Brother DCP-L3550CDW: Setup, Drivers, Ink and Common Problems

Is the Brother DCP-L3550CDW right for you?

The DCP-L3550CDW is the UK and European color LED all-in-one without fax that sold strongly from 2019 to 2023, often as a home-office upgrade from inkjets. It prints a modest 18 ppm but copies and scans through a 50-sheet ADF and has a large 3.7-inch touchscreen. The TN-247 high-yield set is widely available and compatibles generally work on this generation. Belt and waste box replacements arrive after tens of thousands of pages.

Best for: UK home offices wanting color copying without fax

Setting up the Brother DCP-L3550CDW

Connect Ethernet or use the touchscreen wireless wizard on 2.4 GHz; Brother Mobile Connect also works. Install the Full Driver & Software Package on Windows for ControlCenter scanning. Run Colour Calibration from Settings if prints shift after new cartridges.

1. Unbox and prepare. Remove every piece of shipping tape and packing material, install the ink cartridges, and load paper in the tray.
2. Join your Wi-Fi. Keep the printer close to the router for setup. Most printers only connect to the 2.4GHz band, so if your router broadcasts one merged network name you may need to split the bands temporarily. See our Wi-Fi guide if it will not join.
3. Install the setup app. Use Brother's official app rather than a driver you found on a search result — third-party driver sites are the most common source of printer malware.
4. Add the printer. On Windows 11: Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners › Add device. On macOS: System Settings › Printers & Scanners › Add Printer.
5. Print a test page and run a scan if this is an all-in-one, so you find any problem now rather than when you are in a hurry.

Ink, toner and supplies

The Brother DCP-L3550CDW uses the following consumables. Match the number exactly when you buy: the same printer family often uses several different cartridge numbers by region.

• TN-243BK/C/M/Y toner (1,000 pages)
• TN-247BK toner (3,000 pages)
• TN-247C/M/Y toner (2,300 pages each)
• DR-243CL drum unit (18,000 pages)
• BU-223CL belt unit
• WT-223CL waste toner box

High-yield (XL) versions almost always cost less per page if you print regularly. On third-party ink and toner, read our honest assessment first, and note that some manufacturers push firmware that rejects non-original chips.

Full specifications