Remote WiFi Printing? Is it possible

Hello all,

I recently purchased a Canon ip4000r wireless printer. I have it
setup on my home network and it works great. However, I'd love to be
able to print to it remotely via my broadband connection. Is that
possible?

I've done a little reading and most of the sites reference print
servers or hotel setups for "public wifi printing". One company, such
as www.printeron.net, is listed often but that's too much if I just
want to print via tcp/ip using port 9100.

I cannot get that to work so I'm trying determine what is really
needed.

Any help is appreciated.

T

> I cannot get that to work so I'm trying determine what is really
> needed.

So what have you done, what hardware do you have at home etc?

On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 14:43:34 -0400, QueenGeek <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I recently purchased a Canon ip4000r wireless printer. I have it
>setup on my home network and it works great. However, I'd love to be
>able to print to it remotely via my broadband connection. Is that
>possible?
>
>I've done a little reading and most of the sites reference print
>servers or hotel setups for "public wifi printing". One company, such
>as www.printeron.net, is listed often but that's too much if I just
>want to print via tcp/ip using port 9100.
>
>I cannot get that to work so I'm trying determine what is really
>needed.

I don't think printing to port 9100 is going to work. 9100 is Hp
JetDirect Emulation. Unless I missed something, I could find no
evidence of JetDirect emulation on the Canon ip4000r printer data
sheet:
> http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/con...&modelid=10438
I'm not sure what protocol is used by my guess is the usual Windoze
printing of NETBIOS over TCP/IP which users ports 137 thru 139.
Opening these ports to the internet and redirecting them to your
printer is a very bad idea. I don't think it supports LPR/LPD so that
won't work either. I would need to find a more detailed data sheet,
sniff your network, or port scan the printer to be sure.

What I do is run a VPN to my palatial office from whatever remote
client computah I happen to be sitting in front of. If I need to
print anything, all the office printers and servers are visible from
anywhere. The VPN provides the security and encryption to keep
hackers like me out of your system.

I keep juggling hardware to see how well (or badly) things work. I'm
currently using a WRT54Gv1.1 with Sveasoft Alchemy firmware. It
supports PPTP VPN which is not the greatest but is good enough. I use
Windoze dialup networking to connect to the WRT54G. Browsing network
neighborhood (or just running "net view") shows all my office
machines. PPTP delivers an IP address to my remote computer, which is
on the same /24 LAN as my office. In effect, my remote client machine
is literally sitting on the office LAN as if I were in the office.
The rest is simple printer configuration.

A better way to do this is to use an IPSec VPN instead of PPTP.
However, PPTP comes with all mutations of Windoze and is therefore
easier to deal with.



--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
AE6KS 831-336-2558

QueenGeek wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I recently purchased a Canon ip4000r wireless printer. I have it
> setup on my home network and it works great. However, I'd love to be
> able to print to it remotely via my broadband connection. Is that
> possible?
>
> I've done a little reading and most of the sites reference print
> servers or hotel setups for "public wifi printing". One company, such
> as www.printeron.net, is listed often but that's too much if I just
> want to print via tcp/ip using port 9100.
>
> I cannot get that to work so I'm trying determine what is really
> needed.
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> T

For a no-cost solution, you could RDP into a machine at home (assuming
you're running Windows), but that would require that a machine on your
home network be left on. With RDP you can print to a printer attached
to the client device. Not sure how secure this is, but I'm sure not very.

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

> On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 14:43:34 -0400, QueenGeek <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>I recently purchased a Canon ip4000r wireless printer. I have it
>>setup on my home network and it works great. However, I'd love to be
>>able to print to it remotely via my broadband connection. Is that
>>possible?
>>
>>I've done a little reading and most of the sites reference print
>>servers or hotel setups for "public wifi printing". One company, such
>>as www.printeron.net, is listed often but that's too much if I just
>>want to print via tcp/ip using port 9100.
>>
>>I cannot get that to work so I'm trying determine what is really
>>needed.
>
> I don't think printing to port 9100 is going to work. 9100 is Hp
> JetDirect Emulation.

It's just a port. Just because HP uses it for some specific purpose,
doesn't mean that's what it's always for, unless it's an IANA assigned port
(which it isn't). The question is how does he print to it wirelessly on his
home network. If he can do that, he _should_ be able to do it from the
Internet - providing that his router can redirect appropriately or his
wireless printer has a static IP.

> I'm not sure what protocol is used by my guess is the usual Windoze
> printing of NETBIOS over TCP/IP which users ports 137 thru 139.

137 thru 139 are _just_ NETBIOS ports, with nothing specifically to do with
printing. It's much simpler and safer to use 631 (Internet Printing
Protocol) which should be safe to open to the Internet (though conceivably
you'd find spam on your printer tray every morning!). I don't know
anything about configuring IPP on Windows, but the Windows network I'm on
right now is using it...
--
derek

On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 09:34:21 -0300, Derek Broughton
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Jeff Liebermann wrote:

>> I don't think printing to port 9100 is going to work. 9100 is Hp
>> JetDirect Emulation.
>
>It's just a port. Just because HP uses it for some specific purpose,
>doesn't mean that's what it's always for, unless it's an IANA assigned port
>(which it isn't).

In the distant past, I did a bit of work supporting netcat printing on
SCO Openserver Unix. See:
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com/sco...intservers.htm
The bottom of the page has most of the ports used by HP print servers.

The current list of port numbers at:
http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers
>hp-pdl-datastr 9100/tcp PDL Data Streaming Port
>hp-pdl-datastr 9100/udp PDL Data Streaming Port
># Shivaun Albright <(E-Mail Removed)> April 2002
>#### The protocol name "pdl-datastream" is primarily registered for use ####
>#### in DNS SRV records (RFC 2782). DNS SRV records allow a protocol to run on ####
>#### any port number, but the default port for this protocol is 9100 ####.
>pdl-datastream 9100/tcp Printer PDL Data Stream
>pdl-datastream 9100/udp Printer PDL Data Stream

It's registered to HP, but seems to be designated for other functions.
HP also uses 9101-9102 for print servers with multiple ports, which is
NOT registered to HP.

>The question is how does he print to it wirelessly on his
>home network. If he can do that, he _should_ be able to do it from the
>Internet - providing that his router can redirect appropriately or his
>wireless printer has a static IP.

So, you're proposing that he exposes his print server directly to the
internet? Yes, that would work for a few minutes. I once put a Xerox
N17 laser printer on a routeable IP address. The printer has an
internal web server that was constantly being hit by scripted attacks.
After finding it hung several times a day, I gave up on that idea.

>> I'm not sure what protocol is used by my guess is the usual Windoze
>> printing of NETBIOS over TCP/IP which users ports 137 thru 139.
>
>137 thru 139 are _just_ NETBIOS ports, with nothing specifically to do with
>printing. It's much simpler and safer to use 631 (Internet Printing
>Protocol) which should be safe to open to the Internet (though conceivably
>you'd find spam on your printer tray every morning!). I don't know
>anything about configuring IPP on Windows, but the Windows network I'm on
>right now is using it...

Well, I'll confess that I don't know anything about IPP either. IPP
is supported by W2K and XP. There's also an update to add it to
W98/ME. If he wants to leave his computah turned on in order to print
over the internet, that's an option. More correctly, it should be
supported by the print server directly. Searching the Canon PIXMA
printer support web pile and FAQ yielded nothing for IPP or "internet
printing protocol". Google didn't do any better. I'll leave IPP
implimention for someone who's used it. I still like my VPN method.



--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
AE6KS 831-336-2558

Derek Broughton <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> It's just a port. Just because HP uses it for some specific purpose,
> doesn't mean that's what it's always for, unless it's an IANA assigned port

IANA listings don't mean a whole lot either.
They "expired" my listing. Not sure how they decided that was a good thing
to do. I didn't realize it until someone else was issued the number, which
now appears on newer Unix systems. My software still works, it's just that
a netstat listing shows some other software name instead of mine.

---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

> On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 09:34:21 -0300, Derek Broughton
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> The current list of port numbers at:
> http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers
>>hp-pdl-datastr 9100/tcp PDL Data Streaming Port
>>hp-pdl-datastr 9100/udp PDL Data Streaming Port

OK, so it is. It's not in my /etc/services, but I should have checked with
IANA first.

>>The question is how does he print to it wirelessly on his
>>home network. If he can do that, he _should_ be able to do it from the
>>Internet - providing that his router can redirect appropriately or his
>>wireless printer has a static IP.
>
> So, you're proposing that he exposes his print server directly to the
> internet?

That's not what _I_ proposed. That's what _he_ wanted to do.

> Yes, that would work for a few minutes. I once put a Xerox
> N17 laser printer on a routeable IP address. The printer has an
> internal web server that was constantly being hit by scripted attacks.
> After finding it hung several times a day, I gave up on that idea.

And he might, too.

> Well, I'll confess that I don't know anything about IPP either. IPP
> is supported by W2K and XP. There's also an update to add it to
> W98/ME. If he wants to leave his computah turned on in order to print
> over the internet, that's an option. More correctly, it should be
> supported by the print server directly.

Exactly what IPP does. If he's got a genuine network printer, it almost
certainly uses IPP and exposes an IPP server. He won't need to leave his
computer on.

> I still like my VPN method.

Sure, that's more secure and he might be prepared to do it. I simply don't
see any real barriers to him doing exactly what he wanted to - IFF if is
functioning as a network printer on his local network.
--
derek

On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 12:46:40 -0300, Derek Broughton
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Exactly what IPP does. If he's got a genuine network printer, it almost
>certainly uses IPP and exposes an IPP server. He won't need to leave his
>computer on.

Well, the question comes down to whether the Canon PIXMA
implimentation supports IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). At first
glance, I would guess(tm) it does not.

In the distant past, I've done quite a bit of work with wired print
servers. Like routers, these were originally multi-protocol devices.
Hp and Axis print servers would support just about every protocol
known to man or machine. NETBEUI for Windoze, LPR/LPD and FTP for
Unix, NDPS NPRINT and PSERVER for Novell, Direct to IP socket for Unix
and DOS, HP Jetdirect emulation, AppleTalk for Mac, Named Pipe PROS,
telnet scripting, and bunch of mainframe stuff I don't understand.
You name the protocol and the print servers would support it. The
catch was these devices cost $300 and up. Not exactly useful for
imbedding in a $150 printer.

So, out went all the versatility, protocols, features, options, and
goodies leaving only the most basic printing protocols, which these
days means Windoze NETBEUI support. Some of the cheapo stand alone
print servers also do LPR/LPD which is also supported in W2K and XP.

My guess(tm) is that IPP is not easy to impliment in a simple built in
print server. That's because when I tried to find the applicable RFC
documents, I found a rather huge list.
http://www.networksorcery.com/enp/protocol/ipp.htm
A quick scan of the RFC hints that this is not going to be simple.

>> I still like my VPN method.
>
>Sure, that's more secure and he might be prepared to do it. I simply don't
>see any real barriers to him doing exactly what he wanted to - IFF if is
>functioning as a network printer on his local network.



--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

> On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 12:46:40 -0300, Derek Broughton
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>Exactly what IPP does. If he's got a genuine network printer, it almost
>>certainly uses IPP and exposes an IPP server. He won't need to leave his
>>computer on.
>
> Well, the question comes down to whether the Canon PIXMA
> implimentation supports IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). At first
> glance, I would guess(tm) it does not.

otoh, I'd guess it would, as most modern network printers do - and Canon was
in on the ground floor setting the standard. However, the question is moot
if the OP won't tell us how he was getting his printer to work on his local
network.
--
derek