I have the Black Beast located in another part of the house from my printer.  The printer is located in the vicinity of the old computer, modem and router.  Can someone point me in the direction of a good article on print servers?  (Magoo - another section for the Wireless Network Guide)

Thanks in advance

thorin

which printer?

does it have network capability?

connections?

printer cable? usb?

are you sharing computers on a network?

how is that beast running, btw?

stable?

you have the raptor as a boot drive, right?

You have two options.  The cheapest option is to turn your old computer into a print server.  If both computers are running windows, then you can do this through File & Printer Sharing.  If you have a Microsoft server OS available (like Server2003)  you can throw on the old machine, then you can make a print server that way.  If you don't have Microsoft server available but are willing to install Linux on the old box, then you can make a great little print server with Ubuntu or some other Linux distribution.

The second option isn't free, but it doesn't involve the old computer.  So if the printer is too far from the old computer or there is some other limitation, this might be the way to go.  You can buy a network adapter that connects to the printer on one side and your network on the other side.  You can find stand-alone print servers that will connect to the network with standard network wires or wirelessly.

Here are some examples of these print servers:

Wired -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2050330387+1135110068&Subcategory=387&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833130020

Wireless -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2050330387+1135110087&Subcategory=387&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124042

I don't have any recent experience with these stand-alone print servers, so I can't recommend a specific one, but Linksys always makes a solid product, and I have had lots of good experiences with Zonet products.

Let me know if you are interested in the first option and need more details.

Rad,

Printer has no network capibility, but will use USB.  I want to be able to use the same printer no matter which computer I am using.

The beast is working great.  No problems - yes, the 160 gig raptor is the boot drive.

MrMagoo,

I would prefer not to turn the old computer into a printer server - depending on the time of day, I use it as my main computer.  The 2nd option is what I am looking for.  

What I have is Dell Dimension 4600 that is wired to the router and the printer.  My other computer is the Beast which is wireless.  I would like to run my print requests, ideally throught the router from both computers.

My question is: why can't the printer be run off the Lynksys WRT54G router?

Thanks for your help.

"why can't the printer be run off the Lynksys WRT54G router?"

It can, but you need something to make the other half of the network connection.  That's the purpose of the devices in the links MrMagoo gave you.  I actually like these so-called "pocket printservers", and have setup several.

For USB printers I like the D-Link DP301-U.  The WRT54G talks to the DP301-U through an ethernet cable, and the printer plugs into the DP301-U with a short USB cable.  XP can work with these devices natively, but Win98 requires installing additional software (included with the printserver).

If you prefer a wireless connection, MrMagoo gave you a link to those, too.  They setup the same way, except you usually connect the printserver to the network via cable first to get the wireless part configured.  (You can configure these things via your web browser through a sort of "webserver" embedded in the printserver.)

I love Linksys routers, but FWIW, I stay away from Linksys adapters (network clients) because they tend to demand their own client software instead of allowing you to use XP's native features.

Re: "I love Linksys routers, but FWIW, I stay away from Linksys adapters (network clients) because they tend to demand their own client software instead of allowing you to use XP's native features."

Interesting.

I also have the WRT54G. It works reliably for me.

The WRT54G/GL has been my favorite home-grade router, primarily because it uses GPL firmware.  (At least the regular WRT54G versions 1-4, but Linksys messed everything up with v5.  Fortunately, they continued the v4 G model as the GL.)

The use of GPL firmware means third parties can rewrite/improve/add features.  I've had excellent performance from some of these, and have settled on the free dd-wrt firmware for my 3 personal WRT54G's.  Vpn passthrough now works correctly--Linksys never could get that right.  It adds other useful things like adjustable antenna power, static dhcp, a built-in one-tunnel vpn server, and more.

The Linksys network adapters--particularly the wireless adapters like the WG311, WG511, WPC11, etc--are another story.  The Linksys software added by the CD sometimes gets in the way and can make problems more difficult to troubleshoot, but it's not easy getting the driver installed without the extra Linksys baggage.  Just my personal opinion, but I actually prefer using el-cheapo adapters like Hawking and AirTech instead of Linksys wireless adapters.

I've setup a WRT54G in my daughter's house in Oregon, where she is going to college.  She and her roommates all have laptops, connect wirelessly, and have a Laserjet they share.  The LJ has a wireless printserver plugged directly into its parallel port.  (These things are so small the entire printserver is physically attached to the printer, so there's no cable between the printserver and the printer.)  It sits on an end table in a corner, with no cords going to it except power, and they can all print to it from anywhere in the house.

Dan Goodell wrote on Aug 6^th, 2006 at 8:01pm:

I love Linksys routers, but FWIW, I stay away from Linksys adapters (network clients) because they tend to demand their own client software instead of allowing you to use XP's native features.

I find that the Linksys client software is not as good as the default XP Wireless Configuration software.  But that's easily fixed:  After installing the drivers for the Linksys adapter, I go into startup ( [url=www.mlin.net[/url]]www.mlin.net[/url] ) control panel, and disable any Linksys wireless startup programs.  Depending upon the model, sometimes Linksys puts them as a XP Service, so I just disable that, and enable the XP service.

Problem solved.  Linksys hardware without their client software.

Same here. I have several Linksys wireless cards. I just install the drivers but not the software.

"After installing the drivers for the Linksys adapter, I ... disable any Linksys wireless startup programs."

Yeah, I've occasionally resorted to that when a customer is having problems with their Linksys adapter.  But it galls me to have to install a bloat-load of unwanted software and the changes it makes to the registry.  Not all adapters do that, so when I've have a choice I've avoided Linksys adapters.

Brian, are you saying you've been able to avoid running setup from the CD?  If so, that's good to know for future reference.  I tried that once--just letting XP's "found new hardware" wizard run and trying to point it the CD to see if would pickup the drivers without having to actually run the setup program.  It didn't work, so I resigned myself to not trying it again when installing any other Linksys adapters.  But if you were able to get it to work, I might give it another shot the next time I have the opportunity.

Dan Goodell wrote on Aug 8^th, 2006 at 3:09am:

--just letting XP's "found new hardware" wizard run and trying to point it the CD to see if would pickup the drivers without having to actually run the setup program.

Dan, that just how I did it. The drivers folder on the CD.

Thanks for the confirmation, Brian.

Ahh . . . I just noticed some of the model numbers I cited earlier (WG311 and WG511) are Netgear models.  Now I'm confusing myself, and am less certain that I'm remembering correctly which adapter didn't work when I attempted to install via the XP "found.." wizard.

I know that most of the Linksys adapters I see installed on customer machines are using the Linksys software, but I'll be sure to give the XP wizard another try the next time I have occasion to install a Linksys adapter.

Purchased a CompUSA wired print server.  One major problem an one minor problem:

minor - How do I tell Zone Alarm to let the print server connect with the network?  I have to shut down Zone Alarm in order for the print server to be seen when I attempt to install it on my hard wired computer - hard wired to the router.

major - when I install the printer, after deleting all printers from the hard wired computer, everything seems to go great, but when the computer sends a test page, nothing happens and I have to delete the print job from the start/settings/printer faxes menu - and that can take a long time.  But nothing will print, just back up in the printer spool.  Put everything back, no print server, and I can print normally from the wired computer.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

thorin

thorin wrote on Aug 13^th, 2006 at 10:33pm:

minor - How do I tell Zone Alarm to let the print server connect with the network?  I have to shut down Zone Alarm in order for the print server to be seen when I attempt to install it on my hard wired computer - hard wired to the router. major - when I install the printer, after deleting all printers from the hard wired computer, everything seems to go great, but when the computer sends a test page, nothing happens and I have to delete the print job from the start/settings/printer faxes menu - and that can take a long time.  But nothing will print, just back up in the printer spool.  Put everything back, no print server, and I can print normally from the wired computer.

Zone Alarm should allow you to open a few ports or two allow a certian application.  Unfortunatly, I am not familiar with what ports you will need to open or the exact steps you have to take in Zone Alarm.  The print-server documentation should tell you how to deal with firewalls and the Zone Alarm documentation should walk you through the steps.

As far as your test page goes, what pring queue is it going into?  You said that you deleted all the printers.  Did you reinstall the printer on the network afterwards?  It sounds like you might need to install the printer and set it as default.  If this is WinXP, the open up "Printers" from the Control Panel, then click on "Add new Printer" in the blue bar at the left.  A wizard will come up and walk you through.  Make sure to choose "Network Printer" rather than a local printer.

Thanks MrMagoo,

I had reinstalled the printer,  but the CompUSA directions said to install it as a local printer.  Will try again when I get back from work.

Oh, by the way, according to something I saw, I believe it is port 137 that Zone Alarm is blocking.

thorin

thorin

No *expert* on networks, but I have some experience--from what you have said--


Quote:

How do I tell Zone Alarm to let the print server connect with the network?

Correct me if I'm wrong--I use *printer sharing*--the printer is set up as a local printer attached to one of my computers--that computer has to be on--print jobs are sent to that computer over the network for printing.

On my other computers, I have to add a *network printer* that points to the computer that has the *local* printer connected to it--so on one of the computers without the printer attached, it says *\\my computer's name with the printer attached\my local printer driver name on the computer that has the printer attached*.


I assume that a print server is a stand alone device that's connected to the network, and has the printer attached to it rather than one of the computers on the network--and it receives a print command from one of the attached computers and handles sending that document to the printer for output.

Seems like you should be adding a *network printer* to each of your computers that points to that print server device on the network.

Your documentation should tell you how to access the print server--i.e. its name as it will be seen on the network.

Does your router have built-in DHCP function for your local network--i.e. it assigns IP addresses automatically to NIC's attached to it--or is your system set up with static addresses?

Your print server has to have an IP address for the router to route print jobs to it--my router uses local DHCP--and depending on what computer is started first--or what port on the router a computer is attached--the IP address for a given computer can change--the best way to allow ZoneAlarm to not choke if your router re-assigns IP's to different computers is to tell ZoneAlarm to allow a *range* of IP addresses on the local network that corresponds to the *range* of IP addresses that your router will assign to devices that it sees.

So, in ZoneAlarm, go to the *Firewall* tab, select *Add >>*, select *IP Range*, *Trusted* is the default zone, type in the beginning IP address that your router starts with for assigning IP addresses, and then type in the ending IP address you want to include, and finally a brief description of your network that will show in ZoneAlarm's *Firewall* listing (I used *Home Network*).

thorin wrote on Aug 14^th, 2006 at 5:39am:

I had reinstalled the printer,  but the CompUSA directions said to install it as a local printer.  Will try again when I get back from work.

This sounds similar to an experience I had with a Netgear print server that was attached to the network (not a pc).  On each pc, I installed the Netgear client software, and then installed a "local" printer.  In effect the Netgear local software browses and looks on the network for its print server and the printer(s) attached to it.

So, those directions are consistent with my experience.

You might have to allow the CompUSA application access through your firewall.  Best to test everything without firewalls and then turn firewall back on after it is working and adjust.

Although I'm not familiar with the CompUSA printserver, printers are typically setup through these devices as "local" printers.  They are not using Microsoft's "file and printer sharing", they are printing through a "local" port--except the local port is a tcp/ip port instead of a lpt or usb port.  (Check the 'Ports' tab of any of your printers' properties page and you should see one or more tcp/ip ports.)

As the others have said, shut off ZA until you get the printer working.  Then turn ZA back on and try to print a test page.  It's been awhile since I've used ZA, but it should pop up an alert window, and you'd tell ZA to make a rule allowing this traffic permanently.

The printserver probably has a built-in webserver for configuration, so you should be able to use your web browser to navigate to the ps's ip addr.  If you can do that, you've at least got a connection to the ps.  If you can't, then that's the first issue you've got to resolve.

Printservers shouldn't really require installing any software to make them work.  However, they generally do need a fixed ip addr on your network.  If the ps is setup to get its ip via dhcp, then that ip can shift and your computer won't be able to find it.  I think that's the purpose of much of the software that comes with the ps--to overcome that limitation.

Personally, I never install software along with the printserver.  I instead use a static ip addr for the ps, then use a web browser to navigate to the ip addr and configure the ps.  IMHO, more software just means more places to troubleshoot.  Then I manually add an ip port (during "Add Printer" wizard) and tell the wizard to use that port.  The rest just breezes through, as easy as installing a lpt printer.

Are you being instructed to do any of this, or is the software setup routine trying to do everything for you?