This is either a network protocol (hardware) issue, or a hardware compatibility issue (Win7) involving a printer connected through a home network. Details are as follows.I have a Brother HL-5170DN operating in Windows 7 over a small home network. I have been using the same hardware for several years and it has always been very reliable--especially the printer. Since migrating to Windows 7, however, there is an annoying situation which did not exist prior to the migration (using XP), and I have not been able to determine what the problem has been. If anyone can help, I would appreciate.Now, cut to the chase. Whenever I use the printer--and communications are established, everything works without a hitch. However, after the printer goes into 'sleep' mode, there doesn't seem to be any awakening call that goes out when I issue another print job request. Currently, it has become the order of the day to either delete the printer device and set it up again, or to 'find' it and take note of the port address and then change the port address of the installed device to match the 'found' device. I am sure that this must be a relatively easy solution for someone, but in my feebleness, I will accept all good ideas in finding a fix. Thanks.

Please follow the steps below to add a shard printer. 1. Click Start, click Control Panel and double click Devices and Printers.2. Click Add a Printer. 3. Select "Add a local printer". 4. Select "Create a new port". Choose "Local Port" as the type of the port.5. In the box "Enter a port name", type the address as the following format. \\[IP address of the host computer]\[The Share Name of the printer] Then click Next. 6. Click on Windows Update button. Wait for the process finishes. Then you will be able to find the proper driver from the driver list7. Follow the instruction to finish the installation.Arthur Xie - MSFT

This is either a network protocol (hardware) issue, or a hardware compatibility issue (Win7) involving a printer connected through a home network. Details are as follows. I have a Brother HL-5170DN operating in Windows 7 over a small home network. I have been using the same hardware for several years and it has always been very reliable--especially the printer. Since migrating to Windows 7, however, there is an annoying situation which did not exist prior to the migration (using XP), and I have not been able to determine what the problem has been. If anyone can help, I would appreciate. Now, cut to the chase. Whenever I use the printer--and communications are established, everything works without a hitch. However, after the printer goes into 'sleep' mode, there doesn't seem to be any awakening call that goes out when I issue another print job request. Currently, it has become the order of the day to either delete the printer device and set it up again, or to 'find' it and take note of the port address and then change the port address of the installed device to match the 'found' device. I am sure that this must be a relatively easy solution for someone, but in my feebleness, I will accept all good ideas in finding a fix. Thanks. Please help. I think the guy who answered below did not fully understand. I have a similar situation. What he did not understand is that THERE IS NO HOST COMPUTER. The Brother printer is connected directly to the network via Ethernet cable. Now, my situation is similar, everything worked prior to Windows 7, and worked ok on Windows 7 for a while. (Maybe an update screwed it up?) I have 2 computers, one Win XP and the other Win 7. When I turn off the printer for several days, then turn it on to print, my Win 7 computer simply will not print to it. It seems to report that the printer is there, but the print queue will simply not spool out the doc to be printed. I can delete the printer, tell Win 7 to add a new network printer, Win 7 automatically finds it, I accept it and printing works again. Next time, the same thing happens. Please help! This is painful. Thanks, David.David