It’s a good brand. I have their laser printer and it’s great. No annoying registration, 3rd party toner cartridges are allowed. Super fast compared to inkjet. Overall a great experience compared to my HP printer which won’t let me scan unless I register on the HP app.
For a second I thought you meant never showed up as in your pihole can’t print to it. I was mildly surprised when my pihole automatically recognized and configured my brother printer on my network. But now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it black holed in my query log either!
I need to get a pihole… It might not fix my Linux printing situation though. I’m able to print but a big document with a lot of pages will just randomly cancel half through for no reason.
I have installed no drivers and can print from Linux / windows and my iPhone.
It sits on my network, it accepts prints, it gets turned off when I’m done.
I’ve never seen it try to do anything outside my network, I’ve never seen it do much of anything on my network. It just sits listening waiting to print.
Because they are no bullshit brand. You get what you pay for. Open the box, put it somewhere, connect to WIFI and forget about it. The moment you need it, it will happily spring to life without complaints and then go back to sleep.
It’s hardly believable how problem-free these printers are. They have a bunch of models, but you always get what you pay for. Laser is this much, a bit more expensive is LAN model, a bit more LAN+WIFI, then higher up scanner added, etc. They also work without drivers on Linux. Company also allows recycled and third party toners. In my case they are even faster to receive data and print than any other printer I’ve had. They even don’t send statistics back home, even though they are network connected.
We had a 5P back in the Win98 days, and it was exactly what you’d expect a printer to be. The refills were pricey, but they’d last a long time (we printed a lot then). And you could get a bit more life out of an empty drum if you shook the hell out it.
I do wonder about compatibility with Win10/11 at this point. I know some other old devices I still have around are all but impossible to get to work.
I remember seeing them abused in my university computer lab. People would print 50 page documents, see they screwed something up, trash the whole thing, and then print again.
Keyboards, monitors, mice, computers, and network switches would come and go but those tanks would just keep rolling. Plus we could program rude messages on the screens via the web interface, which was fun.
It’s uncanny how any post about problems with HP always has the same solution in the comments. Brother.
In related news, learning what Audi is doing with their new model and subscriptions makes me think the world has gone mad.
It’s a good brand. I have their laser printer and it’s great. No annoying registration, 3rd party toner cartridges are allowed. Super fast compared to inkjet. Overall a great experience compared to my HP printer which won’t let me scan unless I register on the HP app.
I have a network enabled model from Brother and it’s never once shown up on my pi-hole. I’m a fan for life. Will never buy an HP printer again.
For a second I thought you meant never showed up as in your pihole can’t print to it. I was mildly surprised when my pihole automatically recognized and configured my brother printer on my network. But now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it black holed in my query log either!
I need to get a pihole… It might not fix my Linux printing situation though. I’m able to print but a big document with a lot of pages will just randomly cancel half through for no reason.
They’re amazing. I run mine on an Amazon Lightsail instance. $6/mo. or so? I need to bring that back in-house on an old Pi.
Every tried setting one up? It’s hilariously easy. Install Debian or Ubuntu Server, run:
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash
Receive PiHole. Setting a static IP on it is probably the most complicated thing. :)
Thanks for reminding me. Might just do that tonight!
I love my brother printer.
I have installed no drivers and can print from Linux / windows and my iPhone.
It sits on my network, it accepts prints, it gets turned off when I’m done.
I’ve never seen it try to do anything outside my network, I’ve never seen it do much of anything on my network. It just sits listening waiting to print.
Bought a second hand brother laser because of the meme. am not disappointed.
Which model did you get?
brother hll2370dw
edit: works from my android phone, and dual boot windows / Ubuntu pc as well
OK and did you need to get drivers to use it on ubuntu? Thanks :)
I have the TN830 that is joined to WiFi that my Ubuntu/windows pc sees on my network without having to have installed any drivers.
Similarly can print from my iPhone.
yes but from the brother site easily
Unfortunately all the options in that industry are shit.
Enshittification hitting the physical realm is pain.
Printers pioneered enshittification.
The lightbulb cartel had a head start on them!
Because they are no bullshit brand. You get what you pay for. Open the box, put it somewhere, connect to WIFI and forget about it. The moment you need it, it will happily spring to life without complaints and then go back to sleep.
It’s hardly believable how problem-free these printers are. They have a bunch of models, but you always get what you pay for. Laser is this much, a bit more expensive is LAN model, a bit more LAN+WIFI, then higher up scanner added, etc. They also work without drivers on Linux. Company also allows recycled and third party toners. In my case they are even faster to receive data and print than any other printer I’ve had. They even don’t send statistics back home, even though they are network connected.
You will earn nothing and be happy.
Meanwhile cheapskates who buy used old products, renew them and use them: happy.
If you want a non-Brother recommendation, find one of the series 4 HP LaserJets. Those things were figuratively and perhaps literally bulletproof.
My 5P didn’t survive the 2012 move. RIP
We had a 5P back in the Win98 days, and it was exactly what you’d expect a printer to be. The refills were pricey, but they’d last a long time (we printed a lot then). And you could get a bit more life out of an empty drum if you shook the hell out it.
I do wonder about compatibility with Win10/11 at this point. I know some other old devices I still have around are all but impossible to get to work.
There’s still CUPS support
I remember seeing them abused in my university computer lab. People would print 50 page documents, see they screwed something up, trash the whole thing, and then print again.
Keyboards, monitors, mice, computers, and network switches would come and go but those tanks would just keep rolling. Plus we could program rude messages on the screens via the web interface, which was fun.
Not $250/yr for WiFi & nav that you’re referring to, no?
Nor 2019’s scheme which sounds like $1000/mo to drive any of several different Audis?
$1000/month to rent a car? Lol
This reads more like a car club, where you pay a subscription to have access to cars on demand.
For those models probably not a bad deal, if someone only needed a car for a few months. Stupid if you need something longer term.
I have a brother multifunction laser printer scanner thing. It is a cheap piece of crap with flaky wireless.
Unlike the HP printers I’ve had or worked with, with the Brother I feel like I at least get what I pay for… but it’s a pretty low bar.