printer server to connect usb printer

Apple devices natively support AirPrint - this being a driverless print technology to print to AirPrint enabled printers - usually over WiFi or wired LAN connection.

Apple AirPrint is a driverless connection protocol. A high proportion of modern printers intended for Home, SoHo and Business environments now support AirPrint:

About AirPrint - Apple Support

If your printer only has a USB connection, you can connect you printer's USB connection to a suitable Print Server (e.g., Lantronix xPrintServer), or a low cost Raspberry Pi computer running CUPS. Both are viable, however, you may find that purchase of a cheap AirPrint-capable printer may be more cost effective.

Could something like the https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/print-server/tl-wps510u/ possibly be what you are looking for? The documentation appears to indicate that the device can be used in an ad-hoc mode as well as infrastructure mode. You may have to check the details, though. Check whether an existing printer driver can be used, too. Look upon this as an experiment.

https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/241/ (ad hoc)

https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/414/ (ad hoc)

https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/242/ (infrastructure)

https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/711/ (infrastructure)

See also your earlier post connect usb printer to home network or bl… - Apple Community .

FWIW, I have the Raspberry Pi setup that LotusPilot is referring to and it works great for this purpose.

With the RPi, configured as a Print Server via CUPS, you would connect your Samsung printer to one of the RPi's USB ports. In turn, you can print to it from any network client.

You can configure the RPI as either:

• Connected to the same wireless network as the other network clients, OR
• To create its own Ad-hoc wireless network for those same client to connect to. This method does not require the RPi to be connected to a network, as it will be creating its own. However, the drawback would be you would need to change which network your network client would connect to when printing to this printer.

Lance.scs wrote:

1. Thanks for yr advise but,

Raspberry Pi can't be used on a MBP

The RPi running CUPS is an AirPrint Print Server. As such, it can be used with any Apple Mac computer, iPhone or iPad, that uses AirPrint.

2. Raspberry PI is too expensive. For the same amount one can buy an AirPrint enabled printer.

Thank you anyway.

As stated in my original reply, "you may find that purchase of a cheap AirPrint-capable printer may be more cost effective".

The RPi offers benefit in that most printers that have a USB port can be used with AirPrint. Multiple printers can be connected to a single RPi.

there are many

3 Ways to Connect a USB Printer to a Network - wikiHow

Can I make USB Connected Printer a Network Printer? : r/HomeNetworking

Turning a USB Printer into a Network Printer: A How-To Guide – BCH Technologies

more

make usb printer network printer - Google-