Canon imageCLASS LBP6230dw - Compact, Wireless, Duplex Laser Printer

The near perfect home laser (so far). Our inkjet decided to kill itself by eating 25+ sheets of paper at once, so I figured I'd give laser a shot since we rarely need color printing and (in general,) the running costs are much lower on laser. Setup was very easy. Followed the little getting started card and removed all the shipping tape, foam, etc. After plugging it into power, I simply downloaded the newest driver and utility from Canon's site as the disc included has a driver not supported by Mac OS 10.10 Mavericks. Although you really should be getting the newest driver no matter what. After installation you simply fire up the utility, set your wireless info (if you're using wifi) and select the printer on your computer. Had zero issues finding it on multiple Macs around the house with the driver installed. WPA2 is supported despite me reading a spec page somewhere not listing it. Text quality is sharp and clean. Images look, well, like they were done on a laser printer - as expected. Printing is very fast (for a home printer) - I thought it was still warming up and it had already spit out a page. The whole thing is very compact and folds up quite nicely if you don't keep paper in it. Even with all the trays out it is still very small. Takes up less space than my multifunction inkjet (since this has no scanner). So far, the only minor annoyance is the stupid "I am connected to the network" blue LED on the front. Why do I need an LED on for that? I haven't found a way to disable it in software yet. From what I can tell, it stays on during low power mode as well.

A fast, cheap monochrome laser. It works well with MacOS and was a breeze to set up with a wired connection. And there's a major bonus considering the price range: the "starter" toner kit has a page-rating comparable to their regular toner purchase. Canon supports a number of MacOS versions for this printer (included some EOL ones like "Mountain Lion"). I downloaded drivers from the Canon website-- the recent date on them indicates they're still actively maintained. This was for my older system running MacOS Sierra; it's quite possible newer MacOS already bundles the drivers. Once you have the drivers and the printer is on the network, it's literally 3-4 clicks to add the printer, select the type, and set it as the default. No other software needed. This model has a "alternate" feed right above the main tray, for printing envelopes, labels, etc. Note the slightly cheaper monochrome ImageCLASS does not have this feature. The printer is really fast coming out of sleep mode and generating that first print. Faster than the massive office-style HP Pagewide it replaces. In fact, my only quibbles are very minor: * it's a little loud when powered on / plugged in * the paper tray doesn't hold a full ream * it looks sort of cheap But considering how inexpensive it is, all of these things are completely acceptable. I'll also note, for most printing, B&W is just fine, and color is much much more expensive (whether laser toner or ink). If you don't specifically need to print color, I highly recommend sticking to monochrome. If you've ever bought a set of color cartridges (or toners) when all you usually do is print black&white, you'll know exactly what I mean. I first came to know Canon as a camera company, but have since come to appreciate their printers, of which I've owned several. This is my first Canon laser, and I'm pleased with it. Highly Recommended.

I just want to start off by saying I am fairly tech savvy. Unboxing and setting up the physical aspects of the printer itself was an easy task. However, problems arise by getting this thing to turn wireless. I just have to ask, why was this not created with a Bluetooth feature for set up? My printer that was from the early 2010s wireless was set up via Bluetooth! It was a piece of crap all around, but at least it had easy set up! Instead you are tasked with this bizarre linking set up to your internet connection. Currently, I am unable to actually use the wireless feature. I was able to find my wireless connection and even enter my password, yet this machine is claiming it can't find my internet! The software it uses looks like it hasn't been updated since the early 00s. Canon even has an installation app that is user friendly...why was this device omitted from using it? As of now, I am giving up on the wireless component of this device. I am glad I got it at a discount otherwise it would be returned as I am using half of the devices capabilities. On the bright side, setting things up the non-wireless mode is a piece of cake. I have a desktop computer and I just have left it connected nearby. I just plugged it into the motherboard of my PC and it was good to go (the USB's in the back, not the USB at the top or front). My computer was able to find the device and set it up on its own. I was able to also set this up non-wireless on my macbook laptop as well. Anyway, apart from my attempts and failures at using the wireless feature this printer works pretty great. I've never owned a quicker printer than this one by a long shot. For reference I've owned HP, Brother, and Epson. I timed it out of curiosity and it takes me about 2 seconds to print a full text page, 3 seconds to do a double sided page. All in all, I actually rate this printer 4 stars due to the speed and quality of the printer. I work in research and I am often printing out extremely long files and this thing does it in 1/4 of the time my other printers did. The wireless feature is a shame, perhaps I will get it to work one day. If I do, I will update this review with any tips I learned.

TL;DR: Requires a bit of setup but works great, I’m shocked at the value. This is probably best budget but feature packed laser printer you can get right now (wireless laser printer with auto duplex printing). This printer cost about $80--in contrast to the Brother HL-L2370 printer which has the same feature set but is double the cost at $160 (though that one has Airprint so you'd probably have an easier time setting up). The Brother HL-L2320D at $120 only has auto duplexing (no wireless connectivity) and the Brother HL-L2305 at $120 has wifi connectivity but no auto duplexing. Note that for the initial wireless setup, you will need to use the included USB A cable (yes, you need to plug it into a computer that can use the tool--Windows or Mac), so if you only have a laptop with only USB C ports, you’ll need an adapter (female USB A to male USB C)! From a high level: - You need to connect the printer via USB A to a computer that can run the wireless configuration tool - Run the wireless configuration tool with your computer and use the tool to connect your printer wirelessly to your router - Unplug the USB A cable connecting your computer to the printer - Install the printer drivers, and configure your computer to connect to your printer wirelessly If you've been frustrated with the setup for this printer, I don't blame you--the setup is comically bad. To setup wireless printing you first need to connect your printer to power—but before that, make sure you remove ALL the bits on the inside. There’s a styrofoam piece and several orange plastic bits. Pulling out one of the small orange plastic bits on the toner cartridge will also pull out a long plastic sticker (I’m assuming for sealing the toner). Note that these instructions for are the Mac setup, I'd imagine the Windows setup will be easier. Once its ready to go and powered on, go navigate to the canon website and look up Canon LBP6230dw: - Click the 'Support' button - Click 'Software & Drivers' - Select your OS (I have Ventura which is v13) - Download MF/LBP Network Setup Tool Ver.2.33 (OS X 10.9.5 - macOS 13.3.1) - Plugin in the USB cable from the printer to your device - Run the tool, follow the instructions - Select "Wireless LAN Connection" - Select "Yes, I want to configure network settings" - Select "Easy setup" - Select "My wireless LAN access point doesn't have a WPS button". (Even if your router *does* have WPS functionality, you should turn that off because its junk and a security risk :P) - It will have instructions to plugin the cable, read them if needed but this should be straight forward or already done - Click continue, it should return a list of wireless networks; including your own. If it is hanging (stuck) on a loading animation, right click the printer icon on your bottom dock and click quit and the list should show up if its stuck--(this did the trick for me, I don't know why). - Select your wireless network, type in the WiFi password and continue - It will try to connect and when it does, the prompt will update and a blue light will shine on your printer - If you have a smart router such as an EERO like myself, you will get an alert saying a new device "AzureWave Technology" connected to your router. This is important--use the EERO app on your phone to get the IP Address of your printer since we will use this to connect to it. I also renamed the device to Canon Printer for sanity purposes. - If you don't have a smart router, navigate to your router gateway page and determine the IP Address (the host name should start with Canon). I can't provide specific instructions about this because each router is different. Next step, install the printer drivers on your computer - Use the same page you used to install the wireless configuration tool - UFRII LT Printer Driver Ver.1.5.11 (macOS 10.12.6 - macOS 13.3.1) - Run and follow instructions of the installer After installing the drivers: - Open System Settings - Scroll on the left side menu to 'Printers & Scanners' - Select Add Printer, Scanner blahblah - If you see a 'Canon LBP6230dw' with kind 'Bonjour', you're in luck, you can select that, hit "Add" and you're good to go--no other work needed. - If not, its okay, select the 'Globe' icon up top of the add printer menu - In the Address Box: Add your IP Address of your printer (discussed in earlier instructions) - In the Protocol Box: Select Line Printer Daemon - LPD (this is the only option that works with Mac--I tried them all for you) - In the Queue box: this is just the name of your print queue; I just called mine "Canon Laser Printer" - In the Name box: this is the name of your printer; I just called mine "Canon Laser Printer"--this is the name you see in a printer list - Location: Just for your info (mine's on the top of my dresser). - Use: these are the drivers used with the printer, select 'Canon LBP6230/6240' - Select 'Add' and you should be good to go If it doesn't work: - Either the IP address provided is incorrect - Printer and computer aren't on the same network - Didn't install the drivers. Big props to Cannon for updating the drivers in 2023--I saw some reviews from 2015!

Save yourself the misery and do not get a Canon printer. I should've known better because I recently had to setup my mother's more expensive Canon printer and that was a nightmare. Ended up having to buy a special cable that doesn't come with the printer and the instructions are so horrible that it took hours to figure out what the issue was. But anyways on to this monstrosity. 1. Installation was a nightmare. I wasted hours of my life that I will never get back. The instructions for set up are just pictures. I was trying to set up via usb and windows just wouldn't recognize the printer. My PC is not bluetooth enabled so I didn't have any other options for installation. Watched youtube videos, spoke to customer service and just kept getting errors. Eventually was able to get it to print after countless times of trying & retrying the same thing. 2. Wireless printing would not work for any of my Apple devices. Had to download the Canon business app and then go to the website through the app just to print a page. Not convenient and just a waste of time. I have a HP inkjet that I can easily print things from wireless devices. 3. So every other printer I have ever had has an icon for windows on the desktop. Not this one. There is no way for me to check the life of my toner, do maintenance, or anything. I called customer support. They had me push a button on the printer that printed a test page that was supposed to have the Toner info on it but it did not. 4. Whenever I just try to do a normal print I get errors at least twice and then on the third try it will go through and then print 3 times. 5. The print quality is sad. I had a brother before this and the print was much darker and crisp. In conclusion, I strongly urge you to not buy this printer unless it is chaos that you crave. I'm returning it and going back to Brother. The price really was too good to be true.

Holy cannoli, Batman! I've only had inkjet printers. OK there was a dot matrix Canon in college, but that's dating me to a point that nobody will get...so. I needed a printer. Covid screwed the supply and jacked up prices, so it wasn't an easy time. I finally found this model, and hesitated. It doesn't scan or do photos, and it doesn't do color. But the majority of the time, I don't need the extra features. It prints so frickin fast that I kinda have a thrill every time I use it. My friend has the same model and said it goes forever on a cartridge. The quality of the print is just fine, and I've never needed to try out anything other than basic text so far. My only issue with this model was it not connecting to my wifi network. I have issues with network all the time here, so I can't blame the printer. Or maybe I can, but I am not bothering with a long investigation. It works just fine with the included cable, and I had a free port on the desktop for it. I don't need it plugged in all the time, and even when I turn it on after a few weeks of not using it, it still acts the same as when I have had it plugged in. It's reliable and fast, and I prefer the shallower profile for my space needs. My previous printer was an all-in-one HP from about 2014. That thing took up too much space. We found a printer for the house AFTER I bought this Canon--another Canon that does the scanning and color photos, so we have options here if we need. For 90% of the household needs, a fast b&w printout is perfect. I can fold up the paper access area so the cat doesn't try and pull out the paper in the tray, so that feature is pretty helpful. I'll get a cover eventually too. I'm not sorry that supply and demand made me buy this model. It wasn't what I set out to get, but it makes me happy.

I’m revising my earlier 1-star review to reflect the results of the e-mail support from Canin that made it possible for me to use this printer. The instructions I received walked me through deleting and re-installing the printer from my computer’s preferences. The instructions were only mildly technical, but very thorough and complete. Following this, the printer seems to be working just fine. Print quality and speed are completely within my expectations. I’ve only upgraded this to three stars simply because this should not have been necessary in the first place. An intelligible product manual included in the product packaging would have possibly eased a lot of frustration, anger, and muttering (my wife took objection to my loud profanity!). Thank you, Kendra and John in product support! User manual in packaging is useless. In order to use on a Mac, it is necessary to search online for the proper driver, and they don’t even give you the proper link! You have to go to the main product page, choose printers, input your model number, and THEN download and install the driver. If you need to hook your printer up to your home wireless network, don’t even try to follow the user manual (that you have to download, only to discover that it’s nearly incomprehensible!). Go directly to the means of last resort and call customer support to get walked through the process. After getting the printer to work on my network, I tried to print a document that I needed quickly. I’m afraid I let profane words slip from my mouth when I found that the print was condensed to the top of the page like a fax cover sheet. I wound up taking it to another printer. I tried emailing for tech support and received a very quick reply, “We’ll contact you in 8 to 12 hours.” I foresee another phone call in the very near future. All in all, it seems like it's going to be a pretty good printer that had a very attractive purchase price. If it survives long enough to convince me to not throw it out a window, it might work out ok. The parts that work are pretty nice and I like the wireless connectivity and the duplex ability. Still, I think it’d be nice to be able to read what I print.

This is the second version of this printer I have owned. The first model was a LBP6200D, it's same thing but USB only printing, and that's the reason it's getting replaced with this one. I need it to be network connected. There isn't anything wrong with the old model, it still works perfect at 8 years old, and this looks to be an exact clone of the old model in every way, they sound exactly the same printing, they even take the same toner cartage, the only exception it has newer internal electronics to support Wi-Fi and hard wire network connection. Both models are compact, fast, print on both sides of the page by itself, it only prints in black and white, the toner options for this printer are plentiful and can get pretty cheap. If your looking for a document only, or black and white only printer you can't go wrong with this! Go Cannon!