Dummies, Wireless

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Part II: Making Plans
all computers on the network can potentially print to either printer. Or perhaps
you just want to sit by the pool with your wireless laptop and still be
able to print to the printer up in your bedroom; it’s easy with a networkattached
printer.
You can also share other peripherals, such as network-aware scanners and
fax machines. Leading manufacturers of digital imaging equipment (such as
Hewlett-Packard) offer feature-rich, multiple-function peripherals that combine
an inkjet or laser printer with a scanner, copier, telephone, answering
machine, and fax machine. HP and Brother both offer wireless printers that
make adding a shared printer to your network simple and quick. If you
already have a printer, you can find wireless print servers such as the HP
Jetdirect ew2400 802.11g Wireless Print Server to convert your wired printer
to a wireless printer.
Here are two ways to share printers over a wired or wireless network:
� Connect to a computer: The easiest and cheapest way to connect a
printer to the network is to connect a printer to one of the computers
on the network. Windows enables you to share any printer connected
to any Windows computer on the network. (For more on this topic, read
Chapter 10.) The computer to which the printer is connected has to be
running for any other computers on the network to use the printer.
Similarly, if you’re using Apple computers, any computer connected to
the network can print to a printer that’s connected to one of the computers
on the network.
� Use a print server: Another way to add a printer is through a print server.
As we mention earlier, several hardware manufacturers produce print
server devices that enable you to connect one or more printers directly
to the network. Some of these devices connect via a network cable, and
others are wireless. Many high-end printers even have print server
options installed inside the printer cabinet. The cost for a home use,
stand-alone network print server has come down a lot in the past few
years, but printers with Wi-Fi built in tend to be at the high end of the
price range. Surprisingly, some manufacturers bundle a print server with
their wireless router at little or no additional cost. If you shop around,
you can easily find a wireless AP, cable, or DSL router and print server
bundled in one device.
You should be able to get your home network printer connections for free.
Obviously, it doesn’t cost anything to connect a printer to a computer that’s
already connected to the network. Several manufacturers also include a print
server for free with other network devices. If you don’t need one of those
devices, just connect the printer you want to share to one of the computers
on your home network.
Figure 4-3 depicts a home network with one printer connected to one of the
PCs on the network and another printer connected to a wireless Internet gateway,
which is a device that bundles a wireless AP and an Ethernet/cable/DSL