Solved WLAN MFC Printer/Scanner Can't be Found During Software Installation - Trapped myself

So I'm using my Brother MFC-L2700DW in Win11 via WLAN on my Acer Swift Go 14 and, all of a sudden, the set of two "Orientation" buttons are gone from the Win11 print dialog. I figure I'll just uninstall the old software and reinstall a fresh copy, right? I uninstall successfully but my printer can't be found when using Brother's official Installer. I take a breath and use Win11's Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Printers & Scanner which, of course, does find my printer but the Orientation buttons are still missing. A little searching here at the forum reveals running an Admin CMD prompt: sfc /scannow which, amazingly enough, repairs whatever was wrong and those Orientation buttons re-appear. Great; so I run the Brother Installer software again and, once again, the software's Wireless setup just can't find my printer on the network (although I -can- print from all my apps!).

Okay; let's do an assessment of my computer's current situation and environment. What's different now than when I first installed Brother's software (to get the scanning stuff working) in April of 2024? Well, I did add a cheap WLAN extender that has, up to now, worked perfectly. I needed this to permit the Wyze cameras on one end of my house to connect reliably to the main gateway from CenturyLink. The wifi signal through the extender was considerably stronger than a direct connection so I switched my Acer over to this "-ext" network some months ago (as this end of the house is where I normally use this computer).

See where this is heading?

I'm connected to WLAN "MyWifi-ext" and, when running the Brother installer software, I see it thinks I'm connected to "MyWifi". I used one of the selections present in the software to disapprove of the "MyWifi" choice but it could find no other WLAN. Okay; probably the installer software was written without taking into account WLAN extenders configured in this manner (being part of the existing WLAN) so the method Brother uses to temporarily switch to WiFi-Direct mode in order to configure the printer to connect to my WLAN won't work because my Acer is connected to the wrong WLAN (even though the printer can print properly though Win11)!

The solution? Connect the Acer to the gateway's WLAN and re-run the Brother Installer software which, of course, finds the printer on the gateway's WLAN, does the configuration and finishes installing the rest of the required software including the scanning stuff. Printing and scanning to the Brother works fine whether I'm on the gateway WLAN or the "-ext" WLAN.

I'm sure someone will read this, slap their forehead, and reply that "of course you can't initially connect WLAN printers unless you are actually connected to the gateway's WLAN instead of the "-ext" WLAN. It took me a few hours of fighting this issue until I noticed the solution waving its hands in the air at me.

Hopefully this post will help another poor soul lost in network Hell find their way back from the abyss.

Is this what you’re trying to convey?

Issue:

• Brother MFC-L2700DW printer lost the "Orientation" buttons in Windows 11's print dialog.
• Uninstalled the printer software and attempted reinstall via Brother's official installer.
• Installer failed to detect the printer over WLAN, despite successful printing from apps.
• Running sfc /scannow restored the missing print dialog options.
• Re-running the installer still failed to detect the printer.

Environment:

• Laptop was connected to a WLAN extender ("MyWifi-ext") instead of the main gateway WLAN ("MyWifi").
• Brother's installer assumed the laptop was on "MyWifi" and couldn't detect the printer.
• The installer offered no alternative WLAN options and failed setup.

Most likely:

• Brother's installer likely doesn't support WLAN extenders that rebroadcast under similar SSIDs.
• Installer may rely on WiFi-Direct or similar methods that require a direct gateway connection.

Possible Solution:

• Reconnect laptop to the main gateway WLAN ("MyWifi").
• Re-run Brother's installer—printer is detected and scanning software installs correctly.
• After setup, printing and scanning work from both "MyWifi" and "MyWifi-ext".

Conclusion:

• For initial WLAN printer setup, ensure the PC is connected to the gateway’s primary WLAN—not an extender.

...but isn't it better as a mystery than a dry recitation?

Regardless, you're correct.

rumplestiltskin said:

...but isn't it better as a mystery than a dry recitation?

Regardless, you're correct.

Click to expand...

Credit to you, your words, summarised…

with WiFi i always reserve the printers IP address in the router
so that the printers IP address is static. then set the printer up on the system(s) with static addressing.

my Brother printer then just seems to connect with no problems.
best of luck, Steve ..

I must say that I feel it is Brother's 'fault' that it could not connect to a different SSID - would it have had the same issue if the SSID had been 'some-other-wifi'? I am glad my newish L2800 is connected by ethernet, as I might have had exactly the same issue (several wifi extenders).

Also, I am confused by this: "I'm connected to WLAN "MyWifi-ext" and, when running the Brother installer software, I see it thinks I'm connected to "MyWifi". Why would the installer sw think you were connected to a different SSID than the one you (laptop) are actually connected to? From where would it even get the SSID 'MyWifi'? Puzzling (to me).

XxXxX said:

with WiFi i always reserve the printers IP address in the router
so that the printers IP address is static. then set the printer up on the system(s) with static addressing.

my Brother printer then just seems to connect with no problems.
best of luck, Steve ..

Click to expand...

Indeed, static IP has been my rule for 30 years until I accepted that the wonky networking hardware of the 90's and 00's was purged from my systems (and those of my clients). Brother's LAN laser printers have been my go-to devices due to their reliability.

mngerhold said:

I must say that I feel it is Brother's 'fault' that it could not connect to a different SSID - would it have had the same issue if the SSID had been 'some-other-wifi'? I am glad my newish L2800 is connected by ethernet, as I might have had exactly the same issue (several wifi extenders).

Also, I am confused by this: "I'm connected to WLAN "MyWifi-ext" and, when running the Brother installer software, I see it thinks I'm connected to "MyWifi". Why would the installer sw think you were connected to a different SSID than the one you (laptop) are actually connected to? From where would it even get the SSID 'MyWifi'? Puzzling (to me).

Click to expand...

WiFi extenders are, by their very nature, hacks; the ability to make the extended network "part of" the source network wasn't originally part of the feature set. If you've ordered enough of these devices from the various vendors, you know that you'll probably have returned 50% of them because they just didn't work as expected.

But let's assume the WiFi extender I have is working properly (as I believe it is); Brother's LAN printers assume fairly standard networking protocols. In my case, Brother's software was actually behaving exactly as expected. In answer to your second question: I wanted my extended network to be "part of" the gateway network and that's what Brother's software saw--one WLAN. However, because my laptop was actually connected to the extended WLAN, once the installer software attempted to configure the printer, it disconnected my laptop from that extended WLAN and tried to "direct-connect" to the printer to complete the proper WLAN configuration. And here's where I believe the failure might have occurred:

1. Perhaps Brother's Installer SW can't deal with WiFi extenders,
2. ...or WiFi extenders configured in the manner I used - there was another choice to not be part of the same WLAN,
3. ...or cheap-o WiFi extenders that are, often, kludges to standards so whatever protocol Brother uses to do the direct-connect didn't work because I bought junk that doesn't comply with a specific standard required to do the "direct-connect". (I don't think this was the case, however.)

Brother's SW thought I was on the same SSID as the printer because of how I asked the WiFi extender to behave. It's no wonder it thought it was on the gateway WLAN. Bottom line: I asked the WiFi extender to behave in a specific manner and, in all respects other than this Brother SW Installer, it's done exactly what I asked of it.

Like the Henny Youngman joke: "Doctor, it hurts when I go like this." "Well, don't go like this."

rumplestiltskin said:

In answer to your second question: I wanted my extended network to be "part of" the gateway network and that's what Brother's software saw--one WLAN. However, because my laptop was actually connected to the extended WLAN, once the installer software attempted to configure the printer, it disconnected my laptop from that extended WLAN and tried to "direct-connect" to the printer to complete the proper WLAN configuration. And here's where I believe the failure might have occurred:

Click to expand...

Nope, still puzzled: Lets try this: my wifi router sends out a signal with SSID 'wifi-1'. My extender receives by some means (wifi, powerline, magic) and sends out a wifi signal with SSID 'wifi-2'.

My laptop connects to wifi-2, and the Brother sw (which knows nothing about my network, in advance) tries to install - it can only connect through the laptop, and tries to access the printer. Now, it may be able to disconnect the laptop from wifi-2 (I doubt this, but assume it is so), but what is it going to connect to? It has no knowledge of the existence of wifi-1.

I don't believe the SSID of the network the laptop is connected to is of any relevance. But nor do I know why connecting to the 'gateway LAN' worked in your case!

Martin the puzzled

mngerhold said:

Nope, still puzzled: Lets try this: my wifi router sends out a signal with SSID 'wifi-1'. My extender receives by some means (wifi, powerline, magic) and sends out a wifi signal with SSID 'wifi-2'.

My laptop connects to wifi-2, and the Brother sw (which knows nothing about my network, in advance) tries to install - it can only connect through the laptop, and tries to access the printer. Now, it may be able to disconnect the laptop from wifi-2 (I doubt this, but assume it is so), but what is it going to connect to? It has no knowledge of the existence of wifi-1.

I don't believe the SSID of the network the laptop is connected to is of any relevance. But nor do I know why connecting to the 'gateway LAN' worked in your case

Martin the puzzled

Click to expand...

Martin,

You've actually answered your own question. Respectfully, perhaps you don't know how Brother network printer !installation software works.

Assuming only one WLAN named "myWifi", the software will disconnect your computer from "myWifi" and connect you directly to the printer (direct-print mode). You'd need physical access to the printer in order to press certain buttons to authorize the connection (so it knows you're not just some lurker trying to gain access remotely).

The above paragraph is an example of this (from Gemini):

"Direct-connect mode" refers to a wireless, peer-to-peer connection that bypasses a traditional network router or access point, allowing devices to communicate directly with each other, such as a mobile device connecting to a wireless printer or a controller connecting to a Wi-Fi network.

Click to expand...

The Brother installer knows what network your laptop was connected to so it programs that into the config of the printer so -it's- now on the network as a discoverable devide, and finishes installing the appropriate drivers and utility software.

Finally, it restores your laptop's network connection ("myWifi") and cleans up. You're left with a configured, connected printer.

Now, if we add the existence of a Wifi extender ("myWifi-2"), assume your laptop is connected to "myWifi-2", and assume your Brother printer is already connected to "myWifi", does Brother's SW even have the ability to bridge networks in order to achieve direct-connect mode? It's here that I think Brother's SW failed. I know it wasn't a distance issue as I was trying (and failing) to do the SW install sitting right next to the printer!

So, again, is this Brother's fault for not anticipating I would be connecting to my network using a hack like a WiFi extender when their programmers probably assumed (rightly) than very few end-users would be using such extender devices? There are extenders that use multiple boxes to provide what they refer to as "mesh" networks; does this method manage to comply with enough standards to make Brother's SW work as expected? I do not know (having never used such a "mesh") but it would be nice to know.

BTW: Just to really twist your shorts - Brother's SW does provide a way to initially connect to existing network printers if you provide an IP address; however, even though I knew and used that IP in the alternate method, I could not connect when my laptop was connected to my extender's SSID. So it seems evident that the extender I own is just not passing through enough of what should be standard IP to satisfy Brother's SW (or it is and Brother makes lousy SW because it can't make it through the bridge). Assign blame as you wish.

I think that, like most of those who use and like Brother laser printers, their software has proven to be reliable and it is in only such edge cases (as in my FrankenLAN) that things begin to fall apart.

As was summarized quite succinctly way up above in an early reply to my OP, "had a problem, found the cause, rectified the issue, problem resolved." But it is so much more instructive and memorable, IMHO, when one might follow the clues, ponder the alternatives, and discern the solution. The game's afoot, Watson!

rumplestiltskin said:

Martin, You've actually answered your own question. Respectfully, perhaps you don't know how Brother network printer !installation software works.

Click to expand...

You are correct - I didn't, but I now see the light (or some of it)! I just read the whole of the wifi setup options for my L2800 (and there are a lot of them): it sees to me that the Wifi-Direct connection method is far from ideal in many, including your, situations. It seems to allow a direct connection to the mobile device (ideal if printing from that) without the printer having access to a 'central' router. It appears that the printer offers its own, unique SSID to connect your mobile device to (but the manual is a bit unclear here - I'd have to try it - no thanks!). But that means that since the printer cannot 'see' the central wifi connection, it can't communicate with anything other than the mobile device.

I may have got this wrong, of course. But if I had been setting mine up for wifi, I would have connected it (via its buttons, probably) to my router's wifi, and would not have had the trouble you did.

Live and learn! Sorry for wasting your time. Martin

mngerhold said:

You are correct - I didn't, but I now see the light (or some of it)! I just read the whole of the wifi setup options for my L2800 (and there are a lot of them): it sees to me that the Wifi-Direct connection method is far from ideal in many, including your, situations. It seems to allow a direct connection to the mobile device (ideal if printing from that) without the printer having access to a 'central' router. It appears that the printer offers its own, unique SSID to connect your mobile device to (but the manual is a bit unclear here - I'd have to try it - no thanks!). But that means that since the printer cannot 'see' the central wifi connection, it can't communicate with anything other than the mobile device.

I may have got this wrong, of course. But if I had been setting mine up for wifi, I would have connected it (via its buttons, probably) to my router's wifi, and would not have had the trouble you did.

Live and learn! Sorry for wasting your time. Martin

Click to expand...

Knowledge isn't a waste of time.

The problem with Brother's installer for the old printers I have is that it's monolithic; you can't skip anything just to get to the software installed later in the process. Once you uninstall the software, you can't download -just- the parts you want.

We're good now, however. Stay safe!