Firstly, I would advise you to check the printer's dimensions as it is fairly larger than the standard size of a typical mono laser Brother or Xerox printer.
◉ Unpacking the printer and seals = no issues.
◉ As for the installation, it is worth mentioning here that my experience was based on installing the printer on my Windows, Mac and mobile devices, and on my use over the first three days. Here is what I did:
1) I connected the printer to my 2.4 GHz band WiFi by entering the WiFi password on the printer. It's worth pointing out here the printer cannot be connected to your 5 GHz band WiFi, so if you have separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, you must connect the device you are printing from to the 2.4 GHz band network when sending your print jobs. (I would highly advise you to use the WPS method when connecting the printer to your router/hub, if your router has the WPS connection button)
2) If the printer's WiFi button is flashing in green, it means it has not established a connection to your WiFi; and if it's solid green, it means it's connected to your WiFi successfully. In my case, it was solid green, which meant I was going in the right direction.
3) Here comes the fun: on one of my Windows machines, I downloaded the full driver software from Brother's website for the printer model. I ensured the Windows machine was connected to the same WiFi network (2.4 GHz band). The Brother's software, in theory, should detect the printer when selecting the wireless installation option, having already connected the printer successfully, as outlined in step 1. If it fails to detect the printer, you won't be able to go to the next step on the installation wizard, where it downloads and installs the relevant driver for your printer on your Windows device. I went around in circles for more than two hours but to no avail. The install wizard failed to detect the wireless printer even though the printer had already been connected successfully to the WiFi and was assigned a valid IP address by the router. After looking online, some suggested powering off the printer and unplugging the power lead for 30 seconds before replugging it to the printer. When I did that, Brother's install wizard eventually detected the printer, and I was then able to proceed to the next step. The driver was fully installed, and I managed to print a test page wirelessly.
4) As for the Mac device, there is no driver to download from Brother's website. You just need to use the MacOS native AirPrint to detect the wireless printer and install it. It took a few attempts for MacOS to detect the printer, but I completed the on-screen instructions and installed the printer successfully in the end. I printed a test page from my Mac device, and it came through fine.
At that point, I thought I was done, and everything was hunky-dory, but...
The next day, after the printer went to sleep mode, I noticed the green WiFi button was flashing (remember Solid Green = Connected, Flashing Green = Dropped connection). At this point, all my devices were showing the printer as offline, so I couldn't print.
I pressed the WiFi button on the printer and asked it to reconnect to the WiFi. It was trying, but it failed with no error message. Restarting the printer didn't help either. I had to do the following then:
1) I reset the printer's network settings and reconnected it to the 2.4 GHz band WiFi using the WPS method.
The Mac could see it go back online after a minute or so. The Windows devices still showed it as 'offline', but I noticed the printer's port address was registered differently on Windows to that of the printer's IP address.
2) I removed the printer from Windows and reinstalled it with the correct IP address using TCP/IP connection.
3) On my router, I bound the IP address to the printer (fixed IP address), so it doesn't get a different one in the future and will result in Windows devices getting confused and failing to talk to the printer.
The printer's WiFi button remained solid this morning, and I'll keep monitoring the connection over the next two days. If the printer drops the connection again in that timeframe, the printer will be returned.
The whole purpose of having a wireless printer is to be able to print on the fly without having to troubleshoot every time you want to print something.
| Brand | BROTHER |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 16.14 x 18.15 x 9.92 cm; 18 Kilograms |
| Item model number | HLL3230CDWRF1 |
| Manufacturer | BROTHER |
| Series | HL-L3230CDW |
| Colour | Light Grey/Dark Grey |
| Form Factor | Print Only |
| Processor Speed | 800 MHz |
| Processor Count | 1 |
| RAM Size | 256 MB |
| Connectivity Type | Wi-Fi |
| Wireless Type | 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11g |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Wattage | 390 watts |
| Power Source | AC 100-240v, 50/60hz |
| Hardware Platform | Laptop, PC, Tablet, Smartphone |
| Operating System | Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2016 |
| Supported Software | Mac OS X 10.13 High Sierra |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 18 kg |
| Guaranteed software updates until | unknown |
