Brother HL-2170W Laser Printer
with Wireless & Wired Network Interfaces

I only have HP laser printers till now, this Brothers laser printer is great, took only a few key strokes and the wireless was up and printing. A+++ in my book.
 
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I use this in a so/ho setup where the documents are mostly text. I love this printer - I purchased it almost a year ago and have only had to purchase one cartridge after the demo cart ran out. I have run everything from a stack of 325+ sheets of cardstock to thick label paper and have never had a jamming issue that wasn't due to user error. I have to ding it on its wireless setup. I finally got it connected, but it was way too difficult, even for an experienced person. In order to do it, I had to connect directly to the printer via ethernet, configure my ethernet adapter to be on the same default subnet, log into the built in webserver interface and configure the WiFi manually to work with my network. Once that was done, I had to set my ethernet adapter back to DHCP and then install the dirvers for the printer. Once all that was done, it worked fine. It took all told about 3 hours to get the WiFi set up. After that little bump in the road, it's worked like a champ ever since!
 
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I bought it to use as wireless printer, but it caused many issues with my network, that I had to use it as wired, my laptop can not even connect my my network until I restarted my modem and router.
 
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The print quality and ease of use are great for the price, especially if you want a printer with good Mac compatibility. Since Buy.com offered this printer for about 30% off Apple's price, it was a great deal for an economical Mac laser printer. However, the key is to stick to simple USB connectivity. Based on other reviews and past, painful experience trying to use Brother's poorly written BRAdmin utility for network printing and scanning with other Brother devices, I completely avoided trying to print via WiFi or Ethernet. If I ever really need to use it as a wireless printer, I may try installing the driver, but for now I'm sticking to simple USB.
 
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This is the second Brother printer I have owned. I replaced my current printer because it was cheaper to buy a new printer than replace the drum and cartridge. Excellent printer. Easy to setup USB. Had trouble getting the WIFI to work. Followed the instructions to the letter twice but was still not able to get it to work. Very satified with the print quality using the USB setup.
 
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I don't use a printer a great deal but I wanted a stand alone laser printer on my home network. It seems every time I wanted to use a shared printer before I ran into issues with Windows security or the firewall. So far I am very happy with this printer on a wireless home network. I found setup easy. It's fast and good quality Print results. For around $90 I thought this was a good investment.
 
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The printer is very compact. Printing seems just as fast as with cable. The quality is very good. I initially had some trouble connecting it to my router, but after several tries, it did connect. I've had it for a couple of months and it's always been excellent.
 
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For the money, this is a great printer. Setting up the wireless took a little ingenuity, and it might be tough for a technology novice unless all the stars are in alignment. I had limited access to the wireless router in the corporate setting I introduced this to, and that made it a bit tougher for me. Recommended!
 
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I needed to replace a 10-year old HP LaserJet 6L. For under $100, I got a printer that prints twice as fast, cost a third as much, and has a built-in wireless print server. Setup was a snap. I plugged it in, installed the software, and the printer was part of my home wireless network within minutes. It also has a relatively small footprint. I haven't yet had it long enough to see how long the toner lasts, nor have I tried such tasks as printing envelopes, but so far, I'm very satisfied with this purchase.
 
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Printer was at a great price, print quality good,relatively quiet for the office & reliable - good value.
 
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Installation was easy (used direct connection between printer and wireless router). Had some problems with Windows firewall (running Windows XP) and/or router (I couldn't figure out what was causing the non-connection with websites) after set-up but this was resolved after messing around with firewall settings and re-starting the computer and router a couple of times. The ink has a funky smell, that I'm hoping this goes away after more use. (Rate of 4 given as I haven't had a chance to use the printer more than a few times since I've gotten it...who knows what it will run like after it's been in use for a year or so?)
 
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I use OS X Leopard and run the printer wirelessly. Works great and prints quickly. The paper curls a little when it comes out, but hey, for the price i can put up with that. Love it!!!!
 
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I found the price for this printer a great buy for a laser printer. It was easy to set up, if you read the instructions! The print speed and quality has been great. Small inconvenience is changing paper to legal. It takes a few minutes to adjust the tray and take out the quide.
 
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I've been using a USB printer for many years and would just have to hook it up to whichever computer needed it. My son stole this printer and I ordered this network printer. I was amazed at how easy it was to set up. The quality is excellent and although there are faster printers it's never been a problem for my home use. It would probably be great for a small business too. Hightly recommend it to anyone who needs a low price, quality lazer printer who has network (wired or wireless) in need of a printer.
 
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Works well, easy setup and quiet enough to place in the family room. Fast printing and good quality prints. Nice for laptop computers!
 
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This unit was an addition to 3 printers already in my household, and with the wireless it was a snap to set up, make sure you reset your router and modem prior to using, the included paperwork was excellent and worked out of the box, as far as the wireless network, it was straightforward and easy, no problems here, others that have problems must not be following the exact setup in the paperwork, I would buy another one in a minute if I had a need for another printer, Kudos to Brother for ease of setup
 
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I got this for under $90 on special. This printer is great, fast, super easy to setup. Wireless setup instructions were super easy. Anyone who has had problems may have tried to set this thing up without using a wired LAN connection first. A must when setting up a wireless printer. Again, great deal for under $100.
 
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After 600 prints, I keep getting an error to clean the Corona on the Printer Drum. I have cleaned it over and over and over and over, and I keep getting the same error message and I am unable to print. My old brother laser was great, this one sucks. If you want a printer that gives you error messages after 1 month of use then buy this. Otherwise I would look elsewhere.
 
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No problems at all. Finally gave up on inkjet printers due to crazy expensive ink that clogs up all the time. Would be nice if this printer were offered in black. Also, I suspect that most of the wireless issues are related to firewall software.
 
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I had this printer unpacked and networked to 5 different PCs within 1/2 hour. The software found the printer through routers and switches with no problem. Printing was fast and clear. I have not printed anything fancy yet. Minor con: Slightly loud when printing, but I am used to an ancient HP what was quieter but printed 1/10th as fast.
 
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Purchased for home office & personal use this laser printer is quick and easy to use. Has a toner save mode to help reduce the cost per page and conserve toner. Built in networking makes it a snap to set up and configure.
 
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Great price, very nice printer, wireless networking works perfect, I've three computers, two running vista, one XP, they all print wireless without problems. Clear setup instructions, easy to follow. Highly satisfied with the product. Well done brother!
 
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I have to start that I was skeptical about moving from HP for the last 15+ years. Boy what a difference. HP latest software is so bloated it can't even get through the install without crashing. Brother laser printer was easy to setup and install on multiple computers. Installation is small in size and I had it working on my Macbook with Paralles XP within 30 minutes all wirelessly. The toner though may be expensive will outlast any ink carts. A little math, a ream of paper = 500 sheets. The drum is rated for 12,000 pages and the toner 1,500. The drum and toner are given to you in box. When you figure how much paper you use in a year the costs to run a laser printer is minimal since you will only replace toner once every 3 years.
 
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I am highly satisfied with the product and its easy setup. I put in my closet and sometimes I even forget about the fact that i own a printer. Wireless capability is a bliss.
 
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I can't believe I have to return the printer because Brother's tech support can't help set up the wireless on this thing. The printer's great, I've been using HL 2040 for a couple years... I'm not a tech genius, but I'm not stupid... I'm so mad. If anyone has a suggestion, let me know. Basically the software doesn't find any wireless networks and I don't know the network name, ssid, essid, etc...
 
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I got in on this for $99.99. It is well worth the money. (I haven't had to buy a toner or drum as yet.) Make sure you reset your wireless router before wireless setup. Follow the directions and setup will go smoothly. Great free shipping. I am happy.
 
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Well, you can't beat the price. We have only been using it for just over a week. Thus far performance is good and all clients 'like' it (XP and Vista). I would recommend going straight to the Brother site and use the latest software. The software on the disk locked up a Vista PC. The latest seems to be acceptable to Vista. The configuration software had problems recognizing the printer and it takes a bit of know how to get it working wireless with a static IP. So far, I think it is an unbeatable deal. Time will tell.
 
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Very good price for a whole lot of printer. Wireless setup was very easy. I have had no problems/issues with warm-up speed. Actual print speed is very fast. I would make one minor comment that the pages are a little "curled" when they first come out, maybe because the turn radius inside the printer is so small, but, regardless, this is not permanent (the pages straighten out) and this effect may just be type of paper I'm using. With that being said, the small size of the printer is another "bonus" that makes this worth it. Overall, this is a great printer for a great price.
 
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great printer once you get it setup. not the easiest setup and i'm a very technical consumer. it's worth the effort.
 
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Great price. Great printer. A little slow to warm-up, but that's okay. I was very careful with the set-up per all the other reviews. I have a wireless network with 4 systems (Vista, XP, and W2K). I connected the printer directly to the router and went through the wireless set-up and then disconnected. The XP and Vista machines had no trouble finding and printing to the printer using the drivers that came with the printer. Windows 2000 required a download of the drivers from the Brother website. Once I did that, that machine worked fine as well. Phew!
 
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I have only had the printer for about a month. However, my wife is a teach and graduate student so she is printing all the time. So far the printer has performed beautifully. The setup was easy as well. I followed the instructions and setup the printer for wireless G through the ethernet setup. It went perfectly and everything was great. A+
 
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This printer was easy to hook up and works well. I did the wired setup so this is all I can comment on. Also, I've used ink jet paper and they work fine. I don't remember in the product specifications if it comes with with the USB 2.0 cable or not. It doesn't. Otherwise, a good product at the right price.
 
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I received my order in fast time and had little trouble in setting it up; although I used the USB setup. I plugged the printer into my Tripp Isobar Touchmaster Strip; which was a mistake, as I learned when I turned the printer on. The printer blew the fuse on my Altec Lansing ADA745 Woofer. Now I have no sound from my speakers. The instructions do not tell you not to plug the printer into a strip. Otherwise I am satisfied with the performance of the printer.
 
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I have had this printer for over a month and have had no problems. If the step by step directions are followed there is not a single problem in setting this printer up on a wireless network. I use a wep encrypted network with 4 wireless pc's on it and connected the printer using a hardwire for initial setup and then loaded the printer drivers on each pc and they found the printer on the network easily.
 
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This printer is nice looking, it's quiet, has a small footprint, prints quickly, has lots of memory built-in and connected to my home LAN in a snap. Have not tried the wireless and I'll probably not use that feature. I don't know if it has a power standby feature. My old Brother had that nice feature to conserve energy. Hope I get lots of print pages from the toner. Buy.com ships quickly and at a reasonable or free rate. I've made several purchases from them and I have always been pleased.
 
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I selected this printer for two reasons - networking and quietness. My printer is on a wired connection so I can't review the wireless setup, but the wired setup was incredibly simple. The instructions and UI are pretty intuitive, and it was up and running within 15 minutes of opening the box. I'm also very pleased with its quietness, as is our baby who sleeps next door to my office. Its warmup and printing speeds are definitely reasonable too.
 
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The networking was easy to setup, in spite of what others have said. I followed the directions and it worked the first time - on a mixed PC & Mac network. Love the printer, love the price.
 
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This is my 2nd awesome experience with a Brother printer, but the first with wireless capability. The printer setup was a snap, the software install a breeze, and the ease of use exceptional. The only knock on the printer is that you have to decipher status and error codes from a single blinking blue light, but keep the manual handy and it isn't a big deal (I ran out of paper once and the light blinked at me). Quick note, if you want to access the wireless printer from a 2nd or 3rd computer, you do NOT have to do the full software install (full software install should be done once only) - only the wireless drivers. This is an easy recommendation to make and I would to anyone.
 
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Shipped quickly. Unpacked, setup and printing in less than 1 hour. Setup on my notebook was as easy, about 5 minutes. Printing is crisp, quick and quiet. I only regret is I didn't do this sooner!
 
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The printer prints fast and it is much quieter than my Lexmark Optra S1250 10 year old printer. I ordered the printer and received it the next day using the 2 day shipping. Prints fine in Vista, XP, Linux Mint, Ubuntu and Puppy Linux. Everything plugged into one power strip and no problems. The replacement toner cartridge is amazingly cheap compared to the $120.00 I spent on my last high capacity toner cartridge.
 
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Great Printer- I bought it for the Wi-Fi and that works great. Setup for the Wi-Fi could be easier, If you don't know much about computers you will have problems setting this up for your wireless network. Brother needs to improve on the instructions and setup.
 
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This network printer sets up easy right out of the box. Print quality is excellent and very fast. (20+ pages per minute). I print test reports that are generally 25 to 100 pages long and this printer handles them perfectly with no jams. Text is sharp and clear and I even had a customer comment on how much better the report looked than some of the older reports printed on a Dell laser. Toner cartridges are also resonably priced for Brother printers. What a deal at the price I paid for this printer.
 
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Good printer. It seemed to idle a little loud at first, but I'm getting used to it.
 
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The wireless 'setup' was impossible to configure. You will need a network cable and easy access to your router. You'll also likely need to temporarily change your home network configuration to that of an 'ad hoc' network, at least for the remainder of setup. Overall the printer works well. And now that I'm over the frustration associated with the ridiculous setup, I can recommend this product to anyone - who has a relatively tolerant patience.
 
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Just got this printer a few days ago. Haven't used it all that much but my first impressions are excellent. The setup was easier than I expected, and it worked perfectly without any trouble on both of my WinXP computers. It prints fast and the text is nice and clear. I prefer laser printers to inkjets for their reliabilty, cost per page, and text clarity, and at this price it makes the choice simple. Also, I live in a small apartment with a few roomates, and being able to tuck this printer away on a shelf in a central location, with no worry about wiring, is great.
 
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I have the HL-2170W shared among 4 machines on a home network. Excellent print quality and speed. Maybe it's because I networked the printer using ethernet cable instead of wireless, but setup was extremely easy - took about 5 minutes, plus installing driver on each machine. The "Quick Start" guide makes it simple.
 
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Before installing this priter I had an inkjet. The ink got dried so easily no matter I used it or not, which was so annoying. For a samll network, this laser printer is perfect. With it's wireless function, it can be easily located anywere you want. The printing is swift and the print-out quality is great.
 
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Setup was pretty simple as long as you already have a cable to use with the printer. After that, getting it to work with my Linksys WRT55AG router was a breeze. The Brother software is easy to use with menus that make sense and a clean interface. Also, there is no problem running this software under a limited permission account (User) on WinXP Pro like what you might find with HP software. Also, there are more advanced configuration tools at the Brother support site for administrators. If you're looking for a versatile, black and white network printer that supports wireless, this model provides good value.
 
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As with most of the others that bought this item, I had some difficulty on initial installation, but after some hair pulling and then reading the instructions fully (I know, it's a guy thing) I finally got it to work on my desktop, then my wifes laptop installed in no time. I love it that we can now print from the laptop anywhere in the house and my wife can print her school documents without emailing an attachment or using her flash drive to transfer documents to the desktop, then printing. And best of all, I think, is no more $35 inkjet cartridges that dry out before you have printed 200-300 pages!
 
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Well, first of all, I am a computer guy. So, the installation going awry was not much trouble for me, but it is not perfect by any means. However, once I got it working on my wireless home network, BAM!... we're loving it! Laser quality and wireless function, can't beat it. It scares my cat when we print to it out of the blue, but it goes back in a quiet hum right afterwards. We don't use it often or regularly, but when we need it, it works! No wires and it prints quickly from a standstill!
 
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Set-up was a little confusing causing a small mark down for ease of use. Other than that I love it, it is fast and has good output quality. After using ink jets and having to deal with ink cartridges all the time this is a great buy.
 
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