Wireless Printer Sharing

[nubbler]

Hi,

Is it possible to share printers through a wireless router without it being connected to the internet?

TIA
nubbler

[Ob1]

yes, you need to either have a network compatible printer or have a usb print server that has a rj-45 jack on it or get a wireless usb print server that you can connect to your wireless network

[nubbler]

Originally Posted by Ob1 yes, you need to either have a network compatible printer or have a usb print server that has a rj-45 jack on it or get a wireless usb print server that you can connect to your wireless network

k thnaks

I have a network compatible printer and i will get a wireless router soon but i will be moving and i dont know if ill have internt acess there but i still want to share the printer so if it still works thats great,
Thanks for your help .

[Ob1]

if the printer is already network capable then you have two options:
1.install it on a pc, then share it out to other pcs on your network.
2. install the printer individually on each computer and use the ip address as the printer port.

[nubbler]

Originally Posted by Ob1 if the printer is already network capable then you have two options: 1.install it on a pc, then share it out to other pcs on your network. 2. install the printer individually on each computer and use the ip address as the printer port.

Interesting, I never knew about the second option.
Which option is usually better, like what advantages does one have over the other?

Thanks again.

[Ob1]

i prefer option one. you setup and install the printer drivers one and then just attach the remaining computers by browsing over to that shared printer.

if you choose option two you have to setup and install ports and drivers on all workstations which can take a lot longer, plus you dont have one print que since all pcs are maintaning there own so if you have a failed document, you wont see it on the other pcs, so you will have to look on each pc to figure out which one failed to print.

[Stuey]

Option 1 can be used for any printer, even those without networking capabilities. Once the driver is installed on the computer to which the printer is connected, the drivers are installed on all the other computers upon first sharing the printer.

With option 2, you might not have to connect the printer to each and every computer when installing the drivers. There may be a way to connect to the printer via the network, identify it, and then install the drivers manually. With option 1, I believe that the drivers are just cloned over or something.

Which method you use also depends on how you want to use the printer. For option 1, you can use printers that do or do not have network capabilities. BUT the computer to which it is connected must always be on. With option 2, you can only use a network capable printer, but it can be used without being directly connected to any of the computers.

[clroberts]

I use Option 2 currently. Before this current printer, I had an HP Jet Direct Box Print Server that allowed parallel ported printers the ability to hook up to the network. Had a few strange issues with that box changing IP addresses every once in a while.

[lobstah24]

Originally Posted by Stuey Option 1 can be used for any printer, even those without networking capabilities. Once the driver is installed on the computer to which the printer is connected, the drivers are installed on all the other computers upon first sharing the printer. With option 2, you might not have to connect the printer to each and every computer when installing the drivers. There may be a way to connect to the printer via the network, identify it, and then install the drivers manually. With option 1, I believe that the drivers are just cloned over or something. Which method you use also depends on how you want to use the printer. For option 1, you can use printers that do or do not have network capabilities. BUT the computer to which it is connected must always be on. With option 2, you can only use a network capable printer, but it can be used without being directly connected to any of the computers.

He/she could get a router with a built in print server. Connect your printer to it...then you wouldn't have to have a PC running all the time.

[Stuey]

There are also standalone print servers. The thing is, not all non-networked printers are compatible.

[nubbler]

Interesting. I never you you could share a non-networkable printer because I have one, I will try that.

Thanks for all the info guys.

[glc]

There are 3 kinds of printers - printers with builtin print servers, printers that will share, and printers that will not share. There are very few of the latter. Most shareable printers are compatible with external print servers.

If you told us what model your printer is, we can help more specifically.

[nubbler]

I have a Cannon Pixma iP3000 that is set-up and being shared and a Konica Minolta Pagepro 1350W.

Canon is on computer 1 and Konica on computer 2. Cannon is succesfully being shared and be printed on from computer 1 and 2. But I cannot connect to computer 2 with computer 1, i can see it, but it says access denied when i try to view shared folders or printers so i am not yet sure if Konica can share or not.

Both computers are running XP. I couldn't find the setting that I can change to let computer 1 have access to computer 2. Any suggestions how to fix this?

Thanks again.

[Ob1]

sounds like a security rights issue for all resources on computer 2, what OS are you running?

[nubbler]

Originally Posted by Ob1 sounds like a security rights issue for all resources on computer 2, what OS are you running?

XP Home on both

[Ob1]

install this and run the commands listed below to see if that fixes the issue on computer 2

Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=4544

After installation, click on: Start, All Programs, Windows Resource Kit Tools, Command Shell

Then enter the following commands. (Attention: they are case sensitive.)

net user guest /active:yes
ntrights +r SeNetworkLogonRight -u Guest
ntrights -r SeDenyNetworkLogonRight -u Guest

The first command enables network access for Guest, the two subsequent ones change two different policies to allow network access for Guest.

[glc]

I would think just running the home networking wizard on both machines would allow 2 way file and print sharing. If you are running any 3rd party firewalls, that's probably the problem.

Both those printers should be compatible with an external USB print server.

[nubbler]

Originally Posted by Ob1 install this and run the commands listed below to see if that fixes the issue on computer 2 Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=4544 After installation, click on: Start, All Programs, Windows Resource Kit Tools, Command Shell Then enter the following commands. (Attention: they are case sensitive.) net user guest /active:yes ntrights +r SeNetworkLogonRight -u Guest ntrights -r SeDenyNetworkLogonRight -u Guest The first command enables network access for Guest, the two subsequent ones change two different policies to allow network access for Guest.

Thanks for your help. I will try that when i get a chance and let you know how it goes.

Originally Posted by glc I would think just running the home networking wizard on both machines would allow 2 way file and print sharing. If you are running any 3rd party firewalls, that's probably the problem. Both those printers should be compatible with an external USB print server.

I did run the home network setup wizard on both computers to start but computer 2 did not let computer 1 to access it.

I am just giong to try printer sharing first because I want to go with the least costly option right now. If it does not work I will maybe get a printer server. What does a decent one of those run at BTW?

Thanks.

[glc]

A decent single port USB print server is about 40 bucks. A 4 port is about 80 bucks, and those usually have direct wireless too.