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Printing from wireless laptop.

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JetLinkin Park

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2004
Posts
118
May as well follow up my LCD/Plasma thread with another tech question. You guys seem to share my interest in electronics. Anyway, I have a laptop that's wirelessly connected via PCI to router. Every time I need to print, I have to take laptop downstairs and hook up via USB. Is there a way I can wirelessly print from anywhere in my home to my brand new Epson printer? Does the printer have to be connected to a desktop/laptop PC to do so? I think that a print server is what I'm looking for, but not quite sure. Anyone else print using a similar method?

Keep in mind I own only a laptop, no secondary desktop PC connections. Thanks!
 
I can think of two ways to do this but I'm not an expert by any means. If the printer and the laptop are bluetooth enabled you should be able to do it. What i do is have a network with a desktop that is pluged into the printer. I don't really know what a print server would do.
 
Look into an AirPort Express by Apple. You can set up a wireless network that even a non-network capable printer can use to behave like a network printer.

It has a USB port on it that you plug the printer into. You then plug it into the wall and voila - a wireless network with a printer on it. It'll support up to 10 wireless connections too.

Works on 802.11b and g and most features are operable on both PCs and Macs. It can be used for a ton of other stuff too - like cerating aireless network in your hotel room when you don't want to have to remain plugged into the ethernet cable. Just plug the Express into the wall and connect the internet connection and you've got your wireless network in your room.

Hope this helps.

TIS
 
If the printer is hooked up to a PC and if you're using Windows XP this is actually VERY easy. If so, from the home pc, go to Control Panel and click on Printers/Faxes. Right click on the printer and enable printer sharing from the Printer Preferences menu.

Then go to the laptop and run the add printer wizard. Click on Network printer and follow the menus. I'm not at home now or I would give you step by step. Widows help is a good source or you can pm me and I'll try to walk you through it.

You DONT need to buy anything else to do this as long as the printer is hooked up to a PC that is left on.

If there is no extra PC, it's still possible, I think that a wireless USB port would do the trick but I'm sure that those experts at best buy could sell you what you need.
 
Last edited:
PalmettoPilot said:
I'm sure that those experts at best buy could sell you what you need.
Click to expand...


right

i used to work there back in the day and they'll sell ya crap you dont need

as far as i know, as palmetto stated you will need a PC
 
Hey guys, if I understand his original post corectly, he has ONLY the laptop. He's gonna need something to make use of the wireless connection he can transmit from his PCI wireless card.

And just for the record, the AirPort Express is basically a wireless print server that can do a lot more than just that. You can get'em cheaper and uglier for about $70 on the low side and about 110 (plus tax or shipping, or both) o the high side.

TIS
 
TIS said:
Hey guys, if I understand his original post corectly, he has ONLY the laptop. He's gonna need something to make use of the wireless connection he can transmit from his PCI wireless card.

And just for the record, the AirPort Express is basically a wireless print server that can do a lot more than just that. You can get'em cheaper and uglier for about $70 on the low side and about 110 (plus tax or shipping, or both) o the high side.

TIS
Click to expand...

isn't that what I basically said
 
You need a print server. If your printer is right next to your router, then you can plug the print server directly into your router. If it is not near your router, then you would need a wireless print server, which would be more expensive.
 
why not just buy a $300 pc from Dell or somewhere and connect your printer/fax and router to it?.....at least get something for your money...a printer server alone seems like a waste.

then you have a backup PC and a printer server. You can set it up to back up all your data, etc...

easiest solution IMHO.
 
Last edited:
well..to me at least you are getting something for it (a second computer)

for backup etc...

just an idea, I guess it depends on your budget....If I intended to have one from the get go I would have bought a printer with a built in server...

I personally hate to half a$$- jigrig $hit. It never winds up working right.

ask the question....whats he backing everything on his laptop up with? my guess is nothing.

again, I suppose its all about budget, go with whatever works for you!
 
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Guys, I appreciate the responses. You're correct, I own only a laptop at this point so I can't simply network the laptop through a desktop PC. I'm settting up a "hub" of sorts in the basement of our new home. It'll house the cable modem, wireless, router, printer, etc.. This elimates congestion in the room that will be my office. I plan on wall mounting a LCD monitor/TV and have a wirless mouse and keyboard. The hard drive will set in the desk inset- so the desktop itself will be clean for speakers and some other crap. The "hub" will set directly beneath the living room as well, so I can run home entertainment, big screen, etc to these connections as well.

That's the scoop, and why I need a way to print from laptop (PCI) to printer through the router only. I will speak to the "helpers" at either Circuit City or BB this evening about the print server. My assumption is that it should do the trick. Just wondering is anyone else had a similar setup. Thanks again for help. Keep it coming.
 
Gulfstream 200 said:
I personally hate to half a$$- jigrig $hit. It never winds up working right.

ask the question....whats he backing everything on his laptop up with? my guess is nothing.
Click to expand...

Actually, everything is backed up to a Western Digital 120GB external hard drive.
 
I set up my mom with a Hawking print server, but I wouldn't recommend that brand. It was nice in that it had a standard printer port as well as USB so she could run her laserjet 5, but it sounds like you don't need that. Get a wired print server for usb, linksys or netgear or whatever, plug it in and you will be good to go. Sort of. I would recommend setting the print server up to use a static IP address off your router. It will make things easier. That means your printer will always have the same network address. You then need to tell your laptop how to find the printer which is a little tricky.Hawking's documentation was very poor, I'm guessing the other brands will be better. Once you are done, you can drive this printer from a PC or Mac, which can be handy.
 
Once when I was staying with some friends, one of my friends there who is not that computer literate was playing Delta Force online. There was a wireless network, and the main computer he was using, was hooked up to a printer.

Being the mischievous self that I am, in the middle of his game, I started typing on my laptop with wireless, a supposed message from Novalogic who makes the game.

It said something like "We are Novalogic are glad you enjoy our products so much. However due to your complete lack of ability, we request you stop using them.

Novalogic Management"

Then I sent it over the network and it began printing while he was playing. I had him going pretty good for a while
 
Singlecoil said:
You need a print server. If your printer is right next to your router, then you can plug the print server directly into your router. If it is not near your router, then you would need a wireless print server, which would be more expensive.
Click to expand...

Correct ... the Print Server will connect to the wireless router. The printer should connect to the PS via USB connection.

Some wireless router have printer servers built in. Depends what you are using.
 
I have a Brother MFC-420CN which connects directly to my router - so I can print from my laptop without going through a desktop. I've been extremely happy with the printer and would highly recommend it. It was $100 at Office Max after rebates. I believe most of Brother's printers have the same network setup.
 
I use the IOGear GPSR01U print server and it works great. You just plug the USB printer into this little box and voila you can print from anywhere in the house. Well, sort of. It took a little f'n around to get it all configured, but now that it works I think that it's awesome. If you useZone alarm or some other firewall, make sure that you consider that when configuring your computer. That little bit of info cost me several hours of frustration!

GPSR01U on ecost.com for $65 (open box).
 

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