My mum's got herself her first laptop but still uses the desktop for now aswell

at the moment she has a USB printer connected to the desktop (doesn't have any other plugs)
this is then cabled up to the hub (BT home hub in this case)

the desktop is running XP home and the laptop x64 win7 home (premium I think)

I assume I could setup some kind of home network for file and printer sharing (despite the different windows versions) - but would it might be to connect the printer to the hub directly (I think I've seen some LAN adapter thingys before)


whats the best way to achive this / pro's and con's ??
(I'm quite happy working with PC's - but usless at making them talk to each other )

-Robert

[Edited on 15/2/2011 by mcerd1]

Easiest thing is to just share the printer on the pc, - (Right click on the printer icon and enable sharing)

then assuming the PC and Lappy are in the same work group, install the printer on the Lappy from there (add a printer wizard click network printer option)

Have a go and see if you can do it then come back and ask questions

grr, just wrote a huge message, and got the too many connection screen, and lost it.
yes it can be done through the desktop (ie you press print on the laptop, it sends the request to the desktop, and printing is done through there. all wirelessly. with bt hub

my printer is ONLY connected to the desktop. can't remember the exact in and outs of how i did it, but it can be done with what she's got. of course, the desktop would need to be on for printing to work

I think the only problem with that setup is that the desktop would need to be on all the time (which it isn't at the moment) - is there a way round that without spending alot ? (sorry should have said that before)

quote:

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Originally posted by blakep82
grr, just wrote a huge message, and got the too many connection screen, and lost it.

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You 'might' be able to plug the usb cable into the home hub but it is not a BT supported function so it might or might not work.

If it does work it will give the printer an IP address and you will have to capture the printer IP port on the Lappy - nothing to lose by trying it. You will need to install the printer on the lappy first so that the drivers are present when you connect over the network.

google home hub and printer for info

ah, well, you can just buy wifi printers now, so they sit on the network as a wifi device, and you print through the hub that way, or there are ones you plug in via a lan cable, if she fancies a new printer that is...
example

Belkin do a network usb hub which plugs in to the wifi router and you can plug in the printer and then print from which ever machine you are on. This is what I have and we have and setup is a piece of p*ss

George

it is a new printer she's got (a couple of months before the laptop) and she's very happy with it so I don't want to change it

might have a go at plugging it into the hub, doubt that'll work but you never know...

I've been searching for a network adapter, but I don't think I'm finding the right things (one was £2.99 thats almost worth a punt)

its an epson P50 if that makes any odds

if the Home hub doesn't work you could try a wireless print server like Linksys WPS54G Wireless-G USB Print Printer Server on eBay (end time 19-Feb-11 15:04:24 GMT)

any reason one of these wouldn't work ? link y

quote:

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Originally posted by hearbear
Belkin do a network usb hub which plugs in to the wifi router and you can plug in the printer and then print from which ever machine you are on. This is what I have and we have and setup is a piece of p*ss

George

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The USB/Ethernet thing is highly unlikely to work. You need a print server and that is just a converter.

In any case doesn't the Home hub already have a USB port?

The belkin thing should do it but I avoid Belkin like the plague because it is poor quality and unreliable.

The WiFi/USB printer adapters are extremely fussy about which printers they will work with IME. My dads boss bought one and asked me to install it, and it simply wouldn't work properly with his Lexmark, the printer was detected but couldn't print. I took it home to try it on my Epson printer and it mostly worked but would hang up quite often and need a reset. A brand new printer with built in WiFi is barely more expensive than the adapter these days.


[Edited on 16/2/11 by MikeRJ]

Exactly as MikeRJ says you could buy an network to USB printer adaptor to find it won't work.
Short term solution is share the printer on the existing PC longer term solution is when the printer wears out buy a printer that has some form of networking built in ie wired ethernet, Wifi or even Bluetooth

think PCs actually work better when they're on al the time anyway, at least thats what i was told, and thats what i do. uses less energy too compared to switching on and off.
besides, if she wants to print when the desktop isn't on, just go into the other room and plug it into the printer directly?

I'm glad I asked before I bought anything, I'll make do for now then

the desktop in question is probably only turned on for a couple of ours ever 2 or 3 days at the moment but she'll just need to live with it for now

PCs that are left on all the time act like vacuum cleaners and get choked up with fluff.

On the other hand leaving inject printers on saves a lot of ink.

Or you could try plugging the printer into the home hub as mentioned above.

Instructions here

It cost nothing and it might just work

As I said the belkin network usb hub does work and was a piece of p*ss to install you can plug in external hard drives, cameras and any other usb stuff and it works no problem. This is speaking from experience with this hub and not on any hear say from a friend of a friend.
You don't need to leave the desktop on to print just the computer you are using.

quote:

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Originally posted by mookaloid
Or you could try plugging the printer into the home hub as mentioned above.

Instructions here

It cost nothing and it might just work

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