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HA-friendly printer that won't take us to the cleaners? (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 days ago by early_riser@lemmy.world to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world
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At my insistence we bought a Canon laser all in one printer in 2022. It's turning out to be more trouble than it's worth, and it can't do some stuff that some family members need, like printing on thick card stock.

I do, however, like the fact that the Canon reports toner levels to HA. Is there a normie inkjet printer that also has this functionality and won't fleece us with BS ink subscriptions and lock us into using their ink?

I'd also like it to be JUST a printer, not an all-in-one. I'm looking at a dedicated scanner, which doesn't need an HA integration.

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[-] 18107@aussie.zone 16 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I bought a Brother laser printer (all in one). HomeAssistant immediately detected it and asked if I wanted to install the integration. All diagnostics were available immediately, and aside from some Wi-Fi issues (not the printer's fault), everything worked perfectly.

Unlike my old Cannon printer, I can print flawlessly from Linux and from my phone with no additional setup. I haven't tried aftermarket toner, but I see no reason that it wouldn't work.

My Brother printer has a local webpage for advanced settings. I used the webpage to add a shortcut to the printer screen so that family members can scan to the NAS with one button.

A Brother mono laser printer is probably the best value you'll get. I certainly didn't need an all in one color laser printer, but it's nice to have.

[-] early_riser@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Just quickly searching "Brother Printer" on Amazon and every listing has "Includes Refresh Subscription Trial" in the title.

[-] paequ2@lemmy.today 1 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Brother sells a toner subscription service, but you don't have to sign up for it. I believe people online have had luck buying third party toner cartridges. I haven't tried the 3rd party toner yet though. I'm still on my first cartridge. HA says I have 89% left. I bought this printer like 3 or 4 years ago and it still prints great!

(I also bought the monochrome laser printer.)

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this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2025
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