Networking Printers

is it possible to add network capabilities to a printer that doesn't come out of the box with network capabilities? cause i've been looking for a laser printer that i can hook up to my network at home, and i've seen a lot of printers boasting "preinstalled 10/100 nic for network capabilities "...i've been wondering if it is possible to just jam a generic 10/100 card into the printer, as paying an extra 150-200 dollars for network capability when i can get a lan card for 20 bucks is not a choice i like. if this is possible, or if limited to certain printers, do tell. i'm looking for a laser color printer without network capability out of the box in which i can modify to have network capabilites. thanks

 

For any printer to accept a network module, it has to have been designed to accept one when it was manufactured. Not many printers fit that bill.

I have an HP5 with a duplex unit. I would give anything if I had sprung for the extra $150 (at the time) for the "N" model (for Network). It would uncomplicate things for me. As it is, my HP5 is connected to one computer on my network and that computer as well as the printer must be turned on for anyone to have access to that printer. That is a problem as sometimes the computer is being reconfigured or run occasionally in DOS mode to perform tasks that cannot be done in Windows. And, there is the extra wear and tear of having that computer on 24/7 just so everyone can use the printer.

There is a work-around that I could use; but, a sufficiently-sized piece of hardware (called a print server--a little box about the size of an external modem) costs as much as a medium grade laser printer. The print server, which would take the place of the computer in my case, must contain enough memory to spool the entire print job; otherwise, it will stop at whatever point it ran out of memory.

Case in point: I set up a six-computer network in a doctor's office. After I left, he decided he wanted the printer on a wall where there was only a network connector but no computer. He got a print server and connected the printer. Everything went fine until billing day when he needed to print more than just a few pages at once. It was then that he called me. (If he had called me in the first place, I could have saved him the anguish.) He was attempting to print a large job with a tiny print server that cost about $100.

And, it doesn't seem to matter how large a printer server you get, there seems to always be a job that pops up that is too big for it.

I built him a cheap computer from spare parts to act as a print server. Total cost was about $400, which is what a really good server would have cost at the time. The advantage to what I set up was was that the computer was unlimited in the size of print job it would handle.

My advice? Get the printer with the network connector built in. There hasn't been a week passed in the last three or four years that I haven't wished for that networked model.

 

I have an HP5 with a duplex unit. I would give anything if I had sprung for the extra $150 (at the time) for the "N" model (for Network). It would uncomplicate things for me. As it is, my HP5 is connected to one computer on my network and that computer as well as the printer must be turned on for anyone to have access to that printer. That is a problem as sometimes the computer is being reconfigured or run occasionally in DOS mode to perform tasks that cannot be done in Windows. And, there is the extra wear and tear of having that computer on 24/7 just so everyone can use the printer.

I do not have the same printer but the same problem.

MY next Printer will be plugged into the Router/switch. Along with the three machines. Then as long as the Router/Switch is powered it should work.

BillyBob