Brother HL-L6400DW: Setup, Drivers, Ink and Common Problems

Is the Brother HL-L6400DW right for you?

The HL-L6400DW was the flagship of Brother's 2016 mono lineup, with a 52 ppm engine, a color LCD, and support for the 20,000-page TN-890 cartridge. It accepts up to four optional trays and a tower stand, which let it replace departmental copiers for print-only duties. The drum is a comparatively short 30,000 pages, so on this printer drum changes are a real line item. Service messages like PF Kit or Laser replacement show up only at six-figure page counts.

Best for: Departmental mono printing with maximum toner yields

Setting up the Brother HL-L6400DW

Set it up over Ethernet, configure an admin password, and deploy the driver via the Full Driver & Software Package or a print server. Use the color LCD to set tray sizes and default duplex. For fleets, the Remote Printer Console and BRAdmin tools can push settings to several units at once.

1. Unbox and prepare. Remove every piece of shipping tape and packing material, install the toner cartridge and drum unit, 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 HL-L6400DW uses the following consumables. Match the number exactly when you buy: the same printer family often uses several different cartridge numbers by region.

• TN-850 high-yield toner (8,000 pages)
• TN-880 super high-yield toner (12,000 pages)
• TN-890 ultra high-yield toner (20,000 pages)
• DR-820 drum unit (30,000 pages)

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