a spotlight search box. Type “terminal” (don’t include the quote marks) in this box. That brings up another box.  Continuing on the last line of the box,  type in or paste in (without quotes):  “cupsctl WebInterface=yes” and then hit either the return or enter button.   Now go back to the http://localhost:631/printers site and look for your printer.  If it is there, you have activated CUPS.   Once I did this, my computer stayed connected to the printer.  The printer never does show up on my Arris Router Client list, but it remains responsive to my print commands.

HERE IS THE SOLUTION: If you’ve recently switched from 2.4GHz to 5GHz wifi - this is the problem! Brother printers cannot connect to 5GHz wifi, but if you ask your internet provider, they can split the combined network into two separate networks, a 2.4GHz one and a 5GHz one - then connect your printer to the 2.4GHz!! I spent far too long trying to figure this out, so I hope this saves someone the hassle.

This is an old thread, but I’m still having the same issue with my Brother printer. I don’t have a permanent solution, but I have observed a few things that may help. Note that I did start off with your typical home wifi/router combo unit I’ve upgraded to professional level stand alone gear from Ubiquiti Networks to provide an advanced level of management and coverage across my house.

  1. I don’t think this is an issue with the printer losing WiFi connectivity, but more of the printer not waking up. From Unifi Controller I can see that the printer has an active radio connection to my access point.
  2. The printer always wakes up and prints when I print from my Mac (which uses CUPS), but has always been an issue from Windows.
  3. When I can’t print or access the printer’s web interface, I can issue a “reconnect” command from my Unifi Controller. Windows will immediately communicate with the printer and print whatever is in my local queue after issuing the command. My educated assumption what is happening is that after the printer goes into sleep mode, printing from the Mac does something that sends the correct signal to wake up the printer that Windows does not. From Unifi Controller I can see the printer’s wifi radio is communicating to the access point, even when I can not reach the web interface (direct IP) of the printer. This would point towards a TCP/IP level “wake on lan” type function that does not work correctly on WiFi, as both Brother’s support and other internet postings have pointed out that moving these printers to a wired ethernet connection seems to fix this issue. The fact that the web interface doesn’t respond after it goes to sleep points to an issue with Brother’s implementation of its wireless/IP subsystem. It may be a chipset issue given that newer models with 5Ghz support (meaning they have different radio chipsets) are reported to NOT have this same problem. I also put some blame on Windows for not sending the same wake-up signal that printing from Mac’s do send. The other lesson learned for me is that these older 2.4Ghz Wifi models should not be recommended for use with Windows unless you are printing directly via USB or Ethernet.

If you cannot connect your brother printer to the wifi, here is the steps to troubleshoot the brother printer issue. you can use them to get your problem resolved. Check the network password, ensure that you are typing the correct password on your printer.Check the wifi signals, and reset the network signals.reset the network settings, and reconnect the printer.update the printer. After following all these instructions, you will be able to connect your printer to the wifi. somehow if your brother printer not connecting to wifi. visit askprob blogs to fix the problem.

According to Arris, “Wi-Fi printer(s) may lose the Wi-Fi connection after going into sleep mode with some period of inactivity. Although the printer was working normally after installation, it cannot successfully reconnect to a secure W-Fi network after coming out of sleep mode and is activated for use. The cause for the loss of connectivity has been isolated to an incompatibility issue with some Wi-Fi printers and how they maintain a secure Wi-Fi network connection to the Wi-Fi Gateway. Power cycling or resetting the Wi-Fi printer will usually solve the problem and needs to be performed each time the Wi-Fi printer awakes from sleep mode. If the power cycle doesn’t resolve the issue, use the following workaround. The workaround consist of creating open Guest Wi-Fi Network with MAC address filter in the SBG6900-AC to allow connection only for the Wi-Fi printer. https://arris.secure.force.com/consumers…

So far the only thing that seems to have fixed this for me (1 month and counting, since it would normally drop off the network every several days after router and printer reboot), new router had the option of bonding the current assigned IPv4 address to the printer and has not had an issue since. So look up how you can bond or assign IP addresses to the printer within your router/Wi-Fi setup, or set the router to static IP address allocation.

Hi, I have a Brother MFC-L3750CDW and an ASUS router. My printer would typically work fine after a reboot of the printer and/or the router, but after several hours it would stop accepting new print jobs. Brother support was not really any help and I was ready to throw my new printer out the window. I suspected that the wifi connection would drop silently (even though it still shows connected) and I refused to believe that my printer needs to be within 5 feet of my router (mine is about 20 feet away through 3 walls). All of the above ideas may help but were not sufficient to get my printer to stay connected. After hours of internet searching I discovered an obscure posting with an ASUS router setting that fixed the problem completely for me, and the printer connection has been stable for over a month now. I can also print directly from my iPhone which never used to work either. Using your browser address bar, log into your ASUS router admin menu (typically http://192.168.1.1), then click on the Wireless menu on the left side. Go under the “Professional” tab and scroll down to find the “Airtime fairness” setting. It is probably enabled by default, but this is causing the printer to silently lose the Wifi connection, so switch it to “Disable”. As far as I can tell, there is no real issue with turning this setting off. I think it is to prevent some devices from monopolizing the Wifi network, but I haven’t had any problems with it turned off, and now my printer works great! I don’t know if a similar setting exists for non-ASUS routers, but if it does, try turning it off. Airtime fairness not compatible with Brother printers as far as I can tell. I don’t know why Brother tech support doesn’t seem to know about this router setting, maybe it’s unique to ASUS. Happy printing!

Following these steps should resolve the Printer Keeps Disconnecting From WiFi Network. Try connecting to the printer with a cable. This allows you to see whether the WiFi signal is the issue. If your printer works via a USB cable, then you know you need to move it.Check the printer queue. A print job with an error may be holding up the line, in which case, you simply need to cancel it. A large document can also take longer than expected to download and process.Reboot the printer. If you’ve owned any piece of technology in the last 20 years, you know the drill. Unplug the device, wait a minute, and plug it back in. Often that’s enough to fix the problem.Make sure the firmware is up-to-date. Manufacturers roll out updates to address bugs, vulnerabilities, and other issues—including connectivity problems. “In some cases, we’ve seen updates to routers and computers disrupt connections to printers,“Reset the printer. This is your “nuclear option.” If all else fails, it will clear every setting, including your WiFi login info, so you can re-establish the connection. The directions for performing a factory reset vary by brand and model. If the printer has a liquid crystal display, the command is found in the printer’s settings menu. On some HP models, you have to power down the printer, unplug it for 30 seconds, and turn it back on while holding the Resume button for 10 to 20 seconds.

Thanks for the ideas! It says WPS for security, with WPA2-PSK enabled. I have to use 2.4 Ghz unfortunately as this printer that I only bought a year ago doesn’t work with 5Ghz. The channel doesn’t appear to be congested (it says interference level “acceptable”) but I can’t keep changing it every time I want to print something. Re: 3. for static ip, is there any other devices configured? one way is to connect to your network, either by wired or wireless, execute ipconfig in command prompt (windows) or ifconfig in terminal for mac. e.g I’m not positive I’m understanding your question. If you’re asking if I have other devices connected to the wireless network, yes. I have two Rokus, my laptop, my iPhone and my Alexa.

I changed to 2.4 GHz from 5GHz and it solved the issue with Brother MFC-L2700DW. I have UnityMedia connection in Germany and after changing the router and upgrading the speed I started facing this issue . I did reset my printer few times without help. Finally logged in to router and changed it to 2.4Ghz by disabling 5Ghz. Hope this helps.

No IPv6 on my 845-mfc wifi printer. It’s super-annoying as it wasn’t a cheap printer, and is also a scanner/fax/scan to email machine for us. Static IP doesn’t seem to do it either. There’s also no real way to hardwire the printer to the network. Brother - how about fixing this issue????

EASY answer! When you update the firmware on orbi, it messes up the brother wireless. No idea why but this works: use a paper click and press the reset button on the back with a simple click. Don’t hold in. The lights will turn on. Then press the black sync button on orbi. Two minutes later it resets the DHCP and it’s back working.

After noticing that the problem seemed to be related to my windows computer and not printing from iPad am trying this fix. I found.just changed molan ∙ Dec 22nd, 2014 at 10:27pm also make sure the print driver installed on the users computer is using a TCP based port. Many of these printers like to create a WSD port even though you select TCP during setup. WSD is horrible for just stopping and not working on its own

For those of you that didn’t resolve your problem after following the Most Helpful Answer above (turning on IPV6 on your printer): Disable IPV6 on your router. Did the trick for me. Instantly. Didn’t have to reboot my printer or any network devices that print to it - the printer simply popped up instantly. Printer: Brother MFC-L3750CDW w/ Main Firmware Version Q; Sub1 Firmware Version 1.59 Router: ARRIS BGW210-700 w/ Firmware v2.7.7

My MFC-L2700DW was dropping connection after 10 minutes after I setup. I would have setup from scratch more than 25 times.  After reading this page,  I tried NETWORK, WIRELESS, TCP/, IPv6, then clicked Enabled. No wireless connection dropout for 12 hours then it said “Check connection”. Then all I did was, restarted the printer. Since then (a month ago) there is no connection loss! Great relief. Thanks everyone.

Thank you everyone, especially poster Gray Bright above, for telling users to enable IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6 on their wireless printers.  This solution solved the frustrating connectivity problem that plagued me for many months after I installed a new wireless router.

Running into a similar problem with a Canon MF260 printer. The printer goes to sleep for power save and apparently stops renewing the DHCP lease. I can use the setup menu to re-enable WiFi using the stored password on the printer and everything works as expected. I just have to manually wake the printer up and, apparently, go through the setip menu. The printer needs to have something like “wake on LAN” but from wireless.

I have HL-L3210CW. It drops off the network all the time. I opened 4 tickets with Brother support trying to resolve this issue, but they could not. Some started blaming the network, but I have two other printers on the same network never drop. Brother support website locked my ability to update or open new ticket. That was their way to end this issue. So, I have a piece of Brother junk setting on my table and I’m unable to use. Lesson learned, I will never buy ANY brother product again.

So I tried everything….. I set a dynamic IP… Would work for a while and stop working and would say printer not connected.. I didn’t want to have to reset router and printer each time. The fix: I had to hard wire my printer to the router, now it doesn’t lose connection. pc’s can still print wirelessly to the printer…

It has NOTHING to do with connectivity distance, outdated router/driver/printer or anything else. It’s a compatibility issue, specifically with packets. Brother is not compatible with ASUS, UBEE, EERO or ARRIS. Here is the correct answer directly from Brother:      - Arris or UBEE Wireless Gateway Users: We have found a link between Arris or UBEE Wireless Gateways and Brother devices, which may cause frequent wireless disconnection. Our engineers and technical support team have thoroughly researched the situation, including consulting with both Arris and UBEE Interactive. We’ve found that due to the specifications of the Arris and UBEE Wireless Gateways, we do not have the ability to stabilize their wireless connection with the Brother device. For a better overall network connection, we recommend using your Brother device with an Ethernet cable connected to your router, if supported by your machine’s specifications. You may also use a USB cable connected directly to your computer. Brother cannot offer any further assistance with this issue while using an Arris or UBEE Wireless Gateway.     - EERO Router Users: We have found a link between EERO routers and Brother devices, which may cause frequent wireless disconnection. Our technical support team has thoroughly researched the situation and found that due to the specifications of EERO routers, we do not have the ability to stabilize their wireless connection with the Brother device. For a better overall network connection, we recommend using your Brother device with an Ethernet cable connected to your router, if supported by your machine’s specifications. You may also use a USB cable connected directly to your computer. Brother cannot offer any further assistance with this issue while using an EERO router.” https://help.brother-usa.com/app/answers…

Dave has an HP 6700 printer which keeps disconnecting from his network. Clearly, since Dave has replaced the router and modem, the culprit is the printer. He even tried it on a wired connection, but it still dropped off the network. So that eliminates Wi-Fi congestion as being the problem. It sounds like something has gone wrong with the network settings on the printer and since printer is several years old, it may be time to replace it. He could also try downloading the latest firmware and installing it. That can often solve issues like this. He should do that before he buys a new printer at least. Best regards from https://hunk-tv.com/download/ Thank you.

Go into the router settings and turn DFS channels off and wait a minute or 2. If it works leave it like that or try turning DFS channels back on and see if it works. If not, turn it back off

I’ve been battling the “printer disconnects from Wi-Fi problem” for 6 months, maybe more. I’ve tried so many things and I’m determined to not give up. I see this as a widespread problem so I thought I’d share what I’ve learned with the world. So relax, get a cup of coffee, and read on. I have a windows 11 pro OS and a TP Link AX 3000 4-stream Wi-Fi 6 router and a brother Wi-Fi (only) printer. My printer is in a closet 40 ft away from my router which is in another closet. My Wi-Fi is configured to use both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels (Smart Connect) and I’m convinced that that actually seems to work fine. Many devices only work on the lower band, but that seems to get negotiated without my intervention other than I believe there is a setup in the router configuration to enable that feature. I was pretty frustrated because I do have an increasingly large number of devices (clients) using Wi-Fi in my house: 2 pc’s, 2 android cell phones, 3 Sonos speakers, 3 WAC fans, one TV, one water softener, one humidistat in my crawl space, one Honeywell HVAC thermostat, and of course my printer. To cut to the chase, my biggest problem, by far was the Honeywell thermostat. It does not play well with others. It interferes with the Sonos, the printer, and even the TV! The TV would not respond to remote controller commands as quickly as it did before adding the thermostat to the LAN. That was strange and troubling. I wrestled to get the Sonos working for weeks. But the problem was that Honeywell Home thermostat. The thermostat worked fine, it would control the temperature in the house remotely, but for some unknown reason, it interfered with Sonos speakers, Sony TV and the Brother Wi-Fi printer. Once I disabled the Honeywell thermostat Wi-Fi and got all other clients back on line, my life improved. My home Wi-Fi stability was mostly restored. The thermostat does work, only without WIFI. I don’t know what the specific problem is but it is not a priority in my life to solve at this time. There is another slightly less annoying problem causing my printer to go offline. I believe it has to do with auto updates on the printer and the router. It seems that whenever there’s an update, the printer goes offline and cannot be restored without a hard (power) reset on the router. These auto updates can be disabled, and that is what I have done (both auto firmware updates for the printer and the router). I believe it’s best to manage these updates somewhat infrequently, by me, and not randomly by the manufacturer and not frequently. So, keep in mind you may also have multiple problems hindering smooth Wi-Fi operation in your home. Please keep sharing your Wi-Fi troubleshooting wisdom. I believe Wi-fi is an ever evolving technology and new issues probably lie ahead. Good luck. Cheers!