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sammyman

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 21, 2005
998
66
I picked up a brother 2170w which was highly reviewed but I can't get it to work on my Mac wirelessly. Are there any decent sub $200 laser printers that work well wirelessly on macs?
 
I picked up a brother 2170w which was highly reviewed but I can't get it to work on my Mac wirelessly. Are there any decent sub $200 laser printers that work well wirelessly on macs?

I use a 2170 with all my Macs. What's the problem? Do you have a router set up? You do realize you might have to set up the printer up using a wired connection the first time and then it should work fine from then on...

1) turn on printer
2) plug in ethernet
3) find printer on network ... even if it shows up in bonjour, it doesn't tell you the ip address and you need the ip address to connect to the printer using a web browser and set up the wireless. there may be some software that came with the printer but I try to avoid bothering with that when all you really need is a web browser and the brother drivers that ship with OS X. you need to tell the printer to join your wifi network and give it your wifi network wpa passphrase. once you have done that, the printer should work fine wirelessly.
4) unplug ethernet after setting up the printer's wireless settings
5) place the printer anywhere it can get a wifi signal and you can print from any mac you own.
 
I use a 2170 with all my Macs. What's the problem? Do you have a router set up? You do realize you might have to set up the printer up using a wired connection the first time and then it should work fine from then on...

1) turn on printer
2) plug in ethernet
3) find printer on network ... even if it shows up in bonjour, it doesn't tell you the ip address and you need the ip address to connect to the printer using a web browser and set up the wireless. there may be some software that came with the printer but I try to avoid bothering with that when all you really need is a web browser and the brother drivers that ship with OS X. you need to tell the printer to join your wifi network and give it your wifi network wpa passphrase. once you have done that, the printer should work fine wirelessly.
4) unplug ethernet after setting up the printer's wireless settings
5) place the printer anywhere it can get a wifi signal and you can print from any mac you own.

What OSX are you running? I am on 10.6.4.
 
I use a 2170 with all my Macs. What's the problem? Do you have a router set up? You do realize you might have to set up the printer up using a wired connection the first time and then it should work fine from then on...

I gave up on using my Brother wirelessly, though, because it only supported WEP. Do newer versions support WPA? No way am I going to downgrade to WEP.
 
Able to get brother printer working easily on 10.6.

Mac OS even found the drivers.

Try to add it from system preferences. You might be able to find it on bonjour.

Plug the printer into your router via ethernet and try.
 
No problems using the 2170W here. And I don't need to use WEP.
Maybe I'll look for a firmware upgrade.

In the meantime, I'm still sold on Brother over all others, BTW. It works, and, cheapest cost per page printed. There is no way I'm going to get a "free" inkjet printer again and then spend $70 every other week on ink cartridges.
 
I've had an HP 1320NW since 2004. Real workhorse. Plenty fast. Never a problem. Reasonably cheap. Connects via USB or WiFi.

Whatever the current version of this model is, I'd recommend it highly.
 
What OSX are you running? I am on 10.6.4.

10.6.4 (procrastinating update to 10.6.5)

I gave up on using my Brother wirelessly, though, because it only supported WEP. Do newer versions support WPA? No way am I going to downgrade to WEP.

I have an old HP printer that doesn't speak WPA so it sits in the basement on ethernet. My 2170W speaks WPA just fine, but if I change the network SSID or passphrase, I have to use a cable to set up the 2170W for the new SSID or passphrase.

Maybe I'll look for a firmware upgrade.

In the meantime, I'm still sold on Brother over all others, BTW. It works, and, cheapest cost per page printed. There is no way I'm going to get a "free" inkjet printer again and then spend $70 every other week on ink cartridges.

Firmware update? I don't think I've ever updated firmware on any of our Brother printers. They work just fine right out of the box and while new drivers get pushed from time to time with OS X updates, I never bother with any firmware.
 
Brother wifi

No problems using the 2170W here. And I don't need to use WEP.

Add me to the list of happy 2170 users. It was so easy to set up I don't remember doing much else other than plugging it in. It showed up on both my Macs and I can put it anywhere in the house, If all else fails read the manual and maybe call brother.
 
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