Brother Monochrome Laser Printer

Small, fast, and fuss-free—that’s been my experience with the HL2170W. It’s an older, compact monochrome laser that still hits the sweet spot for a home office or a small team that mostly prints text. It doesn’t try to be everything to everyone, but it does a few core things extremely well: it’s easy to place, easy to share on a network, and it turns out crisp pages quickly without drama.

Setup and connectivity

I tried three connection methods—USB, Ethernet, and Wi‑Fi—and all worked as expected. Over USB, it was plug-and-print on Windows and Linux using the included PCL6 class driver or distro packages. On Ethernet, I assigned it a static IP from the web admin page and was printing via IPP and raw 9100 within minutes. Wi‑Fi requires a little more attention because there’s no LCD. I used WPS for a quick join to my 2.4 GHz network, and I’ve also done the manual method (temporary Ethernet, then set SSID and security in the web UI). In both cases, WPA2‑PSK with AES was supported and stable.

This isn’t a modern dual-band radio—only 802.11b/g—so if your 2.4 GHz band is congested, speeds can fluctuate. For most print jobs that’s a non-issue since spooling is quick and the printer’s on-page speed is the bigger factor. If your environment is noisy (lots of overlapping SSIDs), I’d recommend wired Ethernet. The printer speaks all the usual network protocols—DHCP, LPR/LPD, IPP, raw 9100, SNMP, HTTP—so it slots neatly into mixed OS setups and is easy to monitor.

Speed and day-to-day performance

Rated at up to 23 ppm, the HL2170W feels snappy. From ready, my first page usually landed in under 10 seconds; from sleep, add a couple of seconds for warm-up. In longer runs of 20–30 pages of mixed text, I measured a steady 21–23 ppm. That’s in the ballpark of the spec and more than sufficient for invoices, drafts, and internal documents.

With 32 MB of memory and a modest 181 MHz controller, the printer is tuned for office documents rather than heavy graphics. Most PDFs printed cleanly, but vector-heavy files can take longer to process; occasionally a page paused mid-run while the device rasterized. That’s expected at this price and age. If your daily workload involves complex presentations or engineering drawings, you’ll want something with more RAM or native PostScript. For Word docs, spreadsheets, and web pages, it’s absolutely fine.

Output quality

Text is the star here. At its “HQ1200” mode (up to 2400 × 600 dpi), small fonts, punctuation, and hairlines look crisp and consistent. For dense legal text and long manuscripts, I’d gladly choose this over a budget inkjet—characters are dark, edges are clean, and there’s very little feathering on common copier paper.

Grayscale graphics are acceptable within the limits of a monochrome laser in this class. Photos look dithered, gradients show a bit of stepping, and fine tonal transitions aren’t its strength. Charts and simple illustrations come out clear, but I wouldn’t use it for client-facing photo proofs. There’s a Toner Save mode that meaningfully reduces coverage; it’s great for drafts, but it introduces a lighter tone and visible dithering, so I toggle it off for anything formal.

If you start seeing fading, backgrounding, or repetitive marks, the usual maintenance steps apply: reseat the cartridge, run the built-in drum cleaning (the slider on the drum unit), and check humidity. In my case, a quick clean and adjusting the print density in the driver cleared a faint banding issue after several months of use.

Paper handling and footprint

The 250-sheet cassette is a highlight. It protects paper from dust, reduces reloading, and fits standard Letter/Legal and common international sizes. The single-sheet bypass feed is convenient for envelopes, labels, or letterhead and handled a variety of weights without curling, provided I used laser-rated media. The straight-through path via the manual slot minimizes wrinkling on thick stock.

There’s no auto-duplexer; if you need two-sided output, you’ll be flipping the stack manually. The output bin holds about 100 sheets before pages start to splay, which is reasonable for a printer this compact. At 14.5 × 14.2 × 6.7 inches and around 15 pounds, it sits easily on a shelf and doesn’t shake the desk. Noise is modest—roughly 51 dB while printing—and it idles quietly at about 30 dB. Sleep power is a frugal 8 W, so it won’t nudge your electric bill.

Drivers and compatibility

I used the built-in Windows driver and CUPS on macOS and Linux. PCL6 emulation keeps compatibility simple; I had no font substitution surprises with standard office documents. macOS printed reliably over IPP and LPR. Linux (Ubuntu) discovered it immediately via IPP and also worked fine with a raw socket queue.

There’s no front-panel LCD, so most configuration happens via the web admin or driver panels. That’s a tradeoff I’m happy to make at this size and price. Firmware options are basic, but you get SNMP for status, email-style alerts through SMTP if you want them, and simple access control on the network side.

Consumables, costs, and upkeep

One of the enduring appeals of this class of monochrome laser is cost per page. Toner lasts a long time relative to ink, and because the engine is efficient, you don’t waste supplies on maintenance cycles. Toner Save mode stretches consumables further for scratch work. Keep in mind that output density matters—if you print lots of spreadsheets with solid fills, expect a higher consumption rate than with plain text.

Routine maintenance is straightforward: keep the paper path clear, use laser-rated labels, and occasionally clean the corona wire. Because the consumable path is simple, jams are rare. I’ve fed a mix of 20 lb bond and heavier letterhead through both the tray and the bypass without issues. The printer’s recommended monthly volume of 250–2,000 pages feels honest; running inside that band should keep wear minimal and print quality consistent.

What it’s not

A few limitations are worth calling out so you know what you’re getting:

• No automatic duplex printing.
• Wi‑Fi is 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g only.
• No LCD or advanced onboard UI.
• Not ideal for photo-heavy or complex graphics jobs.
• Memory is fixed at 32 MB; you can’t add more.

None of these are dealbreakers for the target user, but they do set expectations. If you rely on modern mobile print standards, note that this model doesn’t advertise native AirPrint or similar; desktop and laptop printing are its main lane.

Who it suits best

If your printing is mostly text—bills, reports, schoolwork, shipping labels—and you want a small networkable laser you can trust, the HL2170W makes a lot of sense. It’s also a good fit for teams that value Ethernet and standards-based protocols like IPP/LPR, or for Linux users who appreciate predictable PCL output. If your workflow leans heavily on duplexing, high-resolution graphics, or mobile-first printing, step up to a more modern model with those features built in.

Practical tips

• Use Ethernet if your 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi is crowded; it stabilizes large jobs.
• Keep Toner Save on for drafts and off for finals; HQ1200 only when you need it.
• Print the network and configuration pages and tuck them in the tray for quick reference.
• For envelopes or thick media, the single-sheet bypass and straight path reduce jams.
• If prints fade, clean the drum unit and adjust print density in the driver before replacing consumables.

Recommendation

I recommend the HL2170W for home offices and small teams that need a reliable, no-nonsense monochrome workhorse. It’s quick, compact, and inexpensive to run, with flexible connectivity that plays nicely with Windows, macOS, and Linux. The text quality is excellent for the price, and the 250-sheet tray plus manual bypass make everyday paper handling painless. You give up auto-duplex, modern Wi‑Fi, and a fancy display, but if your priorities are speed, clarity, and low fuss for text-centric printing, this little laser still earns its spot on the desk.