Solved Two offices, two identical printers, one laptop.

[scandalxk]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me how to connect two identical printers (Brother MFC-J6510DW), in separate offices, to a single laptop that moves between the two offices, so that the laptop user gets full use of all the printer facilities (print and scan) wherever he is?

At the moment it seems that full functionality is available with only one printer. Something about IP addresses, maybe?

Thanks,

scandalxk

 

[bobafetthotmail]

Does the two offices share some kind of network?

The printers you talk about do have the capability to connect to both wireless and cable networks and work as printers for all devices connected to that network ("network printers" is the term), how to do so should be explained in their manual.

 

[scandalxk]

Thanks for your reply, Bobbafett.

There is no connection at all between the wireless network at one office and the wireless network at the other. The only link is the fact that I sometimes pick up my latptop and move from one place to the other.

Connecting more than one computer to each printer is no problem (that's just a standard network printer setup). The problem is in connecting more than one identical printer to each computer.

I am using wireless connectivity for the printers at both locations.

Many thanks,

scandalxk

 

[DeaconFrost]

I'm confused as to what issue you are having. Both printers should be installed as separate printers, because they would have separate IP addresses. Windows may prompt you that it already has the correct drivers.

It shouldn't matter, but how are you installing the printers...using their IP addresses as a direct connection, or are they shared off of a printer server?

 

[scandalxk]

Many thanks for replying, DeaconFrost.

Ah, sorry, I was not specific. I can install them as printers and they appear as separate printers in my list of devices and printers. However, they are also scanners/copiers/faxes. For scanning, you can control them either from the computer using proprietary Brother software called ControlCenter4, or you can press the "scan" button on the computer and it wirelessly pushes the scanned document to the connected computer.

However, ControlCenter4 and the hardware scan push button seem to recognise only one connection; if it works in one office, it won't work in the other. There seems to be no way to get ControlCenter4 to recognise two different printers (or to regard them as only one, which would be just as good).

I will be very happy to be told I am being stupid...if only someone will tell me how to do it right!

Edited to add: The two printers are in different places. There is no print server involved. Each is stand-alone, linked to my computer (when it is there) via WiFi.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Most of the control software I have used is linked to the printer by IP and/or port. Many of my home office people use networked all-in-ones. We mainly have Dell and Samsung units, but the software looks to the IP or port for the printer when trying to scan or fax. You could check in the software's settings to see if you can update the IP address or port for the printer, so it can be changed from one to the other. If not, you may just be stuck using one as a printer only, and the other as an all-in-one.

 

[scandalxk]

DeaconFrost, I think you may have cracked it. I found a "scanner settings" utility within the Brother software suite, which allows me to refer to the machine by name or IP address. Having refreshed it, I now find I can use all the functions of the machine in office 1. In 15 minutes I'm packing up and going home to office 2, and I will see how I get on there.

Even if this doesn't work, thanks for your help so far.

scandalxk

 

[scandalxk]

DeaconFrost, thank you very much - you have solved this problem for me.

To recap, I have added the printer in office 2 to my list of printers and given it a distinctive name, so now when I want to print I simply select the printer at my current location.

For the scanning utilities, I use the "Scanners and Cameras" utility within the "Scanner Settings" folder of the Brother software suite. Under "Properties" this allows me to specify the network address of the printer I wish to use. I don't need to remember anything, though, because there is a "Browse" button which searches for and finds the machine on my current wireless network. I simply select it, press OK - OK - Close, and everything works as it should. This is a one-off routine which I don't need to do again until I next need to change to the other scanner.

Thanks DeaconFrost. Kudos.

scandalxk

 

[DeaconFrost]

Glad I could help. It's a pain, but at least you get the functionality you need...and at least they gave you a utility to do so.