Printer - can i make it wireless?

wazza

Have a Epson Stylus SX215 all-in-one printer which is connected to a pc via usb cable. It is a pain to remove the cable to connect to a laptop for the child to use the printer.

The printer is linked to a desktop pc. There are two other laptops in the house. They all want access. Told them to get one with a wireless feature. But they bought this printer to save money.

They have wireless network.

Any way i can make the printer wireless?

Darksun

You can use printer sharing, only downside with that is the PC would have to be on when you want to print from one of the laptops

You can get standalone wireless printers that sit on your network, they're pricey though, I've only ever seen laser printers designed for offices that can do this

scottishblondie

As above printer sharing on the PC, or buy a wireless print server to plug it into. They're pricey tho - starting at around £50 based on a quick google search - which is actually more expensive that the cheapest wireless printer I found here.

Darksun

scottishblondie wrote: »

As above printer sharing on the PC, or buy a wireless print server to plug it into. They're pricey tho - starting at around £50 based on a quick google search - which is actually more expensive that the cheapest wireless printer I found here.

I didn't know wireless printers were available so cheaply these days! Thanks for the link

turbobob

You can share the printer across a network yes. If all computers were running XP it's pretty straightforward - see here http://www.home-network-help.com/share-printer.html

Might be more tricky if they are using different different OS's.

scottishblondie

turbobob wrote: »

You can share the printer across a network yes. If all computers were running XP it's pretty straightforward - see here http://www.home-network-help.com/share-printer.html

Might be more tricky if they are using different different OS's.

Not really - I have 2 printers connected to an XP PC shared using the built-in sharing functions. I print to them from the XP PC, a Windows 7 PC and a Mac. It should be just as straightforward for the OP to setup (unless there is Vista involved! )

wazza

turbobob wrote: »

You can share the printer across a network yes. If all computers were running XP it's pretty straightforward - see here http://www.home-network-help.com/share-printer.html

Might be more tricky if they are using different different OS's.

so how does the laptop see the printer? Through the pc or through the wireless connection/network?

scottishblondie

You go into the printer control panel, then add a new printer. The dialog should guide you through the process of setting up a networked printer. After that it will appear in the print options like any printer that is directly connected to the computer.

turbobob

scottishblondie wrote: »

Not really - I have 2 printers connected to an XP PC shared using the built-in sharing functions. I print to them from the XP PC, a Windows 7 PC and a Mac. It should be just as straightforward for the OP to setup (unless there is Vista involved! )

Was just thinking it was pretty much automatic if running XP on them. Like you said "Add new printer" and specify that its a network printer and it automatically downloads the driver if needed from the PC the printer is attached to. I've briefly tried to get printer sharing working from a Windows 7 machine (my current main PC that the printers attached to) and a Mac running OSX 10.6 but it doesn't seem easy!

wazza

Thanks, will give it a try over the weekend