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Question

How to Wake up Offline Brother MFC-J870DW Printer?

Feb 20, 2015 10:52AM PST

I have a networked Brother MFC-J870DW printer that is connected to my network wirelessly and plugged directly into the wall (i.e., no surge protector or power strip, etc.) (it does have an ethernet jack as well, which I am not using).

I try to access the printer from a Windows 7 laptop (on network wirelessly) and a Windows 8 desktop (on network wired). However, the printer is almost always asleep/offline (according to both the Brother Status Monitor and when I try to print to/scan from the printer). Oddly, the printer tends to wake up when I bring the laptop within a foot or so of the it.

My router is a Verizon FIOS-supplied Actiontec MI424WR (Gen2, I think). When I log into it, under the "My Network" listing where all items on my network are listed, it shows the printer as "active" and for some reason as having an ethernet connection (other devices, such as my cell phone and laptop, are shown as having a wireless connection; our television set top boxes are shown as having a coax connection). When I then test the printer's connectivity via the router's "Check Connectivity" test, it shows:


Number of pings: 4
Status: Test Succeeded
Packets 4/4 transmitted, 4/4 received, 0% loss
Round Trip Time: Minimum = 6 ms Maximum = 133 ms Average = 38 ms


The firmware for the printer is fully updated. I have tried removing the printer and then reinstalling it several times. I have also tried reinstalling it from both the provided CD/DVD as well as from having the computer just look online for drivers, etc.

The only other potentially different thing is that I have some Powerline networking in my house, and the Powerline adapter (in the same room as the printer) provides a wi-fi signal (which has the same SSID and password as our FIOS router). Devices are supposed to flow seemlessly between the "real" wifi and the "Powerline" wifi without me seeing anything happening.

Any idea how I can get the printer to wake up on command by just trying to print or scan? Even pressing a button on its face doesn't wake it up as far as the laptop and desktop are concerned - but pressing a button will allow it to fax or photocopy when I enter commands directly from the printer.

Any thoughts? I'm not sure there is a way to disable the printer's sleep function entirely (and I'd prefer not to, for green reasons). I just want it to wake up when it senses data coming from the laptop or desktop.

Any help would be very greatly appreciated!

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