Printing from an iOS device to a remote printer over the internet?

Question

Printing from an iOS device to a remote printer over the internet?

I am aware there are paid services that do this. I am looking for an unpaid method

It seems there should be a way to have a home server with a network printer that is accessible over the internet. I am pretty sure it can be done using macOS but not sure how this would work on iOS without an iOS application to handle the protocols.

Some VPN say it can be set up

VNC says it can be done but not on iOS and you have to pay to do this for Android, etc.

I can email a job to my HP printer which is the best I have found so far but I am looking for an "old school" method.

I can start a CUPS server:

cupsctl WebInterface=yes

Enabling CUPS on local host

There are some options in the Administration section to allow Internet connections.

From there I am clueless and all of the internet searches I have done find companies selling their cloud based services instead.

Is this a lost art?

[Edited by Moderator]

Mac mini, macOS 15.1

Posted on Oct 30, 2024 10:31 AM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,928 points

Oct 30, 2024 12:35 PM in response to johnnyjackhammer

Epson provides a free service to do that using the email method.

To do it "old school" would be to poke a hole in your router to let everyone on the internet into your local network along with your print job. There are various methods to make that more secure. I'm not sure why you would trust someone on the internet to tell you how to do that securely, nor would I understand anyone taking the liability of telling you how to do it.

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Answer 2

Oct 30, 2024 2:52 PM in response to Barney-15E

Do you have UPnP running on your router right now?

Certificates, IPsec, VPNs, you are saying you don't trust any modern technologies? I remember having a conversation with you awhile back where you said no one needed to worry about malware on macOS and no need to turn on Apple's Firewall. Seems a strange turn of attitude. Barney-15E, are you okay?

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,928 points

Oct 30, 2024 3:22 PM in response to johnnyjackhammer

johnnyjackhammer wrote:

Do you have UPnP running on your router right now?

No, of course not.

Certificates, IPsec, VPNs, you are saying you don't trust any modern technologies

If you know how to set that up correctly, why are you asking random people on the Internet?

I remember having a conversation with you awhile back where you said no one needed to worry about malware on macOS and no need to turn on Apple's Firewall. Seems a strange turn of attitude. Barney-15E, are you okay?

Why are you confused about poking a hole in the defenses provided by your router? Seems strange given you know the purpose of IPSec and a true VPN (you do know the difference between a VPN and the crap like NordVPN?)

The built in firewall (if it works) only provides protection from things inside your local network. Don’t let them in by poking a hole in your router.

Even if they get in, they would have to social engineer you to allow an exploit or burn a zero-day exploit. What do you have on your Mac that would make someone burn a zero-day on johnnyjackhammer?

Regardless of the security of macOS, letting anything into your network is stupid. There are secure ways to do it, but are you sure you’re going to find a 100% secure solution from some rando on the internet?

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