Brother Corporation is a reputed electronics company from Japan and is particularly famous for manufacturing high quality printers. However, Brother wireless printers are infamous for their printer offline problem. The printer suddenly stops working, appears to be offline or stops responding to your computer. This problem is also experienced when the printer is connected to the wireless network. In this guide, we will deal with this issue and you will find information about how to fix Brother wireless printer offline problem.
What Causes Brother Wireless Printer Offline Problem
There can be multiple reasons behind this problem. However, they are not that varied in nature.
- Printer and router are unable to recognize the other device.
- Wireless devices have developed some issues.
- Network connection is corrupted.
- Printer has lost connection with the wireless network.
- Printer drivers are outdated.
Below, we will try to address each of these problems one-by-one so that you can solve them.
How to Fix Brother Wireless Printer Offline Problem
Please follow the solutions we have provided below in the same order as they have been mentioned. All the solutions shared below are effective in solving the Brother wireless printer offline problem. These solutions are also recommended by the official Brother website.
Solution 1: Restart Wireless Devices
Sometimes the wireless connection becomes inactive because one of its devices is not functioning properly. Maybe the router is too busy, print spooler is stuck, too many background process are running on the computer, or printer has gone stale due to inactivity. All this issues can be easily resolved with a simple restart.
- Shut down your computer or tablet, then switch off your wireless router and finally turn-off your Brother printer.
- Wait for at least 5 minutes.
- Now, restart your computer or tablet, then restart the wireless router and finally restart your printer.
If your Brother wireless printer was offline because the wireless devices were busy, then this solution will work for you. Otherwise, move to the next step.
Solution 2: Use Network Connection Repair Tool
Brother provides Network Connection Repair tool, which users can run to restore the printing and scanning capability of their Brother printer over a network. This tool automatically detects and updates the network address of your printer.
- Download Brother Network Connection Repair Tool.
- Run the downloaded file and verify that all the mentioned conditions have been fulfilled. Then, choose the ‘Checked and confirmed’ option and click on the ‘OK’ button.
- When asked for the permission to start the diagnosis of the network, click on the ‘OK’ button to proceed.
- If you have more than one Brother printer connected to your computer, then you be asked to choose the printer. Make your selection and click on the ‘OK’ button.
- You will be asked if your printer is used by others. Choose the right answer, then click on the ‘OK’ button.
- Wait for the tool to run the diagnosis process. When the process is completed you will see the message displaying the IP address of your printing device. Check if IP address is correct or not. If its correct, then click on the ‘OK’ button.
- Wait for the tool to repair the connection. If the repair fails, then click on the ‘Retry’ button. If the repair is successful, then click on the ‘Complete’ button. You can also click on the ‘Print Test Page’ button to check the functioning of your printer.
If running the Network Connection Repair tool doesn’t solve your problem, then move to the next step.
Solution 3: Verify Wireless Network Name
You must make sure that the wireless network you are using to contact your Brother printer is the same to which your printer and computer is connected.
- You can find the Network SSID name and Password on the back or side of your wireless router. Note down this SSID name and Password.
- Now, use the control panel of your printer to locate the name of the network it’s connected to and make sure its password is correct. You can find these details under the ‘Network’ section of the printer menu.
If doing this doesn’t solve your problem, then move to the next solution.
Solution 4: Reset Network Connection
Sometimes you can solve Brother wireless printer offline problem by resetting the wireless network in your Brother printer. To reset your wireless printer network connection follow the steps given below.
The steps we are describing below will be the same for many other models of Brother wireless printers. The steps may vary a bit based on your printer model, but they will be almost same.
- Look at the back or side of your wireless router and you will find its SSID name and Password. Note them down.
- First you need to reset the printer. To do that press the ‘Menu’ button on the printer control panel.
- Scroll ‘Down’ to the ‘Network’ option.
- On reaching Network, press ‘OK’.
- Scroll ‘Down’ to select the ‘Network Reset’.
- On reaching Network Reset, press ‘OK’.
- Press ‘1’ to select ‘Yes’ and proceed with the reset. Then, press ‘1’ again to allow reboot.
- Wait for the printer to reboot.
- When the printer restarts it will ask you to setup Wi-Fi. Press ‘OK’ to start.
- Press ‘OK’ to select ‘Yes’.
- Press ‘OK’ to select ‘Setup Wizard’.
- Press ‘OK’ to enable WLAN.
- Wait for the printer to search for the SSID.
- Now select your wireless network name from the list and press ‘OK’.
- Use the number keypad to enter the password of your SSID network.
- After entering the password, press ‘OK’ to proceed.
- Press ‘1’ to apply settings.
- Wait for the printer to connect with the WLAN.
- Press ‘OK’ to finish.
- Your printer will now print a report informing you that your printer is now reconnected to the wireless network.
What If None of the Above Solutions Work
We have described several ways on how to fix the Brother wireless printer offline problem. However, if none of the above solutions worked for you, then most probably your printer drivers need to be updated. You need to update your full feature Brother printer driver with its latest version. You can also try updating your printer firmware. We will describe these solutions below.
Before you implement the solutions to this problem you must verify some basic details. Make sure that your printer is properly connected to your computer and there is no damage to the connecting cable. Your printer should be turned on and all its lights and display should be functioning properly.
Solution 1: Repair Printer Driver
Brother printer offline problem can be resolved by repairing the printer driver. However, before you start the repair process of your printer driver you must delete all print jobs.
- Click on ‘Start’ button and select ‘Settings’ option.
- In the search field type ‘Printer’ and click on ‘Printers & Scanners’ in the result.
- From the list of printers, select your Brother printer and click on ‘Open queue’ button.
4. In the next window you will see the list of all the documents in the print queue. Right click in the window and select ‘Cancel All Documents’ option. If prompted for permission, then choose “Yes” to confirm.
That’s it, you have cleared the print queue for your Brother printer. Now proceed to the next step of repairing your printer driver.
5. Load your printer software CD to your CD-ROM computer and it will automatically run itself. Choose the ‘Repair’ option from the options displayed on the main screen.
6. Follow the prompts and the Brother printer driver repair will be completed automatically.
Most probably, the Brother printer offline problem would have been resolved. If the problem persists, then try the next solution and it will surely work.
Solution 2: Reinstall Brother Printer
Before you start the reinstallation process for your printer, you will have to start by removing it. The process for removing the printer is given below.
- Click on ‘Start’ button and select ‘Settings’ option.
- In the search field type ‘Printer’ and click on ‘Printers & Scanners’ in the result.
- From the list of printers, select your Brother printer and click on ‘Remove device’ button.
That’s it you have removed your Brother printer and now you need to reinstall it on your computer.
To start the reinstallation process, you will have to reconnect the Brother printer to your computer.
- Click on ‘Start’ button and select ‘Settings’ option.
- In the search field, type “Printers” and click on ‘Printers & Scanners’ in the result.
- Now click the ‘+’ icon in front of ‘Add a printer or scanner’ option.
7. Wait a few minutes so that your computer can detect the printer. Now choose ‘Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings” option and then click “Next“.
- In the ‘Use an existing port’, select ‘USB001’ printer port from the drop down list.
9. In the left box of Manufacturer, choose ‘Brother’. Then, in the right box of Printers, choose your Brother Printer type. Now, click on ‘Next’ to proceed.
10. In this window, you can rename your printer if you want. Choose the option “Set as Default Printer” to make this printer your default printer. Finally, click on ‘Finish’.
That’s it, you have successfully reinstalled your Brother printer. The Brother printer offline problem will be resolved by now. Just restart your printer and start printing again.
Conclusion: Brother wireless printer offline problem has multiple solutions, but we have shared the ones which are most effective. This problem can happen due to various reasons, but the solutions given above should work all the time.
