[Best*] Brother Printer Won’t Connect To WiFi Network Why?

The brother printers are built in with the 802.11N WIFI technology. Which adapts the wireless settings quickly
 
Once you connect the brother printer to the wifi network. It will store those settings in the memory. So whenever in future, you reboot the printer, It will be connected to the WIFI automatically
 
But in some odd cases, The brother printer won’t connect to the Wi-Fi network.
When the user tries to connect it through the wireless network. they receive, “can’t connect to this network or Wi-Fi setup failed error“.

Why is my brother printer not connecting to wifi?

Generally, The brother printer is not connecting due to the invalid WIFI security or weak signal issue. Along with that, there can be number of other reasons like- 

  • The printer is more than 8 meters away from the router.
  • The network settings are incorrect. 
  • Wireless password is not valid. 
  • Printer firmware issue. 
  • Router firmware issue. Brother printer won't connect to wifi , brother printer not connecting to wifi

If you can’t connect the brother printer to the WIFI, please follow the tricks given below to fix the WIFI setup failure issue. 

How Do I Fix Brother printers That won’t Connect to the WIFI?

Step 1 – Reboot the devices- 

  1. Let’s power off the printer. 
  2. Power off the access point(router) too. 
  3. Now Power on the devices one by one. 
  4. Once printer will come back to home screen, let’s try to reconnect the printer to the WIFI

Step 2- Keep the printer nearby router- 

An usual WIFI router through the signals with in the range of 10 meters only. If the printer is more than 8 meters away from the router. The signal quality will very weak.

In that a case, brother printer will keep disconnecting from the WIFI. Sometimes, users may also receive the brother printer offline error on the PC or mobile devices due to the connection failed issue. 

In such a case, you have to place the printer nearby the wifi access point (router), and then reconnect it to the WIFI network.

Step 3 – Reset the network settings- 

If your machine was earlier connected to the WIFI, but it won’t join the network after changing the wireless password on router. 

It means, The printer is trying to connect with the old network profile. that’s why the connection is failing. To fix that error, you need to reset the network settings.

  • Let’s power on the brother printer. 
  • Press the menu or home key on it. 
  • Go to the Network option using the up and down arrow key. If you have a touch panel, you can press the next button to reach there. 
  • reset network Click on the Network Reset option. 
  • Finally, Push the 1 or Yes on the reset network popup. press 1 to reset network

Once the brother printer will complete the network reset process. You need to go ahead and reconnect it to the WIFI? 

Step 4- Use WPS Feature- 

WPS (wireless protected setup) is my favorite method to connect the printer to the WIFI. To use this feature, Both devices (printer and router) should be WPS compatible. 

If your brother printer won’t connect to the WIFI using the network key. You may use this feature to establish the connection. There are two methods to connect through WPS: 

wps pin, brother printer not connecting to wifi

    1. Push button method- 
      1. Push the menu on the brother printer. 
      2. Go to the network and press the ok button. 
      3. Press the down key to reach WLAN option and press the ok button. 
      4. Select WPS Option and press ok. 
      5. Now press the Push button. 
      6. Go to the router and press the WPS button on it too. 
      7. Now leave the devices free for 100-120 seconds. They will get synced.
  • Pin Method:
    1. Go back to the WPS option on the printer. 
    2. Press the Pin method. 
    3. Now enter the WPS pin that is available on the router. 
    4. Press the ok button. 

Step 5 – Update the printer firmware- 

If you have an old printer and you haven’t updated it from a long period. It may cause the ‘ brother printer not connecting to WIFI ‘ problem.

In that case, you have to check for the firmware upgrade. If you find the recent version of firmware. You may do it immediately. 

  • Download the Brother firmware tool from official website.
  • Open the brother web admin panel.
  • Login to the Admin panel.
  • Now click on the Administrator tab.
  • Here, you need to click on the Firmware upgrade. 
  • Now click on the check for new firmware.
  • If you find the firmware. click on the next button.
  • Now follow the installation process.
  •  Finally, press the finish button.

Is your brother printer not connecting to the wifi yet? Make these changes to the router? 

If you have made the changes into the brother printer but still it won’t connect to the wifi. The issue can be at the router side. So change these settings to the router. 

Set the wireless channels on the standard mode 9 or 11:

wireless router channel

  1. Open the router admin panel on the computer. 
  2. Click on the wireless settings. 
  3. Set the wireless channel as 9 or 11 and press the apply changes button. 

Setup the WEP encryption for security-  

Once you have changed the Wireless channels, you should switch the encryption type as well. 

WEP security

Because some printers are using the Atheros adapters, and  these types of adapters can have connectivity issue on the WPA / WP2 Encryption. So If you are currently using WPA/ WPA2 security, switch it over to WEP 64.

  1. Open the router admin panel on your device again.
  2. Go to wireless security.  
  3. Choose the encryption type as WEP 64 bit. 
  4. Now generate  a  new key for your network. 
  5. Press the apply changes

Once you change the encryption type, you  should try to set up the wifi on the machine, let’s see if your brother printer is connecting to the wifi or not? 

Reset the router- 

If you  have changed these settings on the router but it didn’t help you in fixing the problem. You should reset the router. resetting it, you should hold the reset button for 32 seconds. Or you may go to the administrative settings on the router panel and click on the factory restore button.  factory restore

Now setup the router once again from the scratch. Now join the wireless name on the printer with the new credentials. 

Some queries related to the brother printer wireless setup issue: 

How to turn on the WIFI on the brother printer?

  1. Press the menu key. 
  2. Go to the network
  3. Press the WLAN. 
  4. Press the WLAN enable, and click on ok

How do I make my brother printer discoverable? 

To make the printer discoverable in the computer or network. You must have to attach the printer to the pc through USB (Local)  or wireless  connection. If you are using the USB or local printer and want it to be discoverable in the network. Then you have to share it in the network from the printer properties. 

My brother printer is connected to the WIFI but not showing up in the computer why?

Generally, PC’s are unable to find the printer due to the following reasons: 

  1. The printer is in the deep sleep mode or states. 
  2. Devices are not available in the  same network.

So you should check these settings, if both settings are correct but still having trouble with the printer won’t connect to wifi or computer issue?  Go to the router settings and update the settings. 

  1. Check the firewall’s inbound/ outbound rules.
  2. Disable the antivirus, proxies and VPN for 15 minutes. 
  3. Enable the DMZ settings on the router. 

For more details, you can visit: why is my brother printer not connecting to computer? 

What to do if the brother printer isn’t connecting to the iPhone? 

Turn off the mobile data on the iphone. Now connect it to the same wireless network through which your printer is connected. If that doesn’t help in accessing the printer from iphone. You should reboot the phone and printer. Also, you should check the brother wifi direct password? 

If You want to check the Wireless settings on the brother printer. you can check the network status on the brother printer.
  • Press the menu button.
  • Go to the Machine info.
  • Press the ok button.
  • Now Click on the WLAN Report.
  • Press the Ok and then click on the start button.

Finally, your printer will print a paper, in which you will able to see the network status on the printer.

Ajay Rathaur

I am a tech blogger who is always excited to write about technology. Especially related to routers, printers and computers, and email. Along with writing, I have also worked as a technical support engineer for 7 years.

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