How to get a printer to work on a home wireless network without wires.
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There are basically two ways to use printers on a home wireless network. You can either connect it to any computer in the home, such as a desktop, and configure that workstation to act as a print server. If so, the PC must be on whenever you need or want ink on a page. The other way is to buy a print server appliance. This is an inexpensive small electronic box that resides out of sight and connects printing to the home LAN. The appliance is designed for use by people who are not computer experts and is not hard to configure. Once set up it just works. It is provides a USB connection to the peripheral or a parallel port if this is not on your PC, that can make getting a hardcopy more convenient. I recommend against the models with built in wireless. They are useful where you either need it to also provide the wireless network, but otherwise are not worth the extra money. Otherwise you are better off spending some time getting a cable to wherever your hardware is. If you absolutely cannot get an ethernet cable from the wired network to where you want it, then buy one with wireless capabilities. |
Printing appliances are typically compatible with all types of printers. Note: you still need to have a driver for all the printers, but most laptops have have a suitable driver already available for most printers already. If you configure your firewall to allow it, you can print to your house anywhere you can get an internet connection. While only occasionally useful, you can use it to have your documents available when you get home. Typically to get one of these working you buy one, plug in two cables, and spend a few minutes installing the driver on your PC. There is no reason this should take more than 5 minutes once you have the hardware including opening the box, although not all electronic stores stock them.
ShoppersChoice.com has some useful print servers.
This Network Print server from Macmall is also suitable for most anybody regardless of if you have a Mac or not.