Is there a Mac-compatible wireless print server?

This is a variation on a theme many have touched upon. I want to have my Airport Extreme wirelessly connected to two printers (B&W laser, and color inkjet) currently connected by USB cables, stretched to 16' limit. Printers can't be moved conveniently to a closer position. I bought a $100 NetGear wireless print server WGSP606 (two USB ports) at CompUSA yesterday after staff there said it would work with Macs. Alas, it doesn't. The printers are not wireless models; the wireless print server supposedly (if Mac-compatible) would effectively make them wireless. From the various posts I get impression that an Airport Express might work, but could it serve two printers? Anyone know of a Mac-compatible wireless print server? Or have a workaround suggestion? Any help much appreciated.

I'd say if the print server supports standard printing protocols, then OS X will work with it. But there are issues you should learn about.
The network comm protocols you see in Printer Setup Utility are part of the CUPS system. Very few (only Brother so far) non-postscript printer drivers work correctly with the CUPS system. The manufacturers have provided OS 9-style drivers that have USB comm written into the driver, limiting you to USB use only. Postscript printers don't have this issue because they don't need a driver, just a PPD. Apple tried to get around this issue by including Gimp-Print open source CUPS drivers, but the models supported are limited. So, the first issue is - is a CUPS driver available?
Protocol setup on OS X is the next issue. For Windows, there is autosetup software for nearly every print server sold new. We don't have that software on OS X, so we need to enter the correct info into Printer Setup. The IP > IPP and IP > LPD protocols require a print-server-specific queue name together with IP address to route data to the printer. Because of the Windows autosetup software, help desk people at Netgear may not even know this basic info. But nearly all print servers correctly support the standards and the device queue name can be found in the print server manual.
The advantage of Airport Express and Extreme as print servers is that Apple uses the airport/Bonjour software to redirect USB output from the computer to the USB on the Express/Extreme. Kind of avoids the printer driver issue but also takes away some standard IP protocols (only HP jetdirect is supported for non-Bonjour printers).
Sorry for the mini-lecture. Hope this helps.
(Airport Express/Extreme is only for one printer)

Similar Messages

Brand new Mac user, needs help getting Mac onto Wireless Print Server

Ladies & Gents,
After much struggle with PCs in the last two weeks I finally broke down and bought a MacBook. I'm very happy with it, but I am having issues getting hooked into my office's wireless printing network.
The printer is an HP Color Laserjet 3600n and we're set up with a D-Link DPR 1260 router. I've tried just about everything I know, and even our much-more-qualified-than-I resident Mac user is unsure how to make this work.
I will continue to search the forum, but I would appreciate any help. I should be off and on throughout most of the day. Thanks!
-Beaujac

Two links
http://www.dlink.com/products/default.aspx?pid=DPR-1260&tab=3
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20071210174933679
FWIW
/Instant_1

Wireless print server that works with Macs and Epson R1800?

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a wireless print server, which I could use as if the printer was connected directly to my Mac. So basically, it just needs to have printing over IP port (like port 9100 on HP JetDirect) and drivers for Mac OS X (or ideally, no special drivers needed at all). Devices that do sharing of the printer only over LPD (older Unix), SMB (Windows), IPP (Cups / newer Unix) or similar protocols is not what I'm looking for here.
The reason why LPD, SMB and IPP are not an option is that I'll need utilities such as Epson Printer Utility to work over the network too.
It looks like Linksys, Belkin and some other have products that allow access to the printer over port 9100 (standard HP JetDiret's port) as if the printer was connected directly to the computer. However, for the most part I was able to find only success stories for Windows users.
Windows has standard driver that allows connection to the printer to be easily switched from USB port to network port. Does OS X comes standard with that feature, or is the special driver needed?
Most importantly, has anybody had success with printing from Mac through wireless print server (any brand) to Epson R1800? Did the Epson Print Utility (checking the ink levels, checking and cleaning the head, etc) work? Any special drivers needed?
Thanks

direwolf has hit the nail on the head - the Epson driver won't work for IP printing. The Epson driver is a Carbon driver, where they build the comm protocols into the driver instead of enabling use of the standard protocols on OS X (that are part of the CUPS system). You'll need a CUPS driver to use the standard network protocol(s). The printfab driver is a CUPS driver.
Exception - the Apple Extreme/Express/etc print servers have firmware that make them work like Macs - Mac-to-Mac sharing works with USB-only drivers! I hesitate to recommend the Extreme/Express, because Apple can't seem to get all the kinks out.

Printing through Linksys Wireless Print Server

Ok.. Here is the question.
I have a Linksys Wireless Print Server (WPSM54G) which is connected to a Canon MX700. In windows this works great. However I cannot get OS X (10.5.2) to print to the printer.
The print server (with firmware update 1017) supports IPP, LPR, and some other printing protocols.
I have also pulled down the CUPS driver from Canon's site for the printer.
At this point I am stuck in getting this working.
Has anyone out there successfully gotten this wireless print server to work with OS X?
If so, what is the trick?
Thanks.

I hope you're right about supporting the industry-standard protocols after a firmware update - because this print server didn't support those before...
With the industry-standard protocols IPP and LPD, a queue name is a part of the address to direct data to the port on the print server. Do you know the queue name (also called port name in some documents) for this print server, so you can enter it in print & fax prefs?

Sharing Linksys Wireless Print Server with MAC and PC - How to do?

I have lost the capability to share a printer on my network by using the Linksys Wireless Print Server-model number WPS54G -V2. Prior to having to return my previous Print Server on an RMA, I was able to use the MAC and PCs on my network. I have a PowerGook G4 with MacOS X 10.4.10. I also have a Airport Extreme Base Station V5.6. The printer on the network that is being shared is an Epson Stylus Photo 820. Recently, when trying to reconfigure the network, I updated the software on the Airport Extreme...so I think after that, I am no longer able to share this printer using current network configuration. As information, I will share how I got the network to share the printer BEFORE I had to replace the previous Print Server and BEFORE I updated the Airport Extreme. Please see this link:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050406151311940
Even though this was for a different type of Print Server, this worked for me.
When reconfiguring the new Print Server, I contacted Linksys...as had some difficulty until I found out how to assign a static IP to the new Print Server. When trying to talk to them about the Mac issue, and sharing the printer, they shared this link with me...which may be helpful to some, but I found that this does not work for me...
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060404021600193
I have been trying to work through the issue, but feel I may now have some compatibility issues between the Airport Extreme and the Epson printer.
Further details are that I use 10.0.1.78 for the assigned IP address for the Print server. My router (which is the Airport address) is 10.0.1.1. I have tried IPP printing option, LPD printing option...and IPP printing at least returns a status on the Print Server as "printing" as opposed to "idle". I have checked the Print status on the Mac, and I have received two (2) different error messages as to why the print job failed. They are:
"the process "picwpstops" stopped unexpectedly with status 1"
and
"the process "rastertoprinter" stopped unexpectedly with status 1"
The latter happens when I follow the instructions on the second link I attached on this topic...with the only change being that I select IPP printing as opposed to LPD printing.
Anyone that has any insight into HOW to configure the mysterious settings for Mac OS printing so that it can be compatible with a Wireless Print Server, please feel free to comment. In the meantime, I am thinking that the links above could help some people...just not me at this point given my current configuration and versions of software/firmware and perhaps the printer I am using.
Greatly appreciate your consideration, and any suggestions to anyone that might understand what these error messages mean when checking the printer status after sending a file for printing.
Thank you

1. No, you don't have to make a bootable clone.
2. If you use the drive for a bootable backup, then you cannot use the drive for other types of storage unless you partition the drive and make more than one volume.
3. No, it will not try to boot the computer. You must designate the startup volume using Startup Disk preferences.
If you wish to use the drive on both a Mac and a PC, then either you make two partitions - one for Mac and the other for the PC or you must format the entire drive using FAT32 so the drive can be used for read//write by both operating systems. If you do this then you cannot use the drive for a bootable backup nor can you use it with Time Machine.
FAT32 is slower for read/write on the Mac than using Mac formatting.
Optimally, I would suggest you partition the drive into two volumes. One volume formatted for the Mac and the other formatted FAT32.
You can send files from a PC to a Mac and vice-versa using File Sharing. Select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "file sharing" or "sharing" to find help articles. Also see,
Mac OS X 10.5 Help- Setting up a Mac computer to share files with Windows users
Mac OS X 10.5 Help- Setting up a Windows computer to share files with Mac users
Mac OS X 10.5 Help- Sharing with Windows computers

Printing to a Linksys Wireless Print Server with my MAC

have a small home network using an ATT DSL modem-router. I have several PCs hardwired to the router and 1 older MAC wireless. I have a MAC G4 laptop and a Dell laptop (my wife's) also connected wirelessly and all work well. I have added a Linksys wireless print server today and am able to get my wife's laptop to print easily and reliable as does the hardwired Dell. What I need is to get my MAC laptop to print wirelessly as well. I have tried all the options in the printer set-up but it does not see the print server. Linksys does not support MAC and there are no MAC drivers for the print server to download that I know of. Does anyone know of a fix on how I could configure this equipment so I can print wirelessly from my MAC laptop. Or perhaps bypass the print server and print using the modem-router and the same printer. I would appreciate any suggestions one could lend. Thanks much.
Power Book G4 17" Mac OS X (10.4.10) Virtual PC capable

Looking at figure 8-5 and the text to its left in the User Guide.
Click Add in Printer Setup, then select IP printer > IPP. Enter the print server's IP address AND queue name P1. With that info filled in OS X has all it needs to address the printer on the print server.
Download and install the CUPS driver version 1.1.0, and choose it when you Add in Printer Setup.

Linksys Wireless Print server and my Mac G4

I just set up my linksys wireless print server and it's printing from my PC just fine - not so on my G4. My printer is a Canon Pixma ip5200, and the appropriate drivers etc are installed.
I know the IP address and have tried setting up the printer via IPP (and pinged it from the mac successfully). Just no success printing. The printer utility looks like it is printing to the printer but nothing comes out.
Any ideas?

You won't be able to get this to work.
The Canon printer drivers won't allow you to connect to and print to a Canon printer attached to a wireless print server.
There is no solution, there is no way that this can work
You have three solutions.
Replace the Canon printer with another printer for which the drivers will work.
Replace the Canon printer with a networked Canon printer such as the iP4000r (or any other network printer) in which case you won't need the print server
Connect the Canon printer directly via USB to the computer to print.
iFelix

Mac and Linksys Wireless Print Server

I have a wireless print server connected to an HP 940C that I cannot get my iMac to print to. It finds it on the network, but is not printing. Any ideas??

It is probably a driver issue.
It may work with a third-party driver such as the HPIJS drivers or the Gimp-Print drivers, but this is not the case with all printers.
Though for 10.3, this guide may also help.
Printing to a network ethernet printer (which has an IP address) from a Mac running OS 10.3.x
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3005.html
iFelix

Printing via Belkin Wireless Print Server

I am trying to setup my my mac so that it will print via my belkin wireless print server. I have been able to do this for my windows pc's but not with my mac.
Other threads on this forum have been able to get it working with other printers but I can't seem to make it work.
I'm using a HP Deskjet 6540 on a 802.11g network. The printer is connected to a Belkin Wireless Print Server (F1UP0001). I print when connected via USB but not via wireless. I've installed the HP drivers and the GIMP drivers but that hasnt worked. When I go to install the printer I choose IP Printer and give the ip address of the print server.
Any help would be much appreciated, if you need more infomation just ask.
Thank You,
mholmau

Your printer is a non-postscript printer and requires a CUPS driver in order to use the network printing protocols which are part of the CUPS system in OS X. Except for Brother, no manufacturer of non-postscript printers is providing CUPS drivers. The printer model doesn't show up because the OS X driver only works for USB. Apple tried to get around this by including open source Gimp-Print (CUPS) drivers with OS X. But very few HPs are supported. You should try HP Deskjet 900 Series, Gimp-Print driver to see if it "might" work.
For PPC Macs, there is another open source driver set that supports most HPs, including yours:
http://www.linuxprinting.org/macosx/hpijs/
But, these aren't Universal binaries, so they don't work on Intel Macs. The source code is available, and I think it will readily compile on your Mac, but I don't have an Intel Mac to try that on.
Next issue - print server setup. We don't have auto-setup software, so we have to read the manual closely and decide which protocol to use. If it's IPP (=internet printing protocol, not IP printing) or LPR/LPD, you need to find the print server's queue name (sometimes called port name), and enter that in Add printer dialog near IP address.
There are other ways to do network printing. The Airport Express print server from Apple allows you to use the USB driver because it uses Airport-Bonjour software to redirect USB output, instead of using standard protocols.
Hope this helps.

DPR 1260 Wireless Print Server not recognized on Macbook Pro

Please help. I am a first time Mac user. I have a D-link wireless print server that is connected to a HP Office Jet 6200 all in one. For some reason I cannot set up the wireless print server. A couple questions: I enter the IP address when I set up a new printer. Still nothing. Do I need to select IP printing when setting up a new printer? Is D-link wireless printing supported by Leopard? When I plug in direct via USB - Mac prints no problem. Tech support really couldn't help - neither could D-link. Does anyone know step by step how to set up? Explain it to me like I'm 4 years old. Thanks.

You have two issues going at once.
Driver - There are two kinds of print driver on OS X (not like Windows) - Carbon and CUPS. CUPS drivers are required to use the standard network print protocols provided in OS X by the CUPS system - IP printing and Windows printing. But HP doesn't provide CUPS drivers for non-postscript printers. They provide Carbon drivers where they have limited the driver to USB only. To get a CUPS driver for your model, install the 3 part hpijs:
http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/macosx
Print & Fax prefs setup -
I call your attention to page 19 of the print server manual. Dlink simply has "no clue" about OS X. The easiest comm protocol for you is HP Jetdirect, which equals TCP/IP raw port 9100. That is for USB port 1 -- for the other USB ports you will need to use advanced setup in Print & Fax.
So, plug the printer into USB port 1 and set up using IP printer > HP Jetdirect protocol, selecting your new hpijs driver.
Good luck.

Wireless Print Server Recommendations

I have a MacBook (10.4) and a Dell Inspiron Notebook. I'm getting ready to purchase a wireless print server, which wireless print routers do you recommend that will be Mac friendly (i.e easy to set up with both my Dell & MacBook).

It is really a question about the printer and its driver. The Mac situation is different from Windows. Most non-postscript printers come with Carbon drivers, where the comm protocol is written into the driver. USB non-postscript printers come USB-only drivers. To use the OS X built-in protocols, you need CUPS drivers (or postscript driver/printer).
Except for one or two models out there, nearly all print servers use the industry standard comm protocols LPD, IPP, HP jetdirect or appletalk.
Apple print servers are yet a different situation - they have firmware that works like Mac-to-Mac print sharing (so they can use USB-only drivers).
HTH

Printing to a Canon i9100 on a 3com wireless print server

I hope that some one can shed light on this.
I have a Canon i9100 printer, and have bought a 3com wireless print server.
I've installed the printer on the Mac Mini via USB fine, but now I want to go via the print server I can't figure out what is going on. The print server supports both apple talk and IP address printing
I click add printer, and it sees the print server, but when I click to select a printer from the list, the i9100 doesn't show up (only printers using the GIMP server)
I've trird both automatic, using apple talk and specifying the IP address of the printer, but there seems no way to tell it to use the i9100 driver. I've downloaded the latest OSX driver from the canon site. the 3com site is less than helpful on the subject.
Any pointers would be gratefully received. I'm a newbie to OSX so be gentle!
Thanks

Canon doesn't make drivers for OS X, for non-postscript printers*, that work for network or Windows printing. Their drivers bypass CUPS, the OS X print system, so the only comm protocol that works is what is written into the driver - USB.
Canon doesn't cooperate with the open source community, so the newest Gimp-Print drivers for Canons are for models more than 5 years old (Apple included Gimp-Print in Panther and Tiger because Gimp-Print drivers Are CUPS drivers).
The only drivers that do work (CUPS drivers) for newer Canon models are from www.printfab.net.
* (except for models with built-in networking - ethernet or WiFi)
When you set up IP printing >IPP, don't forget to enter the 3com-specific queue name in the setup - it's a part of the address that gets data to the printer. (find in the manual)
Hope this helps.

IP Printing to Belkin Wireless Print Server

Hi Guys
Ok, I wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction. I am a windows user (groan!, get a proper computer, yes, I know. lol lol) But trying to set up a simple network consisting of three pcs, one laptop all running windows xp/vista and one IBook. Not the best on macs but can find my way round!! All works Ok as far as seeing each other on the network and communicating/internet etc. Have introduced Belkin wireless print server to network and all ok for windows regarding printing wirelessly over the network. However, the IBook I set up as IP printing and set the appropriate address in the ibook printer setup screen. But when printing from the IBook it says the print has gone but it is actually stuck in the queue and never prints. Can anyone help with what may be a simple entry in the setup or is it some black magic IBook setting that evades us windows users??
All help will be gratefully received and promise to look at conversion!!
Thanks in anticipation of help..........

Hello,
Just a heads up, you ended up in the iPhone forums!
Go to http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa
Click on iBook & post in there to get some help.
Good luck!!
-CG

IBook printing with Belkin Wireless Print Server

Hi Guys
Ok, I wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction. I am a windows user (groan!, get a proper computer, yes, I know. lol lol) But trying to set up a simple network consisting of three pcs, one laptop all running windows xp/vista and one IBook. Not the best on macs but can find my way round!! All works Ok as far as seeing each other on the network and communicating/internet etc. Have introduced Belkin wireless print server to network and all ok for windows regarding printing wirelessly over the network. However, the IBook I set up as IP printing and set the appropriate address in the ibook printer setup screen. But when printing from the IBook it says the print has gone but it is actually stuck in the queue and never prints. Can anyone help with what may be a simple entry in the setup or is it some black magic IBook setting that evades us windows users??
All help will be gratefully received and promise to look at conversion!!
Thanks in anticipation of help..........

Your printer is a non-postscript printer and requires a CUPS driver in order to use the network printing protocols which are part of the CUPS system in OS X. Except for Brother, no manufacturer of non-postscript printers is providing CUPS drivers. The printer model doesn't show up because the OS X driver only works for USB. Apple tried to get around this by including open source Gimp-Print (CUPS) drivers with OS X. But very few HPs are supported. You should try HP Deskjet 900 Series, Gimp-Print driver to see if it "might" work.
For PPC Macs, there is another open source driver set that supports most HPs, including yours:
http://www.linuxprinting.org/macosx/hpijs/
But, these aren't Universal binaries, so they don't work on Intel Macs. The source code is available, and I think it will readily compile on your Mac, but I don't have an Intel Mac to try that on.
Next issue - print server setup. We don't have auto-setup software, so we have to read the manual closely and decide which protocol to use. If it's IPP (=internet printing protocol, not IP printing) or LPR/LPD, you need to find the print server's queue name (sometimes called port name), and enter that in Add printer dialog near IP address.
There are other ways to do network printing. The Airport Express print server from Apple allows you to use the USB driver because it uses Airport-Bonjour software to redirect USB output, instead of using standard protocols.
Hope this helps.

Wireless Print Server Compatibility

I have a Netgear WGPS606 wireless print server and I was wondering if anyone knows if I can connect to it with OS X. Netgears site didn't say anything about it. Anyone know?

I had the same problem with my Netgear Print Server and there is no help directly on the Netgear website. However, a search on Google revealed the following link from one of the Netgear forums:
http://kbserver.netgear.com/kbwebfiles/N101570.asp
After following all the instructions I still wasn't able to get it to work until I did the following:
1. I use Netgear's WNR854T wireless router (RangeMax) and it doesn't seem to recognize the default IP (192.168.0.102) of the Print Server (PS). In my case, I had to change the PS's IP address so that it fell within the range set on my router; in my case it was 192.168.1.102.
2. Next you need to set the new IP address for the PS as a static address in your wireless router. Do not rely on the router's DHCP settings (if you have your router set-up this way) to properly route the printing information.
Check to make sure your Mac can now ping the PS with its new IP address. The terminal screen will show the PS continually being pinged, so once it successfully transmits its few bytes of data you can close the terminal.
3. Now follow the directions as stated in Netgear's document noting the change in the PS's new IP address. Make sure you don't input the IP address stated in the document as it was your old default address.
You should now be able to print documents.

Is there a Mac-compatible wireless print server?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for