Brother mfc-490cw is offline

If you are running Vista and SNMP is turned off
1. Check to see if SNMP is turned off this is a component of Vista
a- Control Panel
b- Program and Features
c- Left side of screen you should see turn windows features on or off
d- Click on this a window box should open scroll down and see if SNMP feature is checked if it is then turn it off (unchecked) follow these steps
e- Under printers select Brother MFC-940CW printer right click
f- Select run as administrator
g- Select properties
h- Select ports
i- Select button configure ports
j- Under port settings uncheck enable SNMP
k- Click ok printer should be on line
l- To find MAC address for MAC filtering on router
m- Run the brother remote setup program and note the IP address
n- Run the command prompt as an administrator at the prompt type the following “apr –a” without the quotes and then hit return and note the physical address (MAC) for the above IP address you noted. Log on to your router and enter the MAC address from the step above and save.
o- Run the brother remote setup program again and change TCP/IP from “auto to static” please note you must have box checked at the top of the window edit network settings.
p- Restart the computer

I fixed this problem!

I have Windows Vista, and went to the printers and faxes folder in the control printer.

I clicked on "add a printer" at the top of folder, and the Windows program searched for all available printers. It found the one already in the system, and then basically found it again; it had the brother mfc 490cw label and the IP address.

I clicked on that one, and it basically it added the printer all over again. I clicked on "print test page," and it came out like it was supposed to. I printed several of my own pages just to make sure, and they came out too!!

I don't know what went wrong with the original printer addition or why it happed (it's still there, just not as the default; the newly added printer is now the default.). I also don't know if the same problem will happen again, but, if it does, I guess I'll just keeping adding the same printer all over again until the folder overflows!!!!

Hope this helps. It didn't really explain why this happens, but at least it got the printer working again (for now at least!!!)

I also fixed this problem which occurred after receiving faxes although that might be unrelated. My operating program is Vista on a Sony laptop.
1. Shut down MFC-490
2. Control Panel - Printers - Highligt MFC-490 - Delete Printer
3. Start - All Programs - Brother - MFC-490 - Uninstall
4. Turn on MFC-490 - configure wireless according to manual
5. Reinstall MFC-490 Drivers/Software
6. Start - All Programs - Brother - MFC-490 -Installation Diagnostics
7. All items should show connected
8. Control Panel - Printers - Highligt MFC-490 - Hold mouse pointer on it. Should show READY. Right click and print Test Page
PS I followed Best Solution to the extent of "uncheck enable SNMP"

Double click the printer in Printers and Faxes, when the dialogue box opens, choose Printer, then click 'Connect' or uncheck 'Use Printer Offline.'