Printing has become an essential part of our daily lives, whether it’s for work or personal use. It’s a convenient and time-saving way to produce physical copies of documents, photos, and other materials. Among the many brands of printers available on the market today, Brother is one that is known for its reliability and high-quality output.
However, even with a reputable brand like Brother, there may be times when you run into issues connecting your printer to your computer. This can be a frustrating experience, especially if you need to print something important. There may be a few potential reasons why the connection might not be working. Does not matter what that issue might be, it is enough to ruin your seemingly productive day. Don’t worry we won’t let that happen. We have several things to get your Brother printer running again.
Troubleshooting The Wired Connection Issue
There may be various possibilities as to why you can’t connect your Brother printer to a computer; we will start with a structured approach to detecting the issue, being more intrusive with each incoming fix attempt.
Detecting Cable and Connection Problems
This section applies to those who have got a wired printer.
It is always best to start by inspecting different wires, such as USB and Ethernet cables; you may likely have a broken cable. If you find a cable that doesn’t look normal or is damaged, you might consider replacing it. Doing so will fix your problem in most cases.
Be cautious if you find a burnt cable; handling burnt cable without enough knowledge and care can be life-threatening. Don’t even think of reusing burnt cables; replace them and recheck.
If all of your cables looked just fine, then you might be having port-related issues. Disconnect power from your Brother printer, unplug the cable and replug it. Now turn on the printer and see if it works this time.
If it still doesn’t work, and all the cable physically looks just fine, then there may be a possibility that the cable is damaged from the inside. Borrow a similar cable and see if the printer works this time.
Troubleshooting The Wireless Connection Issue
Start with restarting your printer. If that makes no effect, then you might want to restart your router. Power off your router, let it be for 5 seconds and turn it back on. Now check if anything changes.
Resetting Wi-Fi Card
It is likely that you might be facing a problem with the Wi-Fi card of your printer. Follow the instructions below to reset it.
Turn on your printer.
Start by pressing the menu key. On the menu screen, look for the “Network” option. You are supposed to use the arrow keys to navigate through the menu section.
Once you find the “Network” option, press “OK”. Once that is done, you will see various options; look for the “Network Reset” option and press “OK.”
Finally, Press “Reset.”
Reconfiguring the Wireless connection
Now that your Wi-Fi card is Reset, you will need to reconfigure it.
- Start by pressing “menu.”
- Go to the “Network” tab.
- Select “WLAN.”
- Then choose “Setup Wizard.”
- Find and select the “WLAN Enable” option.
- The printer will now start searching for various available Wi-Fi networks.
- Find and choose your network, and press “OK.”
- Press 2 to say “No” to the WPS or AOSS automatic setup.
- Enter your “Network” password.
- Finally, press “Yes” to apply the settings.
Reinstalling your Printer Drivers
One possibility is that there may be a problem with the drivers on your computer. Drivers are software programs that allow your computer to communicate with the printer. If the drivers are outdated or corrupted, the printer may not be able to connect. You might be facing issues related to out-of-date printer drivers or broken drivers.
Find the device manager by right-clicking the “This PC” icon and selecting “Manage.” Find drivers from the left pane, right-click on the printer driver and select “Uninstall.”
Another potential issue is a problem with the USB cable that connects the printer to the computer. Sometimes, the issue is with the computer itself, such as a problem with the USB port or a software glitch on the computer. Check the USB port on your computer to see if it’s functioning properly. And also, check if there is any software problem with the computer that can be causing the issue.
If you have tried all the above steps and the problem still persists, this means it is time for you to call Brother support.
Conclusion
In this “can’t connect Brother printer to computer” blog, we talked about various ways to troubleshoot various issues and potentially fix them. We started by looking into the problems related to wired connections. Then we moved on to the wireless-related issues. We talked about resetting the Wi-Fi card, reconfiguring Wi-Fi, and reinstalling printer drivers. We hope you found this blog helpful and were able to get your printer back alive. Please stay tuned for more informative posts like this.