Brother HL-1870N User Guide

CHAPTER 4 NETBIOS PEER-TO-PEER PRINTING 

4-2

 

 
In order for this function to work, you must correctly change the DOMAIN name 
or WORKGROUP name to match that of your network. Once this is done, the 
print server will appear automatically in your network neighborhood and you will 
be able to send print documents to it without having to install additional software. 
However, in some instances you may find that your Windows 95/98/Me and 
Windows NT4.0/2000/XP systems may receive "Printer is busy" error messages 
when more than one person attempts to access the print. In this instance Brother 
has provided the "Brother NetBIOS Port Monitor" software which allows users 
to continue spooling print jobs while the printer is busy, down or out of paper. 
The port monitor will hold the jobs until the printer is again available. 
 
When you install Windows 95/98/Me you are asked which workgroup you 
belong to, the default workgroup name for Windows 95/98/Me is 
"WORKGROUP", however you could change this to anything you want. With 
Windows NT, Microsoft introduced the concept of "Domains". A domain offers 
centralized security management where as a workgroup offers distributed 
security management. The print server does not care if your network consists of a 
Workgroup or a Domain, the only thing you must tell it is the name of the 
workgroup or domain. The Brother print server automatically has a default 
workgroup/domain name of "WORKGROUP". If you need to change name, you 
can configure the Brother print server to recognize this. There are four ways of 
doing this (If you are unsure about the name of your workgroup or domain, look 
in the identification tab in your network applet). 
 
• 

Use BRAdmin (This utility can use the TCP/IP protocol or Netware IPX 
protocol - no file server necessary.) 

• 

Use a Web browser, (the print server must have a valid IP address and your 
computer must also have a valid IP address); you can configure the IP 
address by using BRAdmin.  

• 

TELNET, again your computer and printer must have a valid IP address. 

• 

Use BRCONFIG for DOS (this utility requires a Netware file server and the 
IPX protocol). 

 
Because of the way that Microsoft networks work, the print server may take 
several minutes to appear in the network neighborhood. You will also find that 
the print server may take several minutes to disappear from the network 
neighborhood even if the printer is switched off. This is a feature of Microsoft 
workgroup and domain based networks.