Networking an all-in-one printer?

Question

Hello!

Forgive me if this is a dumb question but I'm still learning when it comes to this wireless networking thing.

Less than two months ago, we set up DSL at my house. SBC sent a 2Wire modem, which means it's also a wireless router. I know the wireless works because my Nintendo Wii accesses the internet through it.

Right now we only have one computer in the house, my Dell Dimension 3000 running Windows XP.

In the basement (two floors below where the computer and the DSL modem are) my father has an HP all-in-one printer (printer/scanner/copier). I would like to use the scanning capabilities of this printer, scan stuff to edit on my Dell.

Is there a way to connect this all-in-one to my computer via my wireless gateway and use the scanning capabilities? I've been reading a little bit about networking and I've seen mention of print servers that hook up to printers but would that be a two-way connection, where I can use the scanner or would it be one-way and I can only print to this all-in-one?

And if there is a device that'll let me do this, please let me know exactly which one to get! :)

Thanks in advance for any help!

Mary Jo

Message Edited by VW_Chick1979 on 01-08-200709:47 PM

jmwills · Answer

Just connect the device to the other computer providing it stays on all the time, if not, get a print server whihc would allow the device to connect to the router but scanning will be next to impossible. Printing will be snap.

After sharing the printer on the computer it is connected to, perhaps this will help:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networ..._net_print.htm

Also, The basics for networking are:

1. Make sure you have the same IP scheme (e.g. 192.168.0.x).

2. Make sure you have the same Subnet Mask, Gateway, and DNS IP addresses.

3. Make sure you can ping the other computer's IP address. If this fails, just for testing, make sure you turn off XP's as well as any other firewall.

4. Make sure you can ping the other computers by name.

5. Make sure you have the same workgroup name (watch for trailing spaces)

6. For troubleshooting purposes, turn off XP's and completely uninstall any other firewall software. You can always add more complexity after you get it working.

7. With XP, make sure you have the same username and password as the person logging onto the other computers. The default setting for XP Pro is to require a password for network access.

8. More details about how to network XP can be found at:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_network.htm

9. More details about how to troubleshoot TCP/IP networks can be found at:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/trouble.htm

There continues to be a lot of misinformation about needing NetBEUI or to changing the NetBIOS setting. You can ignore both. Installing NetBEUI to solve a networking problem will just mask a some underlying and potentially important misconfiguration with TCP/IP. The default NetBIOS setting usually works. If browsing is a problem, you might set it to Enabled. But do not Disable it.

jmwills · Answer

I have not fooled around with those types of print servers in so long but it seems I do remember connections.  Scanning will be hit or miss.   You might want to consider a device that not only offers backup capapbility but act as a print server to.  Buffalo Tehcologies has several hard drive enclosures (anywhere from 150 gigs to a couple of terrabytes) that have the ability to connect printers to them via USB and act as a print server also.   What?  You're not backing up your documents??

VW_Chick1979 · Answer

Well, right now the all-in-one is not hooked up to another computer. Eventually we plan on getting a second computer but that's way down the line. So I guess that means scanning is out of the picture?

Mary Jo

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Networking an all-in-one printer?

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