Prints connected to one AP but not another

[Whatzit]

Here's the network:



Laptops not shown are a 1st generation MacBook Air and a HP 2000 both running Linux Lite.  Both the laptops and the Optiplex 7010 in the office were configured following Brother's instructions.  When looking at System>Printers in the three LL machines there are two icons: "MFCJ430W" and "Brother_MFC_J430W".  The latter is the one needed to select to print.  The 7010 prints and scans, as does the Acer Win8.1 desktop connected to the same unmanaged switch in the office.  The laptops (configured while connected to the SSID #2 AP) print.  All 4 computers can access the 1 TB HDD connected to the router's USB port.

When the laptops move to the shop and connect to SSID #3, they and a Win10 tablet can access the 1TB HDD.  The Win10 tablet plus two Android tablets and my Android phone can print (the three Androids use the "Brother Print Service Plugin").  The "MFCJ430W" icon remains on the LL laptops, but the "Brother_MFC_J430W" icon is gone and so the LL laptops won't print.  Both LL laptops plus the Win10 tablet can access the 1 TB HDD.  Every device can websurf.  A Roku in the shop can stream (there's more streaming involved on the network if I need to elaborate on that).

When I take the LL laptops back to the house, the "Brother_MFC_J430W" icon reappears and the laptops can print.

The office router SSID #1 handles all the DHCP so everything is on the same subnet 192.168.0.xxx.  SSID #2 and #3 are APs only.

Any thoughts?

[trinidad]

LL is accessing the printer not over the network. The shop is out of range for the printers rs. Plug the printer into the router then everything on the network can access it to the network's rs range limits rather then the printer's rs range, even the Android stuff without plugins.

TC

[Whatzit]

Not sure I understand.  The printer is wireless, connected to SSID #1.  SSID #2 (AP using powerline adapters) and SSID #3 (AP using P2P wireless) are connected similarly to a LAN jack of the router (albeit by different extension technologies).  The LL laptops print when connected to SSID #2 but not SSID #3.  But there should be no difference. 

Are you saying the laptops have to be in range of the printer's internal wifi radio to connect? 

If I turn the printer's wifi off and connect its LAN port to a LAN jack of the router it would essentially be the same as using the current wireless link to the router. 

I think you're saying I have to connect the USB of the printer to the USB of the router, then use the print server capabilities of the router in order to print from Linux on my network when other OS devices work now.

[trinidad]

There are several possibilities that may be causing the connection failure.

1) Not all printers connected via wifi to a lan can pass ptp via wifi through a nano station.

2) *For reference the Android devices may not be connecting through the nano station to the printer, notably if they are still running on their LTE network even though connected to your lan via wifi. Not really a good test argument.*

3) The MOST likely problem: Your LL laps configured themselves to connect to the printer wifi signal directly rather than over the lan as Linux wireless would recognize the mghz bandwidth difference and handle the printer signal accordingly/separately. You need to check the IP of the printer on your lan and see if LL is connecting to that IP or connecting directly to the printer. Turn the router off and see if LL still connects to the printer.Also the icon disappearing is the main clue here. It indicates that the printer is out of range. You also say there are two choices for printing from LL. The one that's working is probably the direct connection to the printer. The one that's not working is the bridged connection to the printer on the lan. You have to configure that one to connect to the printer's router generated IP on the lan. 

TC

[Whatzit]

Not sure about #1, but in regards to #2 mobile data is rarely turned on. 

As to #3, I found this on Brother's website:https://support.brother.com/g/b/faqend.a...000447_000.  I was ignorant of Ad Hoc mode, which apparently is the "Brother_MFC_J430W" icon.  The "MFCJ430W" icon is for Infrastructure.  The printer's IP is set during the CLI configuration ("Will you specify the DeviceURI ?" For USB Users: Choose N(No) For Network Users: Choose Y(Yes) and DeviceURI number").  But more had to be done.

https://support.brother.com/g/b/faqend.a...100675_000 solved the issue.  The "http://localhost:631/printers" Cups GUI appears to have been changed since the FAQ was written, but I found the correct place to select "http".  All is well, thanks for the guidance!