USB print server question

My Motorola Surfboard modem has a wireless access point built in (SBG 900).
My desktop PC is connected to the modem with an Ethernet cable. The desktop
PC is connected to my printer with a parallel cable to the printer's
parallel port.

The printer also has a USB port.

I use my laptop around my apartment and connect to the Internet using the
wireless adapter built into the laptop to connect to the Motorola modem
access point.

How can I print from my laptop when it is connected to the wireless access
point?? Could I install a wireless USB print server, plug it into the
printer's USB port, and print wirelessly from the laptop through the USB
print server? Will the printer operate with both parallel and USB ports
connected??

If I can print this way, will the laptop connect to both the access point
and the wireless USB print server simultaneously, or, will I have to
disconnect from the wireless access point, connect to the wireless print
server, print - - - - -

Thanks.

Joe S. wrote:
> My Motorola Surfboard modem has a wireless access point built in (SBG 900).
> My desktop PC is connected to the modem with an Ethernet cable. The desktop
> PC is connected to my printer with a parallel cable to the printer's
> parallel port.
>
> The printer also has a USB port.
>
> I use my laptop around my apartment and connect to the Internet using the
> wireless adapter built into the laptop to connect to the Motorola modem
> access point.
>
> How can I print from my laptop when it is connected to the wireless access
> point?? Could I install a wireless USB print server, plug it into the
> printer's USB port, and print wirelessly from the laptop through the USB
> print server? Will the printer operate with both parallel and USB ports
> connected??
>
> If I can print this way, will the laptop connect to both the access point
> and the wireless USB print server simultaneously, or, will I have to
> disconnect from the wireless access point, connect to the wireless print
> server, print - - - - -
>
> Thanks.
>
>

Your PC is already acting as a print server (or it will if you tell it
to). Just "share" the printer, and install it on the laptop as a
"network" printer.

If you want to be able to print without having to fire up the PC, then
you need a print server. Some newer modems/routers/accesspoints have a
USB socket to drive a printer; I very much doubt the USB socket on your
printer can be used the other way round - it's just a "hub", acting as
an extension to the USB cable which you could have used to connect your
printer to the PC. That socket connects ultimately to the PC, not the
printer.

If you buy a wireless print server (or a wired one, plugged into the
modem), it'll just be one more device on the network, and you'll reach
it from your laptop _through_ the existing connection to the access point.

Phil, London

Hi
You can print wirelessly from the laptop by sharing a printer as it connect
to another computer.
However if you want an independent printer on the Network you can get an
add-on printer server. Wireless printing is done through the network to
begin with not directly from the Laptop to the printer, so a wired printer
server could be better solution since it is much less expensive.
In general - Printing through the Network,
http://www.ezlan.net/prtserver.html
Configuring Regular Printer Sharing.
Vista File and Printer Sharing-
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/net.../vista_fp.mspx
Printer Sharing XP -
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...utt_july2.mspx
Jack (MVP-Networking).

"Joe S." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> My Motorola Surfboard modem has a wireless access point built in (SBG
> 900). My desktop PC is connected to the modem with an Ethernet cable. The
> desktop PC is connected to my printer with a parallel cable to the
> printer's parallel port.
>
> The printer also has a USB port.
>
> I use my laptop around my apartment and connect to the Internet using the
> wireless adapter built into the laptop to connect to the Motorola modem
> access point.
>
> How can I print from my laptop when it is connected to the wireless access
> point?? Could I install a wireless USB print server, plug it into the
> printer's USB port, and print wirelessly from the laptop through the USB
> print server? Will the printer operate with both parallel and USB ports
> connected??
>
> If I can print this way, will the laptop connect to both the access point
> and the wireless USB print server simultaneously, or, will I have to
> disconnect from the wireless access point, connect to the wireless print
> server, print - - - - -
>
> Thanks.
>
>