How to convert ethernet printer to Wifi?

anandkrishnantc

anandkrishnantc

Adept
Hello experts,
I have a ethernet enabled printer located in a different room. Each time I need a printout, I had to have connect the printer using a long ethernet cable connected to my wifi router (which has a capability of print server as well, but not used).
I am looking for a HW solution which will make my stand alone printer able to print through wifi connection with my router. Is there a solution? Printer has an USB port as well.
I searched the net, but found no useful information. Most of the tips are on connecting the printer to router using LAN cable or USB. None talk about standalone printer.
The plan is all the computers connected to router by LAN or Wifi, Printer without any physical connection with router or PCs, but connected using Wifi.
 
The only solution is to connect printer to dedicated print server which will cost you a good amount.
Why don't you move your router next to printer.
 
anandkrishnantc said:
The plan is all the computers connected to router by LAN or Wifi, Printer without any physical connection with router or PCs, but connected using Wifi.
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You want a bridge. Its connected to the ethernet port of the printer. The printer does not know the difference, it believes there is still a wire. So long as there is an ethernet connection you can wifi enable any device in this way. If necessary use a longer ethernet cable between bridge & printer so bridge gets a good signal from your main router. Think of it as a wifi dongle without the problems of long wires associated with a usb dongle. Or a wifi enabled printer that wont allow you to position antenna for better wifi reception as its built in (!)

TL-WR702N

Key is this router allows to be setup in 'client' mode. Same thing as bridge. Flipkart has it.

How big are your print files ? with an N150 device like this you can expect 2-3MB/s so a 15MB file to print will take nearly 10s seconds to transmit over. So a wired connection is faster for many big size print jobs.

Which model# printer are you using btw ?
 
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thanks for your reply. I have a Brother monochrome laser printer/scanner/copier. I normally print small files. Hope through bridge, my PC and Mac will detect the printer online ready for printing tasks.
If I want to make the LAN connection to the other room permanent , then I need to have a lot of masonry work done drilling multiple walls, laying cable tubes etc. Want to avoid this.
After checking the links, I am wondering whether I should connect in client mode or in bridge mode?
And how do I set the Wifi login id and pwd inside the device? Printer anyway dont support the UI.
 
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See the simulator

quick setup->client mode-> set credentials

use a static ip and register it on your main router so there is no clash. You would set this up before connecting the tp-link to the printer. reboot then test with a laptop, if it works then you can connect it to your printer and it shoudl work from there on.

do you get a good wifi signal where the printer is located ?
 
Only if it supports client mode. Not all do.[DOUBLEPOST=1417098031][/DOUBLEPOST]
anandkrishnantc said:
I have a Brother monochrome laser printer/scanner/copier. I normally print small files.
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Can you give the model# of that brother printer ?

have been wanting to get something like this but i don't know how the scanning part will work over wifi. Doesn't it require some sort of user invtervention ? if so then i dont know how much sense it makes to have printer in one room and the computer in another.

printing is non-interactive so can be batched and sent off.

Also are you able to get refills easily or are the cartridges chipped meaning only orignials will work.
 
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anandkrishnantc said:
I have http://www.amazon.in/Brother-DCP706...-Printer/dp/B004SH4AWK?tag=googinhydr18418-21
Scanning is controlled using a Brother application installed on the PC. But it could support standalone scanning also in paper. Have not tried it yet.
I havent refilled it. I used very less at home.
Happy with the printouts and features. But I would say its not solid built machine. But works fine.
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it looks nice, adf and double sided printing is a bonus. Less use at home is common, i decided i don't want another inkjet because i print sporadically and if you don't use inkjets once a week the head gets clogged.

600dpi resolution is better than the local photo copy which is usually 300 dpi and set to print light to save toner (!)

That it does not have wifi i would consider an advantage as now you can customise yourself.

if i got it right i think you can print from your mobile without running any software on a pc or requiring it to be on, just the router is enough and the app on the mobile sends off the postscript file.

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vivek.krishnan said:
Most do not support bridge mode. You will need to flash with DD-WRT/OpenWRT to get the benefit.
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i figured the n13 would make an affordable n300 bridge with dd-wrt but never found anyone who could confirm whether client mode actually worked with n13. Am of the opinion if its not supported in stock then expecting it to work with 3rd party firmware isn't guaranteed.
 
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ok, it seems you can use a wifi router to wifi enable a printer but it MUST HAVE a built in print server like the dlink 2750u illustrated in the video below. The catch is this ONLY works for printing and not for scanning. Dlink thinks you must not have a scanner away from a pc for some reason.

Suitable for a single function printer with usb/ethernet port but not much use for a mfd that also allows scanning. A bridge would allow two way connection as the printer is oblivious that its doing wireless in the first place.

 
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