Wireless print server (Centronics) recommendation

I have an old HP LJIII that I want to put on the network, without attaching it to a PC.

Any recomendations for print servers with a parallel port?

I'm seeing the Motorola print server in a lot of places, i.e.

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Anyone have any experience with it?

Reply to
SMS
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Gaaag. I have about 5 of those piled in the office closet and a huge mess of HPII, III, and IIP parts. I used to repair those. You can keep them running forever but they sure are big, slow, and ugly.

First, don't get a Jetdirect card for the HPIII. They were buggy pieces of junk that require a bootp server to run. Stay with the parallel port.

I find it easier to do such things in two boxes. An ethernet print server and some wireless ethernet bridge client radio. The ethernet print server can be anything. I have a small pile of Digi/Milan print servers and Netgear PS104/PS110 print servers I use as needed. It really doesn't matter which print server you select as anything will work.

The client bridge is a bit tricky. If all you want is to remote the one printer, then a WAP11, DWL900AP+ or similar single MAC address wireless bridge will work. However, I usually setup a client computer nearby and want to bridge more than one MAC address. That requires a wireless bridge that can do more than one MAC, such as WET11, WAP54G(?), or WRT54G with Sveasoft firmware running in client mode. Some game adapters will also work with multiple MAC addresses. You can also do the same thing with a WDS bridge (WRT54G) and get a wireless repeater function for free.

For protocols, I use either direct print to an IP socket, LPD/LPR, or Netbios (Windoze) printing. Whatever is supported by the print server.

Incidentally, one nice feature of some of the print servers in my pile is mutliple parallel or serial printer ports. You can run multiple printers from a single cable or wireless link.

No experience, but the price, features, and specs look nice. If you have to buy something, it's probably cheaper to buy the Motorola box than to build it yourself.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

SMS wrote in news:zbeLe.8950$p% snipped-for-privacy@typhoon.sonic.net:

I use the obsolete Intel NetportExpress print servers on my network. The latest (although some years old) is the NetportExpress 10/100. These have an Etherent port for network connection and come in two versions - a single parallel printer port, or 3 printer ports (2 parallel, 1 serial).

Utterly reliable - I've never had a single failure and have used these devices for many years. Works just fine under WinXP. You can pick then up cheaply on eBay.

You can use them on a wireless network as well. Connect to a wireless-Ethernet bridge, or a multi-mode access point in Wireless Clinet or AP Client mode, and away you go. Most such current wireless devices aupport multiple MAC addresses, so you can connect multiple devices behind a switch. [Aside: My network is configured like this, with clusters of typically 2 PCs + printserver + wireless client bridge connected to a switch]

Or of course you could pick up (again on eBay) a more recent LaserJet which takes a Jetdirect card...

Hope this helps

Reply to
Richard Perkin

Apparently the specs look better than reality, as WPA is advertised but absolutely does not work, "

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" Thanks for the detailed response. You should write a book on wireless networking.

Reply to
SMS

As far as I could find, the only standalone device that can serve as a parallel port print server, and supports WPA is the D-Link DI824VUP router, which is $130. So I guess that I will do it in two steps.

Reply to
SMS

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