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Netbook cannot see a wireless printer on the network

I am trying to print to a wireless brother printer (MFC J425W); the print drivers are installed but my netbook (running windows 7 starter) cannot see the printer on the network.  I can print from a laptop running Vista.  Any suggestions?  I have considered upgrading to Windows 7 Home Premium but the netbook doesn't really have enough memory for it to run properly.  I have also installed the print drivers on a desktop running Windows XP and it cannot see the printer on the network either.
How were the drivers for the printer isntalled? Did you use a cd or did you download the drivers from the manufacturers website?

If you used the cd, I recommend going to the website, and downloading the drivers. Here is the page that has the drivers for a 32 bit-windows 7 system. I assume 32-bit because you are running windows 7 starter. 

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/us/us/en/dlf/download_index.html?reg=us&c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcj425w_us&dlid=&flang=English&os=92&type2=-1

If you scroll down the page, you will also see a download labeled "wireless setup helper" I recommend downloading this if you continue to have issue after downloading the "full driver and software package" provided in the link above. 
Sometimes, it's the basic things.

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Are the drivers installed correctly in your netbook?
At your service.

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For the netbook, I did end up downloading the drivers from the website (netbook doesn't have a CD drive) and, with guidance from Brother, actually did a custom installation and manually entered the IP address for the printer.

I ran the Network Connection repair tool and get this message:

As a result of the diagnosis, the device could not be found on the network.
Please check the following items.
1.Check that the machine is On and there are no error indications.
2.Verify that the cabling and connections are good.
3.Are the device and computers connected to the same network?
4.Does third-party Security/Firewall Software block it?
5.If you are using AntiVirus Software, a warning dialog window might appear during the diagnosis, then choose "allow" to continue.

Diagnostic-code(-1)

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I believe that the drivers are properly installed.  I have installed the software on three different computers; only one was able to actually print to the printer.  Now, the printer is "off line" and I can't figure out how to turn it back "on line"

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When the printer shows as offline that means the computer is unable to find / communicate with the printer. This is often an issue for printers connected to a network.

From your last post, it seems like you are saying that now the vista machine is having problems. If that's true try the following to at least get that up and running. 

If the setup was working, and now it is not, the likely cause is the IP address assigned to the printer has changed. I recommend manually setting the IP address of the printer so it does not change. When the IP address does not change, the computer will always know where it is at.

To address the original issue with the windows 7 machine not working. As a test, connect the laptop to the router using an Ethernet cable. Then try the setup again. If everything works, the issue may be caused by the router separating traffic. Many routers have a settings that prevent wireless devices communicating with cabled, or any other, devices on the network. 

Also, to get some more info, how is the printer connected to the router? Is it connected using a cable or through wireless as well?
Sometimes, it's the basic things.

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The printer is also connected wirelessly to the router.  How do I permanently set the IP address for the printer?

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Using the menus on the printer itself. Should be something like, settings, network settings. Then you may see manually configure.
Sometimes, it's the basic things.

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It was the router!!  I just swapped to a  newer router, changed the IP address associated with the printer (it ended up with a slightly different IP address with the new router) and was able to print a test page without any trouble.  Thank you!!

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Awesome, glad to hear you resolved the issue.
Sometimes, it's the basic things.

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It was the router!!  I just swapped to a  newer router, changed the IP address associated with the printer (it ended up with a slightly different IP address with the new router) and was able to print a test page without any trouble.  Thank you!!
Congratulations!

I'm glad that you have fixed the issue.

David
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Last updated October 3, 2022 Views 1,584 Applies to: