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Strange Network Printer problem

S

sprtfan

Senior member
I have a Brother HL-5250DN plugged into a switch. The switch is connected to my router. Printer works sometimes but often in will take 10 mins to print or may not print at all. Once I print and nothing happens, it will print right away if I power off the switch or unplug the router from the switch. Would this point towards a bad switch? or could it be something with the printer? Thanks
 
What does the print queue say about it? Is it hung on spooling? Tried different drivers? Like PCL5 or postscript instead of PCL6?
 
The status goes to printing and I just noticed that size gets stuck at 5.8 MB/9.00 MB for the test page. Eventually the status clears but nothing prints. When I disconnect the switch from the router, all of the test pages that I tried to print do.
When I print from a computer that is not connected to the switch but to the router, it prints with out any issue. I'm really starting to think it has to do with the switch. I may see if I can dig up another one some where and see if the problem clears up.
 
Well, I found another switch and replaced the one I was using and still have the same problem. I try finding some different drivers and give them a try also. I'll also do some more testing trying to print from the computer I have that is not connected though the switch. I'm starting to think that it will work the first time I try to print, but things get slowed down a lot or will not work after that.
 
Probably a dumb question, but I'll ask it anyway: why can't you just plug the printer into the router?
 
Have you updated the printer's firmware? Go to the web interface (if it has one) and look at its network configuration. Brother has forums that might be helpful -- I recall seeing some posts about a similar printer and issues with ipv6 whether it was enabled or disabled I can't remember.
 
You could be having a DHCP issue (multiple devices with same IP) or double-NAT issue (multiple routers), but we'd need more info about your network to help narrow it down.
 
nerp said:
Have you updated the printer's firmware? Go to the web interface (if it has one) and look at its network configuration. Brother has forums that might be helpful -- I recall seeing some posts about a similar printer and issues with ipv6 whether it was enabled or disabled I can't remember.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll look into it.
 
AnonymouseUser said:
You could be having a DHCP issue (multiple devices with same IP) or double-NAT issue (multiple routers), but we'd need more info about your network to help narrow it down.
Click to expand...

I have a Nighthawk X4 AC2350 router. I have a 8 port WD My Net switch plugged into it that is located in the office. I also have a different switch plugged into the router that connects other devices in the house to the network. I thought it was better to have each switch connected directly to the router than the switch connected to the other switch.
 
sprtfan said:
I have a Nighthawk X4 AC2350 router. I have a 8 port WD My Net switch plugged into it that is located in the office. I also have a different switch plugged into the router that connects other devices in the house to the network.
Click to expand...

As long as your modem is not a combo modem/router then double-NAT shouldn't be an issue.

sprtfan said:
I thought it was better to have each switch connected directly to the router than the switch connected to the other switch.
Click to expand...

Either way should be fine.

Do you have any devices on the network using manual IP settings, or is everything DHCP? You could try setting the printer IP manually to see if that helps (eg, 192.168.1.250).

You may also want to reset the printer's network settings and reconnect.
 
sprtfan said:
I have a Brother HL-5250DN plugged into a switch. The switch is connected to my router. Printer works sometimes but often in will take 10 mins to print or may not print at all. Once I print and nothing happens, it will print right away if I power off the switch or unplug the router from the switch. Would this point towards a bad switch? or could it be something with the printer? Thanks
Click to expand...
Important question:

Is the switch in question actually a hub?

uJ8Lxxq.jpg
 
Last edited:
PliotronX said:
Important question:

Is the switch in question actually a hub?

uJ8Lxxq.jpg
Click to expand...

Its a 8 Port Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch. I tried to update the firmware on the printer but it already had the newest installed. I checked the IP address for each device connected and they were all different. I'll try to manual changed the printer IP anyway and see if it helps. Thanks everyone for all of the help
 
Well, I figured out the problem but unfortunately it leads to a different problem. I also have a Canon MP990 printer. It is connected by wifi. If I turn it off, the Brother printer works perfectly. If the Canon printer is on and connected to the network, the Brother will no longer work. Any ideas on why? They have different IPs. Thanks
 
Ooof. Are they both blasting airprint or something and causing a conflict? Could be a spooler issue. But your symptoms are starting to make sense knowing two wifi printers are on the same network.
 
nerp said:
Ooof. Are they both blasting airprint or something and causing a conflict? Could be a spooler issue. But your symptoms are starting to make sense knowing two wifi printers are on the same network.
Click to expand...

Only one is wifi both both are network printers if it makes a difference. Both are pretty old but still work. I don't use the Canon very often so will just keep it turned off for now until I need it. Would still like to figure out what the issue is still though.
 
Ping both printers and check for any packet loss!
use this on windows:
ping printer_ip -t
Click to expand...
use 2 cmd windows to run in the background.
Specifically ping the printer when the job gets stuck! It's important to clarify if the there is a network issue(cabling or switch/router issue).
 
I know every HP I have used (and I am talking about home units here) has a static IP address. You can change it, but they are set from the factory. So I wonder if:

1. They are trying to use the same ip address
2. The router needs to reserve these ip addresses
 
Ketchup said:
I know every HP I have used (and I am talking about home units here) has a static IP address. You can change it, but they are set from the factory. So I wonder if:

1. They are trying to use the same ip address
2. The router needs to reserve these ip addresses
Click to expand...


I'm pretty sure that the Canon has a static IP that I can change. I'm at work right now but will check into everything mentioned tonight when I get home. Thanks for the help.
 
Pretty much all network printers can be set on static or dhcp client IP.
I do not want to offend @sprtfan, but you do know that you could set up almost any network printer by accessing http://printer_ip from any web browser, right? All network printers run their own web server internally.

And some other thing,
I don't get it from reading this posts: Did you just set those printers up?
 
redzo said:
Pretty much all network printers can be set on static or dhcp client IP.
I do not want to offend @sprtfan, but you do know that you could set up almost any network printer by accessing http://printer_ip from any web browser, right? All network printers run their own web server internally.

And some other thing,
I don't get it from reading this posts: Did you just set those printers up?
Click to expand...

No, they had been working fine for over a year but the problem was intermittent and I potentially could have not noticed that there was a problem. I can still print once on any of the computers but if I try to print again right away I run into a problem. I also changed my router 2 months ago and could have something to do with it maybe.
I don't use the printers myself for the most part but my kids and wife do. Recently one of my kids asked what it took so long to print to find out that when they printed, they'd leave and come back an hour later to get what they were printing and just thought that was the way it was supposed to work lol.
Thanks for the info on setting up a network printer with the web browser. I've never had a need to do much with network printers before since they have always just worked in the past.
 
It certainly sounds like a resource conflict as others have pointed it so keep searching and be sure to let us know what you find.
 
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