OKI C301dn: Setup, Drivers, Ink and Common Problems

Is the OKI C301dn right for you?

A compact colour LED printer from OKI's C300 generation that many small offices in Europe and Australia are still running. Its single-pass LED engine prints colour almost as fast as mono, and the four separate image drums mean a single colour fault can often be fixed by swapping one drum. Driver support is the real constraint on modern Windows, and buyers of used units should check drum, belt and fuser counts as well as toner.

Best for: Small offices keeping a reliable older colour LED printer in service

Setting up the OKI C301dn

Print a network summary by holding the panel button, then add the printer as a Standard TCP/IP port and install the current OKI PCL or PostScript driver from the support site. If Windows refuses the driver, a generic PCL6 driver will print but loses colour and tray controls. The OKI LPR Utility is worth installing when the printer's IP changes often, as it can track the device by MAC address and update the port automatically.

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 OKI'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 OKI C301dn uses the following consumables. Match the number exactly when you buy: the same printer family often uses several different cartridge numbers by region.

• OKI C301 black toner (2,200 pages)
• C301 cyan, magenta and yellow toner (1,500 pages each)
• C301 image drums (20,000 pages)
• Belt unit
• Fuser unit

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