Networking a printer

U

Ulrezaj

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 29, 2004
Messages
65
I'm in the market for a new printer, but I want one that can be networked. More specifically, I want to be able to print from any computer on my wireless network without having to go through a computer that has the printer directly hooked up. I've looked around but it seems that the only way to network a printer is to use a print server, which tend to cost almost as much as the printer itself. Can anyone suggest a model that has built-in ethernet networking support? Or an entirely different method of going about this?
 
You can buy any basic inkjet or laser printer and use it on a network. You dont need a special kind of printer for that, as far as the print server goes all you need to do is install the printer on one of the computers and then share it out on the network, that computer then becomes the print sever, you dont need a special server just for that purpose in this case.
 
If I did that though, I'd have to have a computer constantly on to act as the print server. What I want is the ability to have the printer connected directly to my router to avoid the need to keep a machine on all the time.
 
ok I see what you're saying now. So all you need to do is buy a laser printer with a built in network interface then connect that printer to a router on the network then the only machine you will need to have running is the one you are printing from, then that computer will act as the print server. You should be able to find a printer like you need in the $700 or less range for color or $400 or less in b/w, look around and compare prices.
 
They have routers that can be a basic print server. If you only need black and whites get a dell laser (ranges from like $200-$300). Laser is the way to go if all you care about is printing stuff for information and not pictures etc. Honestly I just have my dell laser printer and if I need to print out photos I just goto my local drug store to print them out or evne doing it online. It saves SO much more money..

If thats too much for you, get a cheap printer and buy a print server. They even sell routers that act as print servers too.
 
You can get cheap print servers for about $30. Depending on what printers you are currently considering, a cheap(relatively) printer + a cheap print server will probably end up being less expensive than a printer with a builtin print server.
 
there are LPT -> RJ45 "converters" that act like printservers.. I guess if you connected it to an access point, it should work just fine..
 
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