Brother QL printers by IP address

A networked Brother QL can print two ways in Laberty:

From a phone or tablet, through the Share menu. Nothing to set up. See Printing from an iPhone or iPad.
By IP address, through the print bridge. This is what occasion auto-printing, the test page, "To agent" and the API use. This article covers it.

The models that print by IP are the QL-820NWB, QL-810W and QL-1110NWB. The QL-600 connects by USB only, and the PT tape printers don't print by IP.

The bridge talks to the printer directly on port 9100, in Brother's own format. You don't need a Brother driver, and you don't need CUPS, so it works on a NAS too.

1. Put the printer on your network

Connect the printer to your Wi-Fi, or by cable on models with a network port. Brother's own setup guide for your model covers this.

Then find its IP address. Your router's list of connected devices shows it, or you can print the printer's network settings from its own menu (see Brother's manual for your model).

2. Give it a fixed IP address

Routers hand out addresses that can change, for example after a power cut. If the printer's address changes, jobs go to the old one and fail with "Could not reach…". Fix it once:

In your router, look for DHCP reservation. It may also be called "static lease", "address reservation" or "fixed IP". Pick the printer by name or MAC address and reserve its current address.
Or on the printer, set a static IP address that sits outside the range your router hands out.

Turn the printer off and on, and check it kept the address.

3. Tell Laberty

Go to Admin → Printers & stock and press Add a printer. If the printer is already there, press Edit on its card instead.
Choose Label printer — rolls, then its model, for example Brother QL-820NWB.
Choose On my network (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) and type the address, for example 192.168.1.50. Leave Port empty. Laberty uses 9100, which is what these printers listen on.
On What's in it?, tick the rolls you use and choose the one in it now. This matters, as explained below.
Name it and press Save & send a test page.

4. Test it

Make sure the bridge is running, then press Test page on the printer's card. A small "LABERTY BRIDGE TEST" label should come out within a few seconds.

If it doesn't, check from the bridge machine that the printer answers on port 9100:

nc -vz 192.168.1.50 9100

Then work through Nothing printed.

The loaded roll must be right

Brother's print format is built for one exact label. So the bridge prepares each job for the roll Laberty says is loaded:

Loaded stock	DK part	The bridge prints it as
Continuous 2.4in roll	DK-2205	62 mm continuous
Standard Address	DK-1201	29 × 90 mm die-cut
Large Address	DK-1208	39 × 90 mm die-cut

Other Brother DK rolls are matched by part number, or by size when there's no part number.

Before printing, the bridge also asks the printer what is physically loaded:

If the printer answers and has the wrong roll, no labels, or an error like an open cover, the job stops before anything prints. Your admins get an email saying what to do.
Not every printer answers. A QL-820NWB tested over the network accepted the connection but sent no reply. The bridge then prints without checking, and logs did not report what is loaded; printing without checking. A wrong roll means a wrong-sized label or an error light, with no warning.

So keep In it now accurate: press Swap roll on the printer's card every time you change the roll. See Wrong-label protection.

Common problems

The job or log says	What to do
`has no IP address set`	Add the address on Printers & stock
`Could not reach "…" at 192.168.1.50:9100`	The printer is off, its address changed, or the bridge is on a different network
`Wrong labels in "…"`	Load the roll the job needs, or press Swap roll to match what's in the printer
`has no labels loaded`	Load a roll
`reports a problem: …`	Fix it at the printer (for example, close the cover), then print again
`cannot print to Brother QL printers yet`	The bridge is out of date. Update it

Printing from a phone or tablet keeps working exactly as before, whatever you set here.