Sharing a printer on your network is another very useful feature of a network. Allow all of your computers to use the same printer.

There are three ways to accomplish this:

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• Have the printer plugged directly into one of the computers on the network and simply use the operating system to share it.
• Plug the printer directly into the network using a print server
• Use a printer which is network-capable on it’s own and plug it directly into the network.

Setting up The Printer

The easiest and most common way to go about it is the first method, having the printer plugged directly into the computer. The only drawbacks to it are that the printer needs to be close to the computer it is attached to and that computer needs to be running for the printer to be accessible. To share a printer, though, follow these steps:

1. Install the printer on the computer just as you would any printer: plug it in, install the drivers, etc.
2. From the Start menu, choose “Printers and Faxes”. You’ll see an icon for each printer driver installed on your computer.
3. Right-click on the printer you want to share and select “Sharing” from the pop-up menu.
4. Click the “Share This Printer” checkbox and type a name for your printer. The name is up to you and is simply a name that will appear on your network for the printer.
5. Click the General tab.
6. Enter a location and a comment if you want.
7. Click OK.

Your printer will now be on the network. To use the printer from another computer, you should be able to select this printer from any program’s print dialog window. It will be referenced by the server name followed by the name you assigned to the printer above.

If you intend to use a print server, the procedure is different. Also, the exact procedure you will follow varies widely depending on the model of print server you bought. Most of them come with a setup program on a CD-ROM. This will allow you to assign an IP address to the print server, after which you can access the server’s configuration via that IP address in your web browser (just like you do for a standard router). Most print servers are configured to work with DHCP, meaning they will automatically negotiate with the router to get an IP address. It is recommended, though, that you assign an IP address specifically to your print server so that it will not change. This way Windows will not have a hard time finding your printer.

If your print server is wireless, you will need to connect it to your router via Ethernet first so that you can set up the wireless capabilities. You will set up the IP address, the SSID for your wireless network, and any WEP/WPA security keys you have set up (see above where I discuss setting up a wireless network). Once these settings match up with your wireless network, the print server will be accessible on the network.

Bear in mind that some printers will not work well when attached to a print server. Some printer drivers are programmed such that they require a direct connection to the computer in order to operate. Also, any status monitors for the printer (such as ink levels) will usually not work when attached to a print server.

Setting up a network-ready printer is similar to using a print server. In fact, the print server is built into the printer. The setup on these printers is usually pretty easy and you perform the configuration via a web browser. Windows XP provides built-in support for network-ready printers so you don’t usually need to install any additional software (other than the driver, of course).

Most network-ready printers are designed for Ethernet. Rarely do printers have wireless built into them. However, you can still purchase a wireless “Bridge” which will bridge the Ethernet printer over to wireless, allowing you to access the printer wirelessly over the network.

Accessing the Printer

In order to use a networked printer across the network, it will be necessary to add that printer to the list of available printers on each computer. Here is how to do that:

1. From the Start menu, go to “Printers and Faxes”.
2. Click the “Add a Printer” icon.
3. In the wizard, click Next.
4. Select “A Network Printer, or a printer attached to another computer” and hit Next.
5. Leave “Browse” selected and click Next.
6. You will get a list of printers on the network, in the format \server\printer. Select the printer you wish to add and press Next.
7. If the printer is connected directly to another machine, Windows will give you a warning about installing a driver and the risk of viruses, etc. Just click Yes.
8. Windows will copy and install the printer driver from the serving computer. When it is done, you will see the printer on the list of printers for access.
9. You will be given the option to use this new printer as your default printer on this computer. This choice is up to you. Make your selection and hit Next.

If you are using a print server or a network printer, the procedure is almost exactly the same. The only difference is that you will need to install the printer drivers yourself rather than have Windows do it automatically for you. Here is the procedure:

1. From the Start menu, go to “Printers and Faxes”.
2. Click the “Add a Printer” icon.
3. In the wizard, click Next.
4. Select “Local printer attached to this computer” and hit Next.
5. Click “Create a New Port” and then select “Standard TCP/IP Port” from the dropdown menu.
6. Click Next.
7. Enter the IP address for the network printer or print server. The port name will be filled in automatically by Windows as you type in the IP address. Click Next.
8. Leave “Standard” selected for the device type and click Next.
9. Confirm the information and click Finish.
10. Windows will take you back to the normal “Add Printer” wizard.
11. Choose your printer from the list of printers. IF it isn’t on the list, you’ll need to install the printer drivers that came with your printer. When done, hit Next.
12. Enter a name for the printer and decide if you want it to be the default printer.
13. On the printer sharing screen, select “Do not share this printer”. I know its counter-intuitive, but this is already on your network so it is shared by nature.
14. Select whether you want to print a test page. I recommend doing so.
15. Windows will display the details. Click Finish.

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