Airport Express for wireless printer connection

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Airport Express for wireless printer connection

I have an Apple Airport Express (AAxp)which I use to connect to two printers which do not offer a wireless connection; one printer is USB the other is Ethernet. It works fine but it means my leaving the main network to carry out printing operations, which is not always convenient. I cannot get an Ethernet connection to the AAxp so I am trying to figure out if there is a way to connect the AAxp to the main WLAN which is being dished out by a new Zyxel router. I understand it may not be possible but I would like to try, if anyone can suggest, in steps, how I might go about it. I have the AirPort Utility 6.3.9 and also, if necessary, AirPort Utility 5.6.

Posted on Jul 13, 2023 7:41 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Bob Timmons

Community+ 2024

Level 10

159,626 points

Jul 13, 2023 2:49 PM in response to Drieu

The AirPort Express can join a wireless network using a wireless connection if you want to configure it that way, but it will first need a Hard Reset to erase the current network settings so that it can be reconfigured to join the Zyxel router's Wi-Fi network.

The Ethernet port on the Express will be enabled as well as the USB port.

In the example below, you can see that an AirPort Express is being configured to join the Wi-Fi network provided by a 2 Wire Wi-fi router using AirPort Utility 6.3.x. The name of the wireless network to be joined is "2WIRE902".

When you set up the AirPort Express again, it will be configured to join the name of the wireless network that the Xyxel router is providing.

In the example just below, a device name has been entered for the AirPort Express and the wireless network password for the network to be joined has been entered and confirmed as well

After the Next button is clicked, you can see that the Express is being setup with the correct settings to join the Wi-Fi network.

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Answer 2

Drieu Author

Level 1

18 points

Jul 15, 2023 1:37 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Hi Bob and thanks. It is a bit more complicated than this however. Or so it seems... The AAXP was hard reset and was happy to join the Zyxel's wireless network. When I added the HP Z3100 GP to the Ethernet socket and the Epson R2400 to the USB socket I was able to see both in the Printer preferences and make them work. However, after a few hours, I came back to the Z3100 to do a print job and it was shown as "not connected" and no amount of fiddling around and rebooting of bits was able to get it back. I made a new "printer" to try, to no avail but it can be seen, just not made to connect. The Z3100 is in DHCP mode, so it should respond to any address it is given but I suspect it is somewhere in that area where things are falling apart. The way I had the AAXP set up initially was as talking solely to my iMac on a closed wireless connection where the AAXP was not part of the WLAN and it worked fine. The Epson printer works fine using the USB socket but the Z3100 does not seem happy to use the USB socket. Not that it's an option; I only have two big non-wireless printers and two sockets. That said, I could equally be using an idle Time Capsule or an AAXTreme for the same job, if that were going to work any better; though they are slightly harder to accommodate local to the printers they could be used. What do you think? Please don't advise me to contact HP... that way either the stress or old age will get me before it is resolved.

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Answer 3

Jul 15, 2023 6:18 AM in response to Drieu

The Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme will not work the way that you want.

There is no "Join a wireless network" setting on these devices, so they cannot connect to the Zyxel's wireless network signal.

The Express is different. It is the only model in the discontinued AirPort line that can "join" a wireless network using a wireless connection and provide an Ethernet and USB signal.

If you do want to try an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule, they will need to be permanently wired to the Zyxel router using a wired Ethernet cable connection. I don't think they will work any better than the current setup that you have with the AirPort Express, but they won't be worse either.

As for the current setup with the AirPort Express, if you can open AirPort Utility and "see" the AirPort Express in the display screen, it is working correctly.

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Answer 4

Drieu Author

Level 1

18 points

Jul 19, 2023 5:47 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks Bob. That saved me a lot of pain :0) I cannot see a way to get the Zyxel DHCP server to form a lasting bond with the printers, which is a pity. I will revert to the earlier arrangement where I set up the Express to create a new dedicated printer network and I'll just flip WLAN when I have a print job to do. The day to day A4 printer is AirPrint compliant, so it is not such a big deal.

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Airport Express for wireless printer connection

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