wireless printing to LaserWriter 16/600 on FiOS router

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Level 1

4 points

wireless printing to LaserWriter 16/600 on FiOS router

Today I switched my ISP from Comcast to Verizon FiOS. The old Comcast cable modem and my Linksys wifi router were both replaced with a unified fiber modem and wireless router all in one unit.

Under the new setup I can no longer see my LaserWriter 16/600 PS wirelessly, which means I cannot print wirelessly. Everything else appears to work, including printing from a wired desktop Mac.

Help!

Just to be clear about my setup... I have a LW 16/600 connected to the FiOS router/modem via ethernet. I have an old G4 PowerMac connected to the FiOS via ethernet. I have a PowerBook G4 connected via wifi. I previously could print from both Macs on my old Linksys wifi router. On the new FiOS router, I can only print via the wired desktop Mac.

PowerBook G4-Al 15 1.25GHz, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on May 27, 2009 11:39 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

126,979 points

May 29, 2009 9:23 AM in response to Steve M

Some off-brand wireless Routers do not pass Appletalk packets from the wireless to the wired part of your network. That would make it impossible to use this as an AppleTalk printer over wireless.

The way to tell if this is the problem is to access the printer using Apple Printer Utility under OS 9 or Classic -- first from Ethernet on your wired computer, then from wireless on your wireless PowerBook.

If "passing AppleTalk over wireless" is the problem, you could re-configure the Linksys router to handle this, and use it as your wireless access point and turn off the wireless on the Verizon Router.

Alternatively, you could delete the old printer and use LPR/LPD to talk to it wirelessly (and/or wired as well).

TA21876- What Is LPR?

These are the Apple LaserWriter Printers with Postscript level 2 and Ethernet and Built-in LPD:

LaserWriter 8500 (Ethernet)
LaserWriter 12/640 PS (Ethernet)
Color LaserWriter 12/660 PS (Ethernet)
Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS (Ethernet)
LaserWriter 16/600PS (Ethernet)
LaserWriter Pro 810 (Ethernet)

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Answer 2

Steve M Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 15, 2009 12:24 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I'm game for printing via LPD/LPR, but immediately I hit this stumbling block: I don't know the IP address for my printer.

All of my Googling turns up the following ancient advice: use the Apple Printer Utility. That's a pre-OS X app that won't work on OS X (I don't have Classic nor OS 9). My printer does not spit out a startup page either.

I queried my FiOS router and get the IP addresses for all the ethernet wired devices. I created LPD printers using each of those 3 addresses, and none of them worked with a test page.

So, how can I (a) find out my printer's IP address, (b) change it, and (c) what should I set the IP address to?

FYI, the FiOS router assigns IP addresses as follows:
192.168.1.2 .3 .4 .5 <== wired & wireless Macs + printer (presumbably)
192.168.1.240 <== Linksys wifi range expander
192.168.1.100 .101 <== FiOS television settop boxes

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Answer 3

Jun 15, 2009 3:50 PM in response to Steve M

There is a way to talk to the printer using telnet. It is a very primitive version the way you configure a Router today with a Browser, combined with choosing numbered options off lists as they are displayed. Check your printer manual to see if there is a discussion of this, possibly under connecting to UNIX.

There is an older thread with some discussion about this method, but the original poster was following along in their printer manual -- I don't think that old post stands by itself as a helpful explanation without the manual in hand:

Laserwriter 8500 - networking with D-link router

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