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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[–] ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world 2 points 43 minutes ago* (last edited 41 minutes ago)

For myself, I use a static IP on all peripheral devices, like printers and scanners, in combination with a whitelist on the router because my devices don't change very often and I can add new ones individually as they are acquired. We never print or scan from phones so it works well, and freely allows home network use while blocking external network access.

Beware any built-in home router solution like "parental block" for isolating devices because on mine at least, it only blocks IPv4 and anything using IPv6 sails right past it.

Also, you probably already do this, but always test, and keep a backup of your router/whitelist/exception settings.