Slow wifi printing C659

[BHM]

Have a customer with two companies. One prints through the Ethernet port and the other company through the UK-212 wifi card we added to the machine. One lady prints large pdf files, typically 500-700 pages. Through the Ethernet, it prints as normal. Through the wifi, it is slow as hell. Did a speed test with my laptop and it does not seem to be a traffic issue. The machine is right next to the router. Did not see in the service or admin mode any speed settings for the UK-212.

Anybody see similar speed issues with the UK-212?

[tsbservice]

Hard wired always better.

[BHM]

Have a customer with two companies. One prints through the Ethernet port and the other company through the UK-212 wifi card we added to the machine. One lady prints large pdf files, typically 500-700 pages. Through the Ethernet, it prints as normal. Through the wifi, it is slow as hell. Did a speed test with my laptop and it does not seem to be a traffic issue. The machine is right next to the router. Did not see in the service or admin mode any speed settings for the UK-212.

Anybody see similar speed issues with the UK-212?


I agree 100% but can’t put two Ethernet cards in the machine.

[femaster]

I agree 100% but can’t put two Ethernet cards in the machine.

Very true. Best thing in this situation is a second machine. Probably not an option either, but this is really how it should be handled.

Unfortunately I can't help with the WiFi issue, don't know the first thing about it. We don't even allow it as an option. Of the 1500+ machines we service, there is only 1 machine (a C287) with a WiFi module. It was a Konica State Contract machine, so we had no choice. Customer is always complaining about problems with printing and scanning on that machine, despite there being a strong signal to it. It just seems that these WiFi modules don't work well at all.

[blackcat4866]

How about a USB print server? =^..^=

[copier addict]

Maybe I missed something, but why can't both companies print through the ethernet port?

[BillyCarpenter]

Maybe I missed something, but why can't both companies print through the ethernet port?


That's a damn good question. Different subnets, perhaps? If so, you can still make it work.

[copier addict]

That's a damn good question. Different subnets, perhaps? If so, you can still make it work.


That's what I was thinking

[slimslob]

It just might have to do with data rates. Data rate of the wired connection should be 100 Mbps. Data rate of the WiFi connection depends on the specific standard used by the slowest of the 2 devices, the AP and the WiFi board in the MFP. It could be as slow as 5.5 Mbps for 902.11b, theoretically 11 Mbps which is seldom achieved other than a continuous data stream. How Fast Is a Wi-Fi Network? (https://www.lifewire.com/how-fast-is-a-wifi-network-816543)

[BHM]

Maybe I missed something, but why can't both companies print through the ethernet port?


Two companies. Each owned by two brothers. Same building and facilities. One wholesale and the other retail and companies must be completely on individual networks.


The mentioned two machine option would be ideal. They paid 20k cash four years ago so we will present them an option for a second machine or two smaller machines.

Might even switch which company is on what network since one does not print large jobs.

[BillyCarpenter]

Two companies. Each owned by two brothers. Same building and facilities. One wholesale and the other retail and companies must be completely on individual networks.


The mentioned two machine option would be ideal. They paid 20k cash four years ago so we will present them an option for a second machine or two smaller machines.

Might even switch which company is on what network since one does not print large jobs.

There are ways for 2 separate networks to print to the same printer. It would involve installing a layer 3 switch and setting up inter-vlan routing. It's common for a large company to logically (vlan) separate departments for security reasons but use inter-vlan for situations just like the one you're talking about.

[BHM]

There are ways for 2 separate networks to print to the same printer. It would involve installing a layer 3 switch and setting up inter-vlan routing. It's common for a large company to logically (vlan) separate departments for security reasons but use inter-vlan for situations just like the one you're talking about.

Thanks for this info. I will pass along to their IT guy. Seems like the two brothers are in a little family feud. Business inherited from dad. A problem me and my brothers will never have. But then again we don’t ever fight so probably a good thing dad left us very little.

[BillyCarpenter]

Thanks for this info. I will pass along to their IT guy. Seems like the two brothers are in a little family feud. Business inherited from dad. A problem me and my brothers will never have. But then again we don’t ever fight so probably a good thing dad left us very little.


I'm just curious...how many PC's total are in the building?

[KenB]

Been there.

Here’s an easy solution:

1. Dredge up an old PC.

2. Add in a wireless NIC, or even a USB one.

3. Put the PC on the wired network, with a valid IP address.

4. Add the PC to the wireless network, also with a valid IP address for it.

5. Add the MFP as a printer, and share it.

6. The PC will act as a print server for both networks.

The PC can be almost any version of Windows, or almost any version of Linux. (If you go with Linux, you would need to configure the printer under CUPS.)

Personally, I’d go with Linux (Ubuntu would be my most likely choice) as it’s absolutely free, and antivirus is much less of a concern. It also is much more efficient than Windows, and can do more with fewer resources, such as processor power and RAM.

[BHM]

I'm just curious...how many PC's total are in the building?


Probably about 40-50 total.

[slimslob]

Probably about 40-50 total.

They would definitely be better off with separate MFP for each company. It would eliminate a lot of accounting headaches comes tax time and having to distribute the costs of operation between the 2 companies. One minor mistake could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax penalties.

[slimslob]

I have a question, why not just setup Mobile printing support such as Google Cloud Print Classic? According to the spec sheet it is an available feature/option. The people working from home can also print.