How do you set up a wireless network between a Brother MFC 885cw and a Mac?

Answer 1

The Brother 885cw uses a wireless system called 802.11b/g. Apple uses this system in the AirPort family of devices. Some Macs have AirPort built in. For those that do not you need to buy a compatible AirPort device, such as AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express, or an AirPort Card.

After installing the AirPort software, an icon will appear in the menubar that looks like a set of waves arcing up. Click on the icon to discover other AirPort or 802.11b/g devices within range. Select the device or network you wish to connect to. It is possible to set up your own network, and have other devices connect to that. You should select a secure level to bar unwanted users from accessing your network without permission.

Depending on the security level of the device or network, a connection can be established and the device or network will appear in the Finder. Depending on the type of device, it may appear as a disk drive or a folder. It may appear as a menu containing possible interactions.

The software for the Brother MFC 885cw must be installed prior to connection. Brother software has not been 'Mac Friendly' in the past. However, Brother is trying to improve support for Macs. Drivers are availble here:

http://www.brother.com/E-ftp/macosxstate.htm

Access to the printer should be possible through the Brother icon which appears in the top menu bar.

The printer should appear as one of the printers in the System Preferences 'Print and Fax.' Some preferences such as default printer and default page size can be set there. If the software installed a control panel, additional preferences can be set there.

Answer 2

If you can't find your manual go to Brothers support site and you can download it from there. Each printer has there own peculiarities.

Make sure you've downloaded the latest drivers from Brother, or if you used the CD drivers, in 1.6 or 10.7 the Apple Software Updater should down load the new ones for you after you install the original ones.

On a wired network just make sure to set the printer to use DHCP so the router can give it an IP address.

Answer 3

well you know,

that's why you read the instructions manual!

(: