Printers cannot connect to wifi

Question

Last month, we had the G3100 router installed as part of the mandatory Fios upgrade. Since then, I cannot connect my 2 Brother printers to the wifi network. I feel like I have exhausted all possible remedies, including :

Upgrading the printer firmware, uninstalling and reinstalling the printer drivers, turning off the Self Organizing Network on the router, turning on the IOT on the router, and attempting to connect with WPS.

What am I missing? I've never had this issue before I got the G3100 router.

smith6612 · Accepted Answer

Try going into the router's settings and changing the 2.4Ghz radio from "Legacy Mode" to "Compatibility Mode" and vice versa. You'll need to be in the Advanced tab for the router to reveal these settings. If you are using the IoT mode, SON can be left on and shouldn't affect the functionality of IoT.

Make sure your (IoT) network is set to use WPA2, and only WPA2. A lot of older devices like printers have problems connecting to networks if they are using WPA2/WPA3 Mixed Mode encryption.

Also just an out-there thing when you give the IoT network a try. Make the network name a simple one without special characters like hyphens or spaces, and do the same for the password. Just to give it a try. I've seen old devices have problems with networks that contain such characters.

If none of that works, if your Brother printers support Ethernet, maybe consider wiring them into the network. I've had my own fair share of issues with HP and Brother printers and connecting to Wi-Fi again after a router upgrade, and this is usually what I end up resorting to. You can use MoCA Adapters to connect them up via Coax outlets in your home if you don't have hardwired connectivity available. Or you can use third party Wi-Fi extenders with Ethernet ports in "Wireless Client (not repeater)" mode to make an Ethernet connection for them and transmit it over Wi-Fi.

Alternatively, if you are keeping your old Fios router around, you can re-configure it into an access point, connect it up behind your new Fios router, and use that old Fios router just as a Wi-Fi connection for your Brother printers and any other problematic device.

The problem really stems from the Wi-Fi chipset in these printers poorly handling some of the newer Wi-Fi standards that come along with new routers. Things like WPA3 Security on a mixed mode WPA2/WPA3 network might throw them for a loop, or the Wi-Fi beacons (which announce the network's presence) containing flags for security features or Wi-Fi Roaming enhancements that the device doesn't understand what to do with, because those flags weren't ever utilized when the printer was created.