Wireless Printing How To? Bridge?

[Guest]

I've a b/w sharp arm550 that is in a personal residence and as it stands now, they've a 50ft nic cable running through their home. We need to setup wireless printing and I've not done it before. if anyone has, I'd appreciate the insight, otherwise we're looking at outsourcing which will be costly.

[RRodgers]

I've done installs with a wireless bridge, "usually" it works fine but can "sometimes" drop off. Not hard to setup.

[vintageman]

thanks for taking the time on a saturday. will you say what I'm looking at for hardware and the basic setup procedure.

[johnbla]

I've used 2 wireless routers in a small warehouse business..

Hardwired an Mx4501 to one Wi-Router.. and WiFi/Bridged the Routers together..
Had to mess arround with Gateways etc.. slow at times but it worked

[KenB]

We have a few machines set up this way - where the network is wireless and then an MFP is added that only offers a wired connection. We get this mostly in very old buildings (a lot of churches, it seems) where it's just not practical or feasible to run cable to their router.

You can buy numerous network devices to do the trick that can be configured as a WAP (Wireless Access Point). You simply attach a short network cable between it and the printer. The WAP will communicate with the wireless router, and will pass the signal to the wired port.

The trick is to make sure that you have a strong signal where the WAP will be. If it is strong you should have no issues.

Linksys, Asus, Netgear, and Belkin are just a few manufacturers who make these devices. The good news is that they come with setup instructions to get you going, and offer web and phone support if you get stuck. Because these are SOHO (Small Office and Home) devices, the help that they offer is geared toward the "do-it-yourselfer", and not an IT pro.

[unisys12]

This is were I buy mine, but you should be able to find similar items in your area... Wireless Ethernet Bridges, 802.11b 802.11g Wireless Networking Bridge at TigerDirect.com

I have used both the Linksys WET610N and 600N. Both work just as well.

As for set up...

1 - Plug the new bridge into the clients wireless router
2 - Put the enclosed CD in your laptop or another PC on the network.
3 - Run through the wizard, connecting the bridge to the wireless router. Basically you pick the wireless network you want to join.
4 - Unplug the bridge from the router and plug it into the MFP
5 - Once booted, your MFP is not online.

Since your MFP is already networked, to test - wait for the bridge to come online. Usually that means that the wireless light on the bridge will lite up. Print a test page from the driver. that's it.

That simple!

[Hansoon]

Just a question: Why a bridge? Why not a WiFi router?

Hans

[johnbla]

Dunno

I just bought a cheap NetGear router and made it talk to their existing WiFi Router



I went here for the idiots guide how to.....
TechRepublic - A Resource for IT Professionals

[RyanPacific]

The absolute very best solution to this problem is a very simple one. Assuming they already have a wireless network and you simply want to make the copier wireless. Go to pretty much any electronics retailer and buy a device called "Wireless Game Adapter" made by Linsys I think. Just plug it into the ethernet port on the copier and it will broadcast the TCP/IP information from the copier's NIC to the wireless network.

[glewisme]

Really could it be that simple?

[tmaged]

Really could it be that simple?

Yep

[nmfaxman]

Wireless gaming adapter. Make sure it will support the security on the router. $50.00 to $75.00. Piece of cake to set up. I have 5 out with no problems.