Sharing printer on Windows network through ethernet port

Hi,
I am new here. I am faced with a networking problem. I have 2 wireless network routers, Asus RT-n13U with an inbuilt USB port. and a dlink Dir-601. I have 2 computers and a laptop all running windows 7. My printer is Brother 4040 CDN which has ethernet pot attached.
Currently I am sharing my printer through Asus router connected on USB port. The problem with this setup is that in case the file to be printed is large(I frequently print large PDF files), the printer halts after a few pages. I then have to reset the router and reattach the printer to get the printer going. Also the main computer where the printer and the router are attached, recongnizes the printer as USB but does not print.
I tried setting up the printer on ethernet port but failed. Asus gives the IP address range from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.255. The printer has an inbuilt IP address in the range 162.***.***.***.
My problem,
a. Out of the 2 routers, which is better for this network.
b. Is it possible to setup my printer on the ethernet port so I can share my hard drive through the USB port. If yes, how?

Please advice,
Thank you in advance.

 

Plug the printer in the router via the ethernet and run the install software. It will set the printer up for you.
Check the printer is set for DHCP not manual network settings.

 

Thanks, i will try and post the outcome

 

Ok, so I reset the printer to factory setting, set the subnet to 255.255.255.000, which is what my router said. Reserved 192.168.1.10 on my router and set the same in the IP of the printer. Then I connected the printer to the router through a cable. Then I installewd the printer driver on the computer, and sent a print test. No luck. I tried to ping the printer, it said, destination host unreachable.. What next?

 

I have a few questions.

When you "reserve" the IP on the router, where are you reserving it? In a DHCP range? This is unnecessary and can cause a different device to that that IP and cause an IP conflict on the network because - "set the same in the IP of the printer". If you can set the IP of the printer to a static IP, then leave it at that.

What is the IP, subnet and gateway of the computer you are using to access this printer? Is it in the same IP range and have the same subnet as the printer? If you aren't sure go to Start > Run > type in cmd and press OK. In the black box type ipconfig and press enter. This will list your IP, your subnet and your gateway. You will need to have a different IP in the same range as the printer (192.168.1.XXX), and the same subnet mask as the printer.

If you have your computer set to DHCP and you only have one IP available on the router, your computer will take that IP and your printer will have an IP conflict. Also, make sure that only one router is controlling DHCP if you are using it.

Personally, I don't use DHCP at home from my own machines. I keep a small number of IP's in the DHCP setting for friends who come by. All of the computers in the house are on static IP's.

Hope that helps.

 

Yes, I was setting the IP in the LAN-DHCP server tab on my router. It also has the provision of providing mac address, in which I specified the mac address of the printer as I got from default printer setting printout.
The result from one of the computer that willl be using this printer and is on the same router for wireless internet sharing is below
IPV4 - 192.168.1.2
Subnet - 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway - 19I noticed my printer has a gateway entry also, presently at 000.000.000.000. Should I change it to 192.168.001.001

 

Sorry I noticed the message got erased a bit,
Default Gateway - 192.168.1.1
This was the line that got erased

 

ok. I think I follow

I've setup 18 network printers in my office and never entered an IP or a MAC address in the router settings to make printer work on a network. It has a NIC card just like a computer and it will have an IP either via DHCP or by the IP that you set in it. I'm not very familiar with your exact router or printer but I do have a different Brother (an MFC) sitting not 5 feet from me and I have never set anything like that in a router. I can't say whether that is making a difference or not so I lean towards taking out anything unnecessary.

Take out all IP and MAC settings in the router that you set pertaining to this printer.

Choose whether you want the printer to be DHCP or static IP. Static is fine but then dont' give it an IP range in the router.

Did Brother install Control Center? Control Center sees my printer as it's model, it's name and it's IP. If I change the IP it will look for the name. I left mine with it's default and it looks like this in Control Center - BRN_6D6DBE 192.168.1.189 MFC-420CN 00:80:77:6d:6x:xx. Is Control Center seeing your printer, giving you ink levels, etc?

Gateway setting on the printer won't matter at this stage but you can set it while you are in the printer setups.

 

One other thing occured to me. Did you set the IP and MAC in an area of the router that says something about setting the printer port? Are you sure that setting isn't controlling the USB port? If it is, erasing the settings should help you and might completely fix you.

 

I removed all settings from the router. I reset the printer and changed only 3 entries, Bootup-static, IP address - 192.168.1.192, Subnet - 255.255.255.000.
Then I downloaded BRAdmin from brother. It does not see the printer and I cannot ping it.

 

In Windows Explorer, under trhe network, I see BRNEF7338 listed as a computer along with other computers I have. But double clicking to connect gives connection error...it says...network path not found

 

The software should of done all the work & found the printer for you. Reset the printer to defaults (with DHCP) and run the software, select networked printer and follow the prompts.

 

Sounds like you've gotten pretty far, just a bug left somewhere.

I just remoted into my office and found that I can ping the printer via it's ip or it's name, both work. I can't connect to it via command line. I can see it in my network places by it's name.

I'm going to check through the BRAdmin and verify what type of connection it uses.

If you have windows firewall enabled, check that BRAdmin is allowed or turn it off temporarily for testing. If either of your routers is doing any firewall functions or filtering, disable it just for testing. I recall having an issue accessing a Brother printer because of two issues. One was a firewall permission and one I can't think of at the moment but it will come back to me.

The computer you are testing from has access to other devices on the network? Neither the computer nor the printer is connected to a port labeled anything other than just a port number? Lights are on for the ports that have ethernet connections to them? None of the ethernet cables are marked crossover or any other odd name?

 

Wanted to add -

I've had an FTP issue with my brother printer when trying to access the media card slots on the printer. That is one setting I would double check in the firewall and filters.

The computer you are using to test, it can access other devices on the network? The computer and printer are both connected to ports not labeled with any name, just with a port number? (Or the computer is wireless) The ports that have ethernet connections are lit? The ethernet cables are all CAT5 or CAT6 and not labeled for crossover or any other unexpected work on them? If the computer is wireless, there is often wireless filtering options on a router. Disable them while you are testing the printer.

 

this is getting a bit too complicated for me. Can we just start from the beginning. All my settings are at default. I change only the following
IP : 192.168.1.192
Subnet : 255.255.255.000

My router is at default settings
IP : 192.168.1.1
Range : 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.254
Subnet : 255.255.255.0

I can see my printer in Explorer -> Network as BRNEF7883.\
I cannot ping it or connect by double-clicking. Where do I go from here.

 

Have you checked the troubleshooting steps on the Brother page?
http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/us/us/en/faq/faq_list.html?reg=us&c=us&lang=en&prod=hl4040cdn_us&Cat=114

The two best suggestions are to disable windows firewall and also to check the configuration like it says here:
http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/BSC/public/us/us/en/faq/faq/000000/002500/000086/faq002586_000.html?reg=us&c=us&lang=en&prod=hl4040cdn_us&Cat=114

Since you can't browse to the printer, I would start with disabling the windows firewall, test the connection, if it doesn't work move on to their other steps.

 

I just came across this line in the manual.

If you are using routers, the Gateway address must be configured on the computers and the Brother printer.

Add the gateway address to the printer, see if that helps.

 

I already entered the gateway address in the printer as my router address. But I have never used that ion my computer. Where do I change it on Win7. Is it the adaptor property for IPV4?

 

If you are using DHCP, it's already been programmed. You can see what it is by going to the command prompt and typing in ipconfig. The printer's gateway probably already matches but it's good to check.

Did you disable windows firewall and any other program running a firewall on that computer? I was hoping that was the culprit.

 

Hi,
So I deactivated the firewall, set everything as suggested. Still no ping response from the printer. Even BRAdmin from brother website is not able to setup the network. Maybe there is something wrong with the network adaptor in the printer itself.

 

Ok,
So I called up brother customer service, and their assessment was there is something wrong with the network card. I've sent the printer in for repairing, lets see what happens after repairs.

 

Hi,
I got my printer back. Apparently there was something wrong with the main board. So they replaced it and I am able to connect to the printer effortlessly. Thank you everyone, especailly you Handygal, for being so patient and helpful.
Nittin

 

Yes, I was setting the IP in the LAN-DHCP server tab on my router. It also has the provision of providing mac address, in which I specified the mac address of the printer as I got from default printer setting printout.




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