If you run a small office, the Brother monochrome laser printer HLL2320D is the purchase I'd defend in a budget meeting without hesitating. Over six years of tracking office supply costs, it has delivered a real cost per page of about 3.5 cents with high-yield toner—roughly a 70% decrease from the inkjet we replaced. But that only happens if you set it up properly, know what type of network connection it actually supports, and ignore the 'just buy the cheapest printer' mindset.

Why my opinion is worth something

I'm a procurement manager at a 14-person architecture firm. I've managed our facilities and office supply budget ($72,000 annually) for six years, negotiated with 40+ vendors, and documented every order in our cost tracking system. When I audited our 2023 spending, I found that printing supplies were the third-largest line item after rent and software. So yes, I have opinions about printers.

This is not a sponsored review. I'm not telling you to buy a Brother printer because Brother is great at marketing. I'm telling you because the HL-L2320D earned its place in our office by being cheap to run and boringly reliable. Boring is a compliment.

The bottom line first

If you print mostly black-and-white documents and your office prints more than about 300 pages per month, the HL-L2320D is a no-brainer. It's not a scanner, not a copier, and not a color printer. It's a machine that does one thing well. And that's okay.

The 'D' in the model number matters. It stands for automatic duplex printing, not wireless. If you need WiFi, you want a Brother model with a W in the name. For the HL-L2320D, plan on a wired connection: USB or Ethernet. That's not a flaw—it's actually one less thing to troubleshoot.

How do you connect Brother printer to WiFi?

This is the question that brings most people to this page. The honest answer for the HL-L2320D is that you don't connect it to WiFi, because it doesn't have built-in wireless. If you're setting up a Wi-Fi-enabled Brother printer, the usual path is: press Menu, use the arrow keys to find Network, then select WLAN. Choose Setup Wizard, select your network name, and enter your WiFi password using the printer's buttons.

If the Wizard doesn't find your network, check whether your router is broadcasting on 2.4GHz. The printer works best on 2.4GHz, not 5GHz. I've never fully understood why some business routers hide the 2.4GHz band, but it's a common issue. Switch to 2.4GHz, retry, and then install the driver from Brother's website.

For the HL-L2320D, use an Ethernet cable from the printer to your router or a network switch. It's more reliable than WiFi anyway. Install the driver and choose the network connection option instead of USB. Honestly, I've also seen a printer refuse to connect until the network settings were reset via Menu > Network > Network Reset. Try that before you uninstall anything.

If you're on a work network with strict security, you may need your IT admin to allow the printer's MAC address. I'm not sure why that's sometimes a problem. My best guess is the network treats the printer like an unknown device—same as a new phone.

The real cost math (bring a calculator)

Everything I'd read about laser printers said to focus on the purchase price. In practice, the purchase price is a small fraction of what you spend over the printer's life. The cheapest printer we ever bought cost $79 and ate about $240 in ink in one year. That's not a good deal. That's a trap.

For the HL-L2320D, Brother uses TN-730 toner cartridges. The standard cartridge lists around $65 and prints about 1,200 pages. That works out to roughly 5.4 cents per page. The high-yield TN-730 costs more up front—around $90—but prints about 2,600 pages. That's about 3.5 cents per page. These were publicly listed prices as of January 2025, so check current rates before you quote them in a budget meeting.

If you're switching from an inkjet that costs 12 cents per page, the toner savings are massive. Use a percentage decrease calculator if you don't want to do the arithmetic: (12 - 3.5) divided by 12, multiplied by 100, gives you a ~70.8% decrease. At 5,000 pages per year, that's around $425 saved. Not pocket change.

Now here's the part people skip: there's a difference between 'cost per page' and 'cost per useful page.' If you set the printer to draft quality, you might lower the cost per page, but you'll also reprint documents that look terrible. Print at standard quality. The HL-L2320D does fine at 600x600 DPI—more than enough for text.

Use a print-cost planner like a grow a garden calculator

I know that sounds random, but stay with me. A grow a garden calculator helps you figure out how many plants fit in a raised bed based on spacing, sun, and season. It's planning for something you don't want to waste money on. A print-cost planner does the same thing for documents.

Before buying any printer, estimate your monthly page volume. Count print jobs from the last three months. If you can't get that number, pick a conservative estimate, then add 20% for hired printers, one-off forms, and mistakes. That estimate is your garden bed size. The printer is the tomato plant. If you buy a plant that wants too much space, you'll have a mess by August.

I built a simple cost tracking spreadsheet after getting burned twice on hidden fees. Our procurement policy now requires quotes from three vendors minimum before any printer purchase. That policy has saved us more than $8,400 in total ownership costs—17% of the print budget. A little planning is not overkill.

I'd rather teach you than up-sell you

I'd rather spend ten minutes explaining options than deal with mismatched expectations later.

An informed customer asks better questions and makes faster decisions. If you know what 'duty cycle' means—the manufacturer's recommended monthly page volume—you won't buy a machine rated for 2,000 pages for a 30-person office. If you know the difference between standard and high-yield toner, you'll replace cartridges half as often. That's why education is part of my job.

I'm not saying the HL-L2320D is the right printer for everyone. It's not. But for a small business that prints proposals, contracts, and shipping labels, it's the kind of boring decision that keeps the budget healthy.

How to get permanent marker off clothes (because it happens)

If you're here because someone used a permanent marker to label a toner cartridge and then left it in your pocket, use rubbing alcohol. Put a paper towel or cloth underneath the stain so it doesn't spread, then dab the marker from the outside in with a cotton swab or soft cloth soaked in 70% isopropyl alcohol. Do not rub—dab. The alcohol breaks down the ink, and the cloth underneath catches it. After the stain lifts, wash the garment normally.

Hand sanitizer works in a pinch if you're at the office. So does a 50/50 mix of vinegar and baking soda, though I've had mixed results with that. Honestly, if someone knows why permanent marker sometimes needs two round trips through the wash, I'd love to hear it. My best guess is the marker sat for too long before anyone noticed.

One warning: this trick is for permanent marker, not printer toner. Toner acts differently when it gets wet. If you get toner on your clothes, use cold water and soap before it bonds to the fabric. Hot water can make toner set permanently.

When the HL-L2320D is not the answer

Let's be honest about boundaries. If you need to print color charts, marketing brochures, or photos, this is the wrong machine. If you need an all-in-one, this isn't it. If you're a student printing 30 pages a month, an inkjet with a low upfront price might make more financial sense—as long as you actually use it before the ink evaporates.

Also, if you're trying to use a Wi-Fi Brother model on a network that only broadcasts 5GHz, a USB cable works if you're truly stuck. Yes, a cable. It's not fancy, but it's 100% reliable and every office has one.

Bottom line

I wish someone had shown me this math before I bought my first office printer. The Brother monochrome laser printer HLL2320D isn't glamorous, but it pays its way. Connect it to your network, use high-yield toner, and keep a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the supply closet. You'll be fine.