Brother MFC-L8900CDW: Setup, Drivers, Ink and Common Problems

Is the Brother MFC-L8900CDW right for you?

The MFC-L8900CDW is the mid-range business color laser all-in-one of 2017, with a 70-sheet duplex ADF, five-inch touchscreen and support for the 6,500-page TN-436 cartridges. It is a common fixture in small professional offices that need color copies and scanned contracts. The bigger ADF and screen are the reasons to choose it over the MFC-L8610CDW. Consumables beyond toner include the drum set, belt and waste box.

Best for: Professional offices wanting a duplex-scanning color laser

Setting up the Brother MFC-L8900CDW

Deploy over Ethernet with the Full Driver & Software Package or PCL6 driver, set admin credentials and build scan shortcuts on the touchscreen. Register Web Connect accounts for cloud scanning. Use Secure Print for confidential jobs on a shared device.

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 MFC-L8900CDW uses the following consumables. Match the number exactly when you buy: the same printer family often uses several different cartridge numbers by region.

• TN-433 high-yield toner set
• TN-436BK/C/M/Y super high-yield toner (6,500 pages each)
• DR-431CL drum unit (30,000 pages)
• BU-330CL belt unit
• WT-320CL 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