Networking my stone-age printer?

[balzak]

I currently own an HP Laserjet 4M+ (with duplex for printing on both sides). It takes up a lot of space, is loud, and it's slow. But, it has been exceedingly reliable and replacement cartridges are so cheap I can print as much as I want without worrying about the cost.

What would be the cheapest way to have access to the printer through our wireless network? Would it just be to purchase a JetDirect card like this and use a bridge to get it on the Wifi? This is my first time doing something like this and I want to make sure I only get what I need.

[odysseus]

Yes, you will need a supported jetdirect option card installed on the printer, and some connection to a wifi AP.

[smird]

Probably something like this, if it only has a parallel port:

http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Wireless-1-Port-Parallel-TEW-P1PG/dp/B0009FUX94

[JDay]

You'd probably be better off just buying another laser printer that has networking built in. Toner is always much cheaper than ink and you will not have to worry about not having drivers on the newer operating systems. Just remember that laser printers almost always come with a sample toner cartridge, I've seen people freak out thinking that the replacement ones are going to hold just as little.

This Samsung is on sale right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828112184

And all of these are network laser printers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008048%20600046497&IsNodeId=1&name=Workgroup

[Justintoxicated]

I just plug my printer into my WHS and enable sharing.

Done no special stuff needed.

[JDay]

I just plug my printer into my WHS and enable sharing.

Done no special stuff needed.

What do you mean no special stuff needed, do you think everyone just happens to have a Windows Home Server box sitting around? They're not exactly cheap.

[five.five-six]

my NAS has a printer port.... weird huh?

[alexf2k9]

if it has a usb port you can buy a wireless router with usb support and plug the printer into that.

[badfish2]

Google trendnet tew p1pg print server, should do the job.. Sorry can't post the link from my phone

[JDay]

if it has a usb port you can buy a wireless router with usb support and plug the printer into that.

The printer in question predates USB by two years. This is why I suggested buying a new one, as finding drivers will be an issue.

[balzak]

Most cheap network print servers (meaning really Ethernet + TCP/IP to parallel printer port adapters) are excruciatingly slow. The reason is that they use tiny little microcontrollers, with tiny little buffers, forcing the sender to do huge numbers of packets. They also typically implement the protocols (be it lpd or raw port 9100 very badly.

I would instead suggest placing the printer near a computer with an actual parallel printer port, and using the computer as a print server. If that computer can't be your usual desktop machine, then a very small computer (like a Soekris or Alix) would do pretty well.

Do you have some other computer already in the home, which is already on most of the time, and acting as some sort of server? If yes, just use that as a print server.

My printer is already stupidly slow at times. Especially when printing photos or anything that is a large file size. I think it has to do with he tiny amount of memory the HP4 has, it seems like each page needs to be sent individually at times. Also printing on both sides of the page is pretty slow as well. All that said, I wonder if there would be a noticeable difference in speed using the network card.

Setting up a bare-bones machine next to the printer is a possibility (a file server would be nice). Moving one of our existing machines next to it is not, it's loud and ugly and I like to keep it hidden from view.

You'd probably be better off just buying another laser printer that has networking built in. Toner is always much cheaper than ink and you will not have to worry about not having drivers on the newer operating systems. Just remember that laser printers almost always come with a sample toner cartridge, I've seen people freak out thinking that the replacement ones are going to hold just as little.

This Samsung is on sale right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828112184

And all of these are network laser printers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...name=Workgroup

My HP4 is REALLY cheap. I buy replacement toner cartridges on ebay, sometimes paying less than $20/each, and each one gives me thousands of prints. Basically I'm just paying for paper (which is less than $3/500 sheets at Wal-Mart). I've had a couple other laser printers and they never compared in terms of reliability or economy. I actually considered getting a newer one recently, but after researching replacement toner cartridges and such I didn't see anything out there that would be nearly as cheap to print as the HP4. I'm not opposed to a new printer. I'd like something maybe a little less bulky, and little less noisy, and doesn't make the lights flicker in the house when it is turned on. But, since I print so much stuff, replacement toner prices are the biggest factor. I'll check out the ones you linked to, though, thanks.

Google trendnet tew p1pg print server, should do the job.. Sorry can't post the link from my phone

Looks like the same one smird posted. Something like that would be excellent, just one part to buy for >$70. It looks like one of the reviewers said he couldn't get it to work with his HP4, but I'll look into it more.

[alexf2k9]

The printer in question predates USB by two years. This is why I suggested buying a new one, as finding drivers will be an issue.

yeah i didnt look up the specs for the printer.....

[JDay]

yeah i didnt look up the specs for the printer.....

I have a similar model sitting around unused, they're ancient. Although mine actually has a dongle that allows me to plug it into the network and use it's built-in print server.

[orchard]

Try Craigslist for an external network print server. I paid $10 for mine with a cable.

[joefrank64k]

I networked (is that a word?) an old HP 6L laser printer using a parallel-to-USB cable, plugging the USB cable into my Apple Time Machine (which has a built-in print server).

Prior to the Time Machine, I had an inexpensive external NAS HDD with a built-in print server, connected to a wireless router, and the 6L w/the Parallel-to-USB cable worked great.

With either set-up I can print from Macbooks, Win 7 desktops, and Win 7 notebooks wired or wirelessly. The cable was about $20 from Fry's, and I'm sure you can find one on the net.

I'm with you on wanting to keep the old warhorse...my 6L just keeps cranking along, and I bought a case of HP toner from one of those outlet places for about $40 a couple of years ago, so I'm stocked for a good, long time!