Wireless printer router questions ...

We have 2 laptops with wifi cards and a Canon Pixma IP4000 printer (it
has parallel and USB ports). We don't have a network or router.

We'd like to be able to print wirelessly from the laptops to the
printer.

Will a device like Linksys WPS54G Wireless-G 802.11g Print Server
http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WPS54G...-Server/dp/B00...


do the job?

Its nice and small. I could probably velcro it to the side of the
printer.

If not, other suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,

Brooks

brooksr wrote:
> We have 2 laptops with wifi cards and a Canon Pixma IP4000 printer (it
> has parallel and USB ports). We don't have a network or router.
>
> We'd like to be able to print wirelessly from the laptops to the
> printer.
>
> Will a device like Linksys WPS54G Wireless-G 802.11g Print Server
> http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WPS54G...-Server/dp/B00...
>
>
> do the job?
>
> Its nice and small. I could probably velcro it to the side of the
> printer.
>
> If not, other suggestions are appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brooks
>
Hi,
So far I have not come across reliable consumer grade wireless print
server. I tried quite a few so far. Anyone has any recommendation?
Now I leave a PC and printer always on on my home network, so printer
can be shared.

"brooksr" <brooks@rimesrv.net> hath wroth:

>We have 2 laptops with wifi cards and a Canon Pixma IP4000 printer (it
>has parallel and USB ports). We don't have a network or router.
>
>We'd like to be able to print wirelessly from the laptops to the
>printer.
>
>Will a device like Linksys WPS54G Wireless-G 802.11g Print Server
>http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WPS54G...-Server/dp/B00...
>do the job?

I have yet to find a USB print server that works with everything. One
of my customers conveniently has an IP4000. I tried two different
model Linksys print servers without much luck. Sorry, I forgot the
model numbers. It would print, but there was no status information
coming back from the printer. The computah couldn't tell if there was
a paper jam, out of ink, offline, etc. I also tried an Apple Airport
Express, with exactly the same problem.

I've had good luck with a DLink DPR-1260:
<http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=482&sec=0>
About $90 anywhere.
Note that your IP-4000 is listed as supported:
<http://support.dlink.com/faq/view.asp?prod_id=2317&question=DPR-1260>
(Ignore the supported printer list on the data sheet as it's out of
date).
There are some gotchas in setting up the printer. See the FAQ for
details:
<http://support.dlink.com/products/view.asp?productid=DPR%2D1260>
Also, make sure you have the latest firmware. The 1.00 firmware was
really weird. Oh yeah, the setup URL is:
<http://dlinkps-xxxxxx>
where xxxxxx are the last six characters of the DPR-1260 MAC address.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

I use a Trendnet TE100 P1U print server connected through a linksys router
and linksys WAP. I have 5 PC's connected to the network through cables and
one wireless. All have worked fine connected to an IP 3000



"brooksr" <brooks@rimesrv.net> wrote in message
news:1168726792.547622.39790@v45g2000cwv.googlegro ups.com...
> We have 2 laptops with wifi cards and a Canon Pixma IP4000 printer (it
> has parallel and USB ports). We don't have a network or router.
>
> We'd like to be able to print wirelessly from the laptops to the
> printer.
>
> Will a device like Linksys WPS54G Wireless-G 802.11g Print Server
> http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WPS54G...-Server/dp/B00...
>
>
> do the job?
>
> Its nice and small. I could probably velcro it to the side of the
> printer.
>
> If not, other suggestions are appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brooks
>

"brooksr" <brooks@rimesrv.net> wrote in message
news:1168726792.547622.39790@v45g2000cwv.googlegro ups.com...
> We have 2 laptops with wifi cards and a Canon Pixma IP4000 printer (it
> has parallel and USB ports). We don't have a network or router.
>
> We'd like to be able to print wirelessly from the laptops to the
> printer.
>
> Will a device like Linksys WPS54G Wireless-G 802.11g Print Server
> http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WPS54G...-Server/dp/B00...
>
>
> do the job?
>
> Its nice and small. I could probably velcro it to the side of the
> printer.
>
> If not, other suggestions are appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brooks

Trying to wiggle a non-network "dumb" USB printer into some sort of adhoc
802.11 "network" sounds like a bunch of headaches just waiting to happen.
I wouldn't try it without the printer hanging off a computer with a wireless
NIC. I bet even an old P2 would even work. But, I know you want a pretty,
"standalone", printer... :-)

If you don't absolutetly need the range of 802.11, how about just making it
very simple: bluetooth. You can get a USB bluetooth printer adapter (they
don't need drivers, everything needed is built right-in, its just
USB-Bluetooth bridge.). If the laptops don't have bluetooth built-in,
bluetooth USB adapters are cheap. Bought a couple Zonets from Newegg not
too long ago. They do what they are advertised to do. I don't do any
"fancy" things with bluetooth like networking. I just use bluetooth simply
as "cable replacements" for a few things here and there...

Thanks for the post. I went to www.zonetusa.com and could not find any
Bluetooth USB printer adapters ...

Do you know the model number?

Brooks

Eric wrote:
> Bought a couple Zonets from Newegg not
> too long ago. They do what they are advertised to do. I don't do any
> "fancy" things with bluetooth like networking. I just use bluetooth simply
> as "cable replacements" for a few things here and there...

"brooksr" <brooks@rimesrv.net> wrote in message
news:1168886649.963082.60950@q2g2000cwa.googlegrou ps.com...
> Thanks for the post. I went to www.zonetusa.com and could not find any
> Bluetooth USB printer adapters ...
>
> Do you know the model number?
>
> Brooks

Hi,

Sorry, I meant that I bought a couple simple USB bluetooth (PC) adapters.

What you would need for a printer is a "USB Bluetooth Print Server" or may
be labeled as "USB Print Server Hub" (that also has a Bluetooth Access
Point.) (In addition to PC Bluetooth adapters for the laptops if they don't
already have Bluetooth built-in.)

I've never used one of these animals, but have seen them for sale. It
looks like Zonet doesn't offer any and they are (oddly) more rare than I
assumed they would be. Something like the Belkin F8T03 was what I was
thinking.

Definetly read reviews on them as they seem to be limited and probably
aren't all equal. Strange, as one would think they would be more popular.
(?) I wouldn't mind having one for my HP Laserjet, myself...

"brooksr" <brooks@rimesrv.net> wrote in message
news:1168886649.963082.60950@q2g2000cwa.googlegrou ps.com...
> Thanks for the post. I went to www.zonetusa.com and could not find any
> Bluetooth USB printer adapters ...
>
> Do you know the model number?
>
> Brooks

Oops, scratch that "USB Hub".. Got myself confused.

Google phrases that'll put you in the right direction:

"Bluetooth Print Server"
"Bluetooth Print Adapter"

Think I may start reading up a bit and getting one myself. My USB laser
printer is networked by hanging off a computer on my WLAN, but wouldn't mind
replacing the USB cable with BT so it could be put in a better place..