Can I employ spare old A1143 AirPort Extreme to create a wireless printer on non Apple network?

Question

Level 1

9 points

Can I employ spare old A1143 AirPort Extreme to create a wireless printer on non Apple network?

My router is a TP Link Archer 3200, and I would like to use an old A1143 Airport Extreme to join my network and transform my old HP 3055 LaserJet printer into a wireless printer. When I use Airport Utility (6.3.9) to try to wirelessly get my (factory reset) AE to "Add to an existing network," I repeatedly get "An unexpected error occurred. Try again" message.

Is it possible to use an old Airport Extreme to simply make my old printer a wireless printer on a non Apple network, or am I spinning my wheels?

Posted on Feb 11, 2019 10:56 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

W H Gallmann Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 12, 2019 1:49 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Success!

Found that my 2017 iMac wouldn't boot from my old copy of MacOS 10.5 to get to its copy of Airport Utility 5.6.1 to configure my old Airport Extreme A1143. But I was able to download Airport 5.6.1 and a handy-dandy AppleScript Launcher to open 5.6.1 while booted in Mojave (or earlier versions of Mac OS back to 10.7 [Lion]). Here's that link: https://bristleconeit.com/freeware/launcher-for-airport-utility-v5-6-1/. It's free.

Attached my old AE to new iMac with ethernet/ethernet USB C adaptor. AU 5.6.1 spotted the AE right away, and I was able to configure it to join my non Apple network.

Disconnected the ethernet cord, moved the AE to its remote location and connected my HP LaserJet 3055 with USB cable.

Printer was recognized and added at System Preferences>Printers and Scanners> "+".

Thanks again for your expertise, Bob.

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 11, 2019 11:07 AM in response to W H Gallmann

You will not be able to use any 6.x version of AirPort Utility to do what you ask.

If you can find an old Mac or a PC that has a 5.x version of AirPort Utility installed, it might be possible to manually configure the AirPort Extreme to "join a wireless network" and enable the USB port. The AirPort won't do anything else though......since the WiFi broadcast will be disabled and the Ethernet ports will not be active.

Post back if can locate an old Mac or a PC and we will tell you how to try to set this up.

Reply

Answer 3

W H Gallmann Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 11, 2019 11:34 AM in response to Bob Timmons

That was quite speedy, Bob!

I have a bootable clone of Leopard 10.6 that I have to boot from to be able to scan with my perfectly fine HP 3055 All-in-One printer--Mac OS versions after that only allow printing---ggrrrrrrr! I'll try to configure the AE with the Airport Utility on that drive.

FWIW, I am able to "Create a new network" with AU/AE, which has no internet, and am able to print wirelessly, but I have to switch to the new print-only network on my Apple devices to print, then re join my original network to regain internet access. Not ideal. But it tells me that the USB port is enabled on the AE.

I'd much rather have the printer visible as a network printer on the original network. That's all I want the AE to do. I don't want it to extend my original network or anything else, just wirelessly accept print jobs for my printer.

Reply

Answer 4

Feb 11, 2019 11:46 AM in response to W H Gallmann

I'll try to configure the AE with the Airport Utility on that drive.

For the setup, you will need to temporarily connect an Ethernet cable from the drive to the WAN "O" port on the AirPort Extreme and turn off any other Apple WiFi networks that might be active. That's because AirPort Utility 6.x will be conflict with the 5.x version.

Also when you click on the Wireless tab, you may need to hold down the option key on your Mac to display the "Join a wireless network" option.

Once the AirPort Extreme is set up, you can disconnect the Ethernet cable and move the AirPort to the location where it will be needed.

Important note.......you will be trying to set up the printer as if it were a "network" printer, not a "local" printer that is connected directly to a computer. Whether or not the drivers are available for this type of setup is an open question. But, you won't know until you try.

As a test, I set up an old AirPort Extreme to "Join a wireless network" and connected an old spare hard drive to the USB port to see if I could find the drive over the network. Things do work when I do this. But, printing may be another matter.

Reply

Answer 5

W H Gallmann Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 11, 2019 11:05 AM in response to W H Gallmann

Forgot to mention that the firmware version on the A1143 is 7.6.9.

Reply

Can I employ spare old A1143 AirPort Extreme to create a wireless printer on non Apple network?

Similar questions