Printing wirelessly

[compused]

Hiya,

My partner and I now both have laptops and have now signed up with an ISP provider and have two wireless dongles.

The printer is still linked up to our PC, so if we were to add this printer to our laptops in the "Add Printer" programme, could we print to this printer wirelessly, or is there more steps involved to do this?

Your advice would be much appreciated.

Compused

 

[Tmagic650]

You will have to Network the laptops to the PC, then you can add the printer to the laptops and print wirelessly as long as the PC and the printer is turned on. I know you have a wireless router

 

[LookinAround]

Assuming you throw a wireless router into the equation to create your own LAN to connect the PC and two laptops, Yes. that should work provided you configure a Home Network among your machines.

You running XP or Vista? i happened re-discover this link which is a bit dated but can be generally helpful even if some of the details might have changed. Just give a holler if you need further assistance

 

[DelJo63]

get a device known as a 'print server' and install it like

router---printServer---printer

now ANY pc can access the 'Networked Printer' without the need of any other PC running at the same time

 

[compused]

We both signed up with an ISP provider and got two dongles to operate our laptops wirelessly, although mine states it has an integrated wireless LAN facility and an INTEL duo processor, so I thought I would only need a programme, not a dongle. My partner's laptop does not have a built in modem.

We don't have a wireless router and both laptops operate on Vista whereas our PC operates on XP, so perhaps they would not work together and it would be easier to get a memory stick to print off stuff.

Compused

 

[DelJo63]

AHHH!

each system has an independent wireless connection directly to the ISP,
sharing nothing between them.

this will not allow a Print Server[a] nor to use the File/Print Sharing[c] feature of windows.

to share equipment you need something like

mode---router (perhaps wireless)

This would allow both [a & c] above.

 

[compused]

The two laptops share the same ISP provider but the PC computer is using a differnt ISP provider. I think we had better stick to getting a memory stick.

Compused

 

[DelJo63]

you are correct -- stick with a stick

Having a common ISP is not really sharing a common resource.
The ISP is assigning you individual IP address and if File\Print sharing were
enabled in your firewall, the WHOLE WORLD could access your system.

When we speak of Print\File Sharing, it is on the LAN side of a router
(which is missing in your case).

 

[compused]

I forgot to mention - the reason why we signed up for separate broadband is because each includes our mobile phones as well. It worked out that that the minimum charge is going to be £5 cheaper each month than our existing provider for our phones, plus the broadband wasn't that much more; in fact we'll end up paying about £3 more for both a mobile and broadband than we were paying for our phone alone. We don't send many texts so only pay the minimum charge for our mobiles. My Niece has used this provider for her mobile phone for some time and hasn't had any trouble with it.

Thank you so much for your helpful suggestions and help. I think I will invest in a memory stick and do it that way.

Compused.

 

[DelJo63]

That's a great price. Here in the U.S. the data rates are extra and quickly get expensive when used for Web access.

Best wishes