wireless print server for IP4500

[stevec]

I don't know if this is the correct forum for this but my wife has just bought a laptop and we need a wireless printer server for her to use imy Canon IP4500 printer. Will any of the multitude of devices out there do or are there specifics I need to take into consideration?

 

[msmart]

Do you have a wireless router that your PC is connected to (either wired or wireless). I have a desktop PC with a iP4500 and share it out for our laptop to use wirelessly.

Depending on your home network set up, you may not need an additional device.

 

[stevec]

I have an Orange Livebox wireless router which the laptop accesses the internet through. Can I work through this then?

 

[IanYY]

You can attach the ip4500 to the Orange Livebox with a USB cable, and then your PC and laptop can both print via the Livebox.

The catch is that you will probably lose the ink level monitoring functions. It is possible, though unlikely, that Orange may have fixed this problem with a firmware upgrade. Experiment!

One example set of instructions ... http://livebox.tomhallam.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-install-a-printer-to-your-livebox-liveprinter.html ... note in particular instruction 10 - set it up as a local printer. Also it probably helps if you have previously got the printer working directly attached to the laptop so that all necessary drivers are already installed on the laptop.

There are many other guides to Livebox printing (via Google) and they differ in detail, so you may need to experiment again.

BTW Don't forget you can also define the ip4500 as a shared printer on the PC and then print to it from the laptop (see msmart's reply). I'm not giving the full instructions for that since you didn't ask for that solution, but once again the best way of setting up the ip4500 on the laptop is to define it as a *local* printer attached to port \\pc-name\printer-share-name. The catch this time is that the PC has to be turned on, but you do get ink level monitoring via the PC.

Ian

 

[stevec]

I would rather opt for a solution which retained the ink monitor function so I will llok further into the shared printer option.

 

[websnail]

I spent quite a bit of time on this when I was looking at putting some Canons in with CIS's (long painful story there).

The solution I found was the Silex 6700WG units for wired/wireless and the 6200U units for wired only.

If you're interested I have a 1 x new and 1 x used 6700WG's units that are excess to requirements as well as some used 6200U's... Not that I'm trying to palm them off, I still use 6700WG with my MP830 and a 6200U is waiting for me to fix up my iP4500.


Just as a thought you might want to look into USB network hubs like Belkin have as they may well do the job as well although they will require client software to be installed to connect to the printer which can be a bit of an annoyance factor. Worth a look though.

Cheers,

Martin

 

[msmart]

the best way of setting up the ip4500 on the laptop is to define it as a *local* printer attached to port \\pc-name\printer-share-name. The catch this time is that the PC has to be turned on, but you do get ink level monitoring via the PC.

Yep, that's my set up. (My desktop is also wirelessly connected to the router.)