this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2026
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How do you isolate a printer in your homelab? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 9 hours ago by rearview@lemmy.zip to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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Hi all, I've gotten a Brother machine (DCP series) that can do wifi printing/scanning over their proprietary app. However, I'd like to lock it down from my network, because having it on the same LAN as my other devices and the ability to phone out to the internet seem like room for mischievious activities.

For context, I have OpenWRT on my router, and my clients can access the Brother using their iPrint&Scan app and AirPrint on wifi, as well as the traditional USB port. But I'm not good in networking. In my research, I drafted out the following solutions:

  1. Create a firewall rule to block the printer itself from making outbound requests. Seems simple, but I'm not sure if this can persist after IP changes or not.
  2. Create a VLAN for "IoT devices" that cannot send outbound requests to my normal VLAN nor the internet. Inspiration from this video, I'd need to manage a new SSID but it may come in handy for more IoT devices later.
  3. Hook the Brother up to a Raspberry Pi via USB, and install CUPS + SANE on the Pi. Assuming the Pi cannot "phone home" on behalf of the printer, this makes it a local-only "print+scan service" on my normal network and doesn't require an extra VLAN.

I'd like to ask: which solution above is best for "neutering" the Brother? Or are there any alternatives/details I might've missed? I'm not sure if blocking outbound requests this way is enough of a security hardening for an untrusted device, and if there are any usability issues I've overlooked so far.

Thanks for any advice, and please share any printer/scanner setup you have in your networks as well. So hopefully I can get more inspiration!

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[โ€“] pp99@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
  1. will block the printer but the app could still phone home
  2. may work but client devices should reach the printer in the vlan. also see point 1. best for other kind of iot devices
  3. best approach security wise but may take some work to it get running smoothly

What I would do:

  1. (easiest) block the printer and look what the client does. block any suspicious client behavior. you can use pihole to easily monitor/ block, later you can add firewall rules on your router
  2. (bit harder) your option number 3 if: you have a raspberry pi, your printer works well with sane and cups, you can set up clients to your desired workflow (having many non tech family members wanting to print will quickly become a nightmare)
[โ€“] rearview@lemmy.zip 3 points 8 hours ago

Your 1. seems good enough as a starter, yeah. I'll probably tell my users to ditch the app altogether otoh, so I'm looking forward to the Pi as a long-term solution

Though, what kind of non-tech nightmares are you referring to? I'd think that if being done properly and with autodiscovery enabled, it would be as seamless as "connect to printer/scanner X on the network" which is the Pi itself. But I probably haven't understood enough