AirPrint with Mikrotik hap AC and Bridge

RouterOS Beginner Basics
1

Hello,

I searched the web and this forum for about to weeks but I can’t find a similar problem to mine. I have a problem using AirPrint in a flat (bridged) network. All I have found war about Routing AirPrint, which is not my issue (I hope).

I changed my little network from Router (AVM Fritzbox 7390) with WLAN and LAN to some more complex network:

Router ↔ Mikrotik “hap AC” with three Bridges:

  • br-vlan10 (tagged port 2, untagged port 3 and 4, both WLANs)
  • br-vlan20 (tagged port 2)
  • br-vlan30 (tagged port 2 and untagged port 5)
    Attached to Port 2 are two Dlink-Switches in a row with all VLANs, at the second one is my Brother printer and an Airport Extreme AP in VLAN10.

If I connect my iPhone to the Airport Extreme, I immediately see the printer when trying to print an email. But if I’m connected to the hap AC, the printer can not be found.

I thought that the bridge between the WLANs and VLAN10 is transparent, so I wonder that AirPrint does not work. Is there a magic thing I have to do to allow AirPrint through the Mikrotik Router?

Thanks in advance,

Gerwyn

2

Once you put VLANs in play, you no longer have a “flat” network. You can run a pig and trace route from a notebook to the printer. If you have more than 1 hop, then you are routing and AirPrint will not work. It is a broadcast protocol. You issue is likely the VLAN tagging on the WLAN interface. Play with it while pinging the printer.

3

Hi,

thank you for the answer. As The Airprint was essential to me, I switched back to my Fritzbox, where is works like a charm.

I will test your hints later in a separate environment.

Yours,

Gerwyn

4

AirPrint can work in a routed environment. It uses DNS based Service Discovery. It can be a bit elaborate and I haven’t tested if the built-in MikroTik can support the needed records. It works with a MS DNS or BIND DNS servers which you’d more commonly see in a larger network in need of a routing capable AirPrint setup.

“Fixing” Bonjour to make it feel routable is a bad idea. The only thing they can do is adjust the TTL of the packet and that’s not ideal at all in my mind. Apple thought of how to use these features past a flat home network