I switched to a Brother printer not only because of the toner/ink issue, but because it was the only model which afforded a straightforward USB printer. No useless bells and whistles, not even WiFi, which I neither need/nor want in a printer. It has been the best printer I ever bought.
With Brother printer here, WiFi works to print straight from iPhones and Androids. This works excellent for apps that otherwise make you mail a pdf to yourself.
The initial WiFi setup was done straight from the printer using buttons. Never asked to install any driver. Hands down the best one I've ever had.
I have what sounds like the same one, at my business. My employees frequently print things from their phones, which saves me a lot of hassle printing it for them.
I also love it, and hvae set up the wireless twice on the machine, like you say.
I have an EPSON MFP, had the exact same experience. Their mobile app integrates with everything I need and the amount of control I have over printing settings is great.
They introduced recharging cartridges, dropping ink prices by an order of magnitude, while still keeping ink quality very high. Third party ink quality was always hard to predict, I prefer relying on the manufacturer's.
My point is, I've been printing from IOS (via AirPrint) and Android (via Google Cloud Print) for 5 years, never installed an app. I've also printed (wirelessly) from Mac and Windows, never downloaded their drivers, or installed any software, or created an account, or passed any personal data, etc. There's no subscription either. It just works as is.
As long as Brother will make printers that work that way, I will continue to buy them.
You can certainly do that on Epsons and other brands.
The app gave me much better experience by integrating with Dropbox, Drive, Evernote, etc. It's extremely easy to print/scan documents from/to the cloud.
All of the brother printers I've owned have had ethernet so I just plug them into the network -- no wifi problems then either.
Wired networks are so much better than wifi, so anytime I have walls/ceilings open for renovations, I always come in after the contractors leave to run some ethernet wires for future use. After a couple of renovations I've got some really useful runs for hardwiring some of the things I use most: TVs, printers, and an extra wireless access point in my garage for extra range.
That's true, but it's a one-time pain, and if you prefer you can configure it by downloading software and connecting the printer. I really like the fact that no-software option is there, though.
I have a similar printer, the HL2240. Bought it for uni probably 7 years ago now and it just keeps soldiering on. Nothing but USB for input, which admittedly has caused some headache since my spouse and I use it regularly and needed a good central place for it. However, that problem is very quickly remedied with CUPS on a Raspberry Pi.
My Brother printer's Bonjour server is wonky, and sometimes the only way it works is if I myself start advertising its IP on Bonjour. Even that doesn't work perfectly, e.g., double-sided printing does not work.
A family member bought both an Epson and a large flatbed HP printer in the past few years. Neither of them work (recognized, but do not print) while my much older (over a decade and a half) HP printer does work including scanning.
