WIFI Printers

moranphotography

moranphotography

Suspended / Banned
Messages
485
Name
Phil
Edit My Images
Yes
anybody know if you can get an adapter to turn a normal non-wifi printer into a wireless printer, apologies if this is a dumb question. Just the missus wants a wifi printer cos she is too lazy to turn the desktop on and prefers the laptop!


Phil
 
I know that you can get a bluetooth dongle.... Does that help or does it have to be wifi (prob cheaper) :shrug:
 
Belkin do one but its a bit fussy on some of the printers it works with... iirc IT was around 60, then dropped to £20 in Currys not so long back
 
IF the printer has a network socket then an Apple Airport express will do this as will a number of other network extenders (with the bonus of extending your network at the same time). The problem as Neil was getting at is that IF a printer is designed to work in that way then the drivers and built in software are designed for that purpose if the printer is NOT designed for that purpose then it might just not work at all and cause all manner of problems :)

Any printer that does not have a network socket is even less likely to work but they can do. Quite a few routers have USB ports on them for connection to printers.
 
Last edited:
I got a Synology disk station, which although not wireless plugs into a port on my wireless router and shares not only disks, but the USB printer I've plugged into it as well. Hence all wireless.
Absolutely no issues with installing running whatsoever. That said I do have a good knowledge of computers and networks, but it was a doddle
 
oldgit said:
I got a Synology disk station, which although not wireless plugs into a port on my wireless router and shares not only disks, but the USB printer I've plugged into it as well. Hence all wireless.
Absolutely no issues with installing running whatsoever. That said I do have a good knowledge of computers and networks, but it was a doddle
Click to expand...

thats a damn sight easier than those poxy wireless adapters.

(incidentally ive got 11 years experience of IT support and still struggle to get them working)
 
cowasaki said:
IF the printer has a network socket then an Apple Airport express will do this as will a number of other network extenders (with the bonus of extending your network at the same time). The problem as Neil was getting at is that IF a printer is designed to work in that way then the drivers and built in software are designed for that purpose if the printer is NOT designed for that purpose then it might just not work at all and cause all manner of problems :)

Any printer that does not have a network socket is even less likely to work but they can do. Quite a few routers have USB ports on them for connection to printers.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the Airport Express have a USB connector for this? I know my Aiport Extreme does :)

Pretty sure you can just get a wireless print server that should do the job... Ebuyer.com do them ranging from about £30 to £300+. I dare say you get what you pay for though?
 
Install the printer software on to the Laptop.
Plug a USB extention lead into the Laptop and another into the Desktop.
Plug the USB lead from the printer into whatever computer you wish to use.

You can also install the printer as a network device on both computers so that if the Laptop and Desktop are both on you can print from both computers without having to swap the lead around.

Obviously you have to have the Laptop near the printer to do this, no more printing whilst sitting in the garden :)
 
Or, just buy a printer with a built in wifi print server. They are getting into the realms of the cost of the devices being discussed. Of course that does mean your existing kit is a bit redundant. When we got an iMac we got an HP printer included with a wifi print server... Works great.
 
steve_lyt said:
plug the printer into a networked desktop, and connect as a networked printer

Cheers steve
Click to expand...

Using a computer is not ideal as it needs to be switched on all the time and running the os.
 
neil_1980 said:
Doesn't the Airport Express have a USB connector for this? I know my Aiport Extreme does :)

Pretty sure you can just get a wireless print server that should do the job... Ebuyer.com do them ranging from about £30 to £300+. I dare say you get what you pay for though?
Click to expand...

An airport express is about £60 and will also extend your current network using WDS. So with that it is a bargain. If you go for an airport extreme then you can share some storage too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top