networking a printer

[julesSC]

I have a Linksys WRT54G router and an HP DeskJet 940c printer. My desktop pc is wired to the router and my laptop accesses it wirelessly. The printer is connected via USB to my desktop PC. I currently access the printer with my laptop through file/printer sharing, which requires that the desktop pc be up and running. My question is, is there a way to access the printer from my laptop without going through the desktop pc? Would I have to get a print server or can it be connected somehow directly to the router?

 

[Win2kpatcher]

If the printer has a built in ethernet port then yes you can connect directly to the router(this is not common for a home inkjet). If it doesnt then yes you must purchase a print server. They dont cost to much and are worth it. You then plug your USB cable from the printer into the print server, then plug a cat5 cable from the print server to the router.

I would suggest manually assigning an IP address to the print server so you know what IP address to enter when setting this up in Windows via a standard tcp\ip port. Then so long as the router/printer server is on that is the only thing the printer depends on. No more PC wahhooo!