ISO: Functional shared community center laser printer (NOT HL-L2350DW)

August 11, 2024 10:28 AM

I want a laser printer that can be left in a community center space that people can use.

Yes, yes, I'm aware of the verge review, and prior AskMe questions (#1, #2). I own a 2350DW, and use either the same model or similar model in said community space.

My 2350DW display is tiny, has no backlight, interface is confusing (Down arrow sometimes means "yes"), has a hidden deep sleep menu), is seemingly not discoverable via AirPrint (MacOS 14.6.1), usable via USB but then generates another AirPrint device profile which is only available while plugged, and silently fails when actually trying to use WLAN.

I (and dozens of other people) have experienced all of these same issues in acting as tech support for people in said community center. I'm baffled as to how it's recommended.

Maybe the answer is "That's the best it gets," but I'd like to believe there's something better out there, or a better solution. This might mean setting up a Pi as a print server, it might mean buying an old LaserJet with an ethernet card, setting a static IP, and installing cloud software on our server. My goal is broad functionality from various laptops and mobile devices, and am willing to accept some level of technical infrastructure maintenance.

Thank you, I'm going to cry.

posted by Jack Karaoke to Technology (6 answers total)

The AirPrint problems are likely the fault of the WiFi network, not the printer.
posted by sriracha at 10:56 AM on August 11 [1 favorite]

My non-technical take is that wireless printing is fake news. I finally just got a Brother printer and a hardwire connection to my laptop. I think the easiest solution would be that, plus maybe an old laptop that people with only a phone can use to email themselves documents then print from there.
posted by haptic_avenger at 11:47 AM on August 11 [2 favorites]

This would be restricted to printing from laptops and other Ethernet-capable devices:

Have you tried connecting the printer to the router directly by LAN? I’m not a LAN expert but I think this would work*. It requires a download and a few steps, and you’d have to have another Ethernet cable available for people to use - but then people could print from any device that is Ethernet compatiable.

*This wouldn’t allow for wireless print / print from phones because you’d have to turn off wireless. but it would simplify workflow and be reliable for Ethernet devices. It would also allow the staff to have reduced tech support - you could make one set of master how-to-guide instructions for residents and just make it clear that unfortunately it only works for Ethernet devices.

Hopefully someone has another method that does work for wireless but if I were you I’d get the Ethernet workflow down pat first and then build on to wireless capability from there.
posted by seemoorglass at 11:47 AM on August 11

Best answer: We used to have an HL-L2340DW (the predecessor to the HL-L2350DW) and also had reliability problems on WiFi.

When it finally died, we bought an HL-L2365DW, which has an Ethernet port, and cabled it to the router.

We haven't had problems since.
posted by automatronic at 1:44 PM on August 11

I have a Brother HL-3280CDW.

It has wifi built in but I never configured it. It is connected via ethernet to the local network that has wifi. I have zero issues with printing from my phone, Macbook, or windows laptop as long as it is connected to the local wifi network. I don't need to touch the printer, I just select the printer from the list of AirPrint devices on the local network. So the printers screen size and ease of use for the buttons is of no real concern to me.

A key issue to keep in mind is that the printer must be in the same broadcast domain as the clients for this setup to work. (Unless you want to setup a bonjour gateway.... But there be dragons there.)

Absent purchasing a new printer with ethernet, you may be able to use the printer's wifi to join the local network's wifi. Just make sure that client isolation is not enabled otherwise one client cannot communicate with another (there is a way to get around that with a small wifi to ethernet bridge. Printer joins the bridge, that uses ethernet to connect). And make sure the printer is set to not go to a deep sleep state, it needs to be able to respond to the discovery broadcasts.
posted by SegFaultCoreDump at 3:30 PM on August 11 [1 favorite]

Our 2350DW works fine wirelessly with computers, pads, and phones, so I’m going with some network problem. It was a nightmare to get our long wifi password entered the first time but since then it has been fire-and-forget. I only offer this because if you know it *can* work it might still be worth troubleshooting. I do seem to recall the “create an ad hoc network so people can print” feature didn’t work worth crap.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 1:21 PM on August 13 [1 favorite]