Brother Laser printer: Network or connect via USB?

I have a simple setup: A Mac powerbook with OSX 10.4, a 2Wire modem/router, a Brother 5250DN laser printer. When I connected the printer, I think I had the option of "networking" or connecting via USB. I chose the latter thinking hard connection was the simplest and most reliable option. Everything is within a few feet of one another anyway. Today, somehow I was at Brother's website and saw the possibility of upgrading the firmware. A few steps later i was told that this is only possible via network and not USB. ??? I don't really understand this in any depth, but have I made an inferior choice by using USB, otherwise why should it not be possible to upgrade my printer conencted via USB?? Should I try to reconnect my printer as network? How would I go about it? Thanks. All help appreciated.

Ajanta <ajanta@null.void> wrote: > I have a simple setup: A Mac powerbook with OSX 10.4, a 2Wire > modem/router, a Brother 5250DN laser printer. > > When I connected the printer, I think I had the option of "networking" > or connecting via USB. I chose the latter thinking hard connection was > the simplest and most reliable option. Everything is within a few feet > of one another anyway. > > Today, somehow I was at Brother's website and saw the possibility of > upgrading the firmware. A few steps later i was told that this is only > possible via network and not USB. ??? Not surprising. The firmware update mechanism probably works in a similar manner to a router, by uploading a file using a protocol which is based on TCP/IP, such as TFTP or HTTP. That method won't work via USB. It probably also uses a relatively simple application written in Java to do the firmware upgrade, which has the benefit of being cross-platform. Java is easily able to to TCP/IP communication but it would be much harder to get it to access a proprietary mechanism via USB. > I don't really understand this in any depth, but have I made an > inferior choice by using USB Not really. A USB connection is simpler to manage from the user's perspective (no potential for configuration errors), as long as you only have one computer. Network is better if you have at least two computers, as it saves having to muck around with USB printer sharing and needing the host computer to be awake to print anything. > otherwise why should it not be possible to upgrade my printer > conencted via USB?? Brother chose not to bother supporting a separate mechanism to upgrade the firmware via USB, because the network method was sufficient, easier to implement, and a high proportion of these printers would be used in a network environment. > Should I try to reconnect my printer as network? How would I go about > it? Does your router have any spare Ethernet ports? If so, just plug an Ethernet cable between the printer and router, and unplug the USB cable between the printer and computer. You might need to enable the network interface using the printer's front panel. Refer to the manual. On the computer, you will need to add the printer again, as your existing print queue will be looking for the printer on the USB port. You can do this via System Preferences > Print & Fax, and click the Add button. The printer should appear in the default browser, as it supports Bonjour for network identification. (We have a networked one of the same model at work, on a mostly Windows network, but I can see it and use it from my Mac.) After doing the firmware upgrade, you could revert to a USB connection, or leave it running on Ethernet if it seems to working well enough. The printer probably supports both interfaces being connected, but only one can be active at a time for sending jobs to the printer. If you don't have any spare Ethernet ports on your router, you could temporarily connect the printer directly to the computer via Ethernet, so you can do the firmware upgrade, then revert to USB. Alternatively you could replace your router with one which has more Ethernet ports, or add an Ethernet switch to allow more devices to be connected to your router. -- David Empson dempson@actrix.gen.nz

On Sun, 17 May 2009 02:32:43 -0400, Ajanta wrote (in article <170520090132432863%ajanta@null.void>): > I have a simple setup: A Mac powerbook with OSX 10.4, a 2Wire > modem/router, a Brother 5250DN laser printer. > > When I connected the printer, I think I had the option of "networking" > or connecting via USB. I chose the latter thinking hard connection was > the simplest and most reliable option. Everything is within a few feet > of one another anyway. > > Today, somehow I was at Brother's website and saw the possibility of > upgrading the firmware. A few steps later i was told that this is only > possible via network and not USB. ??? Brother expected that a 5250DN would probably be networked; they have a cheaper version of the same unit which doesn't have the networking built in, and figured that anyone who bought the one with the 'N' in its name bought it to network it. Certainly that's why I bought an example of the 2070N instead of the 2040, which are identical, except that the 2070N has an Ethernet port while the 2040 doesn't, and the 2040 cost $50 less than the 2070N. > > I don't really understand this in any depth, but have I made an > inferior choice by using USB, otherwise why should it not be possible > to upgrade my printer conencted via USB?? Should I try to reconnect my > printer as network? How would I go about it? Get out the user guide .PDF that came with the printer. If you can't find the printer's system CD anymore, a copy is available on Brother's site, just go to Support and enter your printer's name. It will tell you exactly how to set up the printer over Ethernet. The quick&dirty method is: 1 turn _off_ the printer. 2 unplug the USB cable from both the printer and the Mac. 3 plug in the Ethernet cable to the printer and a switch, either stand-alone or built into a router. 2Wire modem/routers ship with either one Ethernet port or a switch built in which has four to five Ethernet ports. If your device has just one port, you'll need a stand-alone switch, which could cost about $10-25 for a 4, 5, or 8 port unit. Plug the switch into the router, then run cables to your Mac and the printer from the switch. 4 go to printer setup on the Mac and delete setting for the 5250DN for USB. It might be good idea to download the latest drivers from the Brother site, while you're getting the User Guide. 5 turn _on_ the printer. While the printer is on, and connected to the network, and the Mac is on, and connected to the network, run the installer for the printer drivers. Select 'Network Install'. The installer will look for the printer. Brother set the printers up with Bonjour, so it should be visible on the network. The installer will ensure that your drivers are updated to the current drivers, that your printer is located and connected, and that you can print over the network. If you have any other computers, run the Brother installers on them, too. Note that Linux systems may have some slight problems unless you go to the command line. Once you have the printer set up, then you can run the firmware updater. It should find the printer using Bonjour and update it. Note that it's not strictly necessary to run the installer, if you know TCP/IP you can install the printer yourself and it'll take less time. > > Thanks. All help appreciated. -- email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.

In article <guopp6084i@news5.newsguy.com>, J.J. O'Shea <try.not.to@but.see.sig> wrote: > 3 plug in the Ethernet cable to the printer and a switch, either stand-alone > or built into a router. 2Wire modem/routers ship with either one Ethernet > port or a switch built in which has four to five Ethernet ports. If your > device has just one port, you'll need a stand-alone switch, which could cost > about $10-25 for a 4, 5, or 8 port unit. Plug the switch into the router, > then run cables to your Mac and the printer from the switch. If one is using the single port 2Wire modem, they don't hve to go out and buy a multiport router just for this. They can just buy a Ethernet Crossover cable. These can be found cheap at garage sales and local used computer stores (I got one for a friend recently at a garage sale for 10 cents). jt

jt august <starsabre@sbcglobal.net> wrote: >If one is using the single port 2Wire modem, they don't hve to go out >and buy a multiport router just for this. They can just buy a Ethernet >Crossover cable. These can be found cheap at garage sales and local >used computer stores (I got one for a friend recently at a garage sale >for 10 cents). Do ensure that you label such a cable at both ends as being a cross over cable. You would not beleive how much time can be wasted trying to get a cable working until you suddenly realize what the problem is. Luckily I didn't waste too much time as I have enough cables kicking around that I just grabbed another to test. And yes some routers and switches these days are smart enough to configure themselves. Others aren't. Tony -- Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/ Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/

In article <vc31159p366iv7ajh2pdsjl2ti8i283hu8@4ax.com>, "Tony Toews [MVP]" <ttoews@telusplanet.net> wrote: > And yes some routers and switches these days are smart enough to > configure themselves. Others aren't. And all Macintosh computers made in the past five years (and maybe longer) are. -- Member National Rifle Association Member American Civil Liberties Union

In article <1izvib2.1vm1m9ljkdb0zN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>, David Empson <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote: >Ajanta <ajanta@null.void> wrote: > >> I have a simple setup: A Mac powerbook with OSX 10.4, a 2Wire >> modem/router, a Brother 5250DN laser printer. >> >> When I connected the printer, I think I had the option of "networking" >> or connecting via USB. I chose the latter thinking hard connection was >> the simplest and most reliable option. Everything is within a few feet >> of one another anyway. >> >> Today, somehow I was at Brother's website and saw the possibility of >> upgrading the firmware. A few steps later i was told that this is only >> possible via network and not USB. ??? > >Not surprising. The firmware update mechanism probably works in a >similar manner to a router, by uploading a file using a protocol which >is based on TCP/IP, such as TFTP or HTTP. That method won't work via >USB. It probably also uses a relatively simple application written in >Java to do the firmware upgrade, which has the benefit of being >cross-platform. Java is easily able to to TCP/IP communication but it >would be much harder to get it to access a proprietary mechanism via >USB. Just updated the firmware on my father-in-law's HL-2040 using USB. You download an app, it talks to the printer, downloads the appropriate firmware from the internet and then installs it.

On Mon, 18 May 2009 10:45:05 -0400, Mike S. wrote (in article <gurs9h$qe6$1@reader1.panix.com>): > > In article <1izvib2.1vm1m9ljkdb0zN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>, > David Empson <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote: >> Ajanta <ajanta@null.void> wrote: >> >>> I have a simple setup: A Mac powerbook with OSX 10.4, a 2Wire >>> modem/router, a Brother 5250DN laser printer. >>> >>> When I connected the printer, I think I had the option of "networking" >>> or connecting via USB. I chose the latter thinking hard connection was >>> the simplest and most reliable option. Everything is within a few feet >>> of one another anyway. >>> >>> Today, somehow I was at Brother's website and saw the possibility of >>> upgrading the firmware. A few steps later i was told that this is only >>> possible via network and not USB. ??? >> >> Not surprising. The firmware update mechanism probably works in a >> similar manner to a router, by uploading a file using a protocol which >> is based on TCP/IP, such as TFTP or HTTP. That method won't work via >> USB. It probably also uses a relatively simple application written in >> Java to do the firmware upgrade, which has the benefit of being >> cross-platform. Java is easily able to to TCP/IP communication but it >> would be much harder to get it to access a proprietary mechanism via >> USB. > > Just updated the firmware on my father-in-law's HL-2040 using USB. You > download an app, it talks to the printer, downloads the appropriate > firmware from the internet and then installs it. > Yes, but the 2040 doesn't have an Ethernet port. The only way to do the update is using USB, and Brother therefore set things up accordingly. (Well, in theory they could have used the parallel port, but not even Windows machines use parallel connections nowadays.) -- email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.

In article <gurs9h$qe6$1@reader1.panix.com>, retsuhcs@xinap.moc (Mike S.) wrote: > In article <1izvib2.1vm1m9ljkdb0zN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>, > David Empson <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote: > >Ajanta <ajanta@null.void> wrote: > > > >> I have a simple setup: A Mac powerbook with OSX 10.4, a 2Wire > >> modem/router, a Brother 5250DN laser printer. > >> > >> When I connected the printer, I think I had the option of "networking" > >> or connecting via USB. I chose the latter thinking hard connection was > >> the simplest and most reliable option. Everything is within a few feet > >> of one another anyway. > >> > >> Today, somehow I was at Brother's website and saw the possibility of > >> upgrading the firmware. A few steps later i was told that this is only > >> possible via network and not USB. ??? > > > >Not surprising. The firmware update mechanism probably works in a > >similar manner to a router, by uploading a file using a protocol which > >is based on TCP/IP, such as TFTP or HTTP. That method won't work via > >USB. It probably also uses a relatively simple application written in > >Java to do the firmware upgrade, which has the benefit of being > >cross-platform. Java is easily able to to TCP/IP communication but it > >would be much harder to get it to access a proprietary mechanism via > >USB. > > Just updated the firmware on my father-in-law's HL-2040 using USB. You > download an app, it talks to the printer, downloads the appropriate > firmware from the internet and then installs it. But not on the HL-5250DN. This is like saying "Yep, it works on my slide rule. Try it." -- DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee... [I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically by ignored]