Q: Can my time capsule support Air print with my iPhone and iPad?

Brian-

Yes, the Time Capsule supports AirPrint.  However it requires an AirPrint-capable printer connected by either WiFi or Ethernet.

I suggest you download the free App, HP ePrint Home & Biz.  It has some limitations, but may be able to work with your printer.

There are other printing Apps such as Print n Share and PrintCentral.  These Apps have their own text, photo, mail and web browser programs that can print.  However they can only be accessed from within other Apps that have the "Open In" option.

Your best bet may be to run a program on your computer that shares its printer as AirPrint over WiFi.  Printopia and FingerPrint are such programs and are reported to work well.  The computer must be on and awake anytime you want to print.

For a free program, search for Airprint Activator.  You will need the revised version to work with iOS 5 on the iPad and/or Lion OS on the Mac.

Fred

I know this is an old thread but I have issues with this too.

Running latest OS on everything an latest drivers on my Canon 8600 printer (Airprint capable).

Fred*M says that TC supports Airprint connected by EITHER WiFi OR Ethernet...

So if I have connected the canon printer to the USB port on the TC then I don't need to enable wireless (diasble it ?) network connectivity on the Canon ?

I cannot print from my iPhone using Airprint when it is connected to the TC with cable.

However, when I try to enable WiFi on the canon printer to connect to the TC it connects/disconnects immediately.

I can print from the iMac directly connected to the TC but I suspect that is internal in the TC.

I want to be able to Airprint print from my iPhone again, liek before when I had a simple Sitecom router and hooked the canon up on the wireless network, no problem.

What am I doing wrong ?

hansfromholland,

As Fred*M said, "Yes, the Time Capsule supports AirPrint.  However it requires an AirPrint-capable printer connected by either WiFi or Ethernet." That does not include a connection by USB cable.

You'll need to get the printer working either by wifi or ethernet after disconnecting the USB cable. If you are having trouble doing that, please start a new thread describing the problems you are having and what steps you have taken to resolve them.

Hansfromholland-

As Markwmsn said, AirPrint does not work over a USB connection.  Your iMac uses the printer's native printing language, not AirPrint.

Yes, this is an old thread, but still on its "first page".  What do you mean when you say the printer connects and disconnects immediately via WiFi?  Are you using a password with the Time Capsule?

Things to try include checking for a firmware update for the printer, and recycling power on the Time Capsule.

Fred

Hi guys,

Thanks for responding.

I disconnected the USB cable and the WiFi connection was established right after I rebooted the printer.

It stayed like that for hours.

This morning the led on the printer was blinking (in standby mode) indicating that it lost the WiFi connection.

A troubleshooting document was printed and gave me the reason that the time capsule has MAC address filtering on.

That is absolutely not the case and I have checked and double checked that.

My iPhone connects very well with the TC, I am clueless at this moment.

Firmware for the printer is the latest.

Firmeware for the TC is the latest (although I cannot find where I can force an upgrade for the TC).

Recycled power several times in various order.

Airport Utility gives the TC as green, internet connectivity too.

iMac connected to the TC works like a charm.

Printer sits right next to the TC on the same desk.

What else can I try before I throw it out the window (bring it back to Apple Store?

One thing you should know is that I got the TC from my manager in America so the TC is an American TC.

I can see that when I configure it and it asks in which country I am and give it the default USA setting.

However, apart from the Airprint issue everytrhing works well, although the signal strenght is lower than the Sitecom router I had previously, which is strange.

If your printer supports an ethernet connection, you might try that. (I tried to look up your printer, but I could not find any Canon printer with only a numerical model numbel. They all had letters before or after the numbers. I also could not find any with the number 8600 in it.)

MAC address filtering would not just have turned itself on, so that troubleshooting document was obvious on the wrong track.

AirPort Utility 6.x should offer to do an update if your TC has updates available. The Time Capsule should also notify you if it sees an available update; it will flash its amber light if so.

See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1218 for more information.

You can force a specific update (if you have it) by the following process:

Open AirPort Utility (6.3 in my case).

Click on your Time Capsule to bring up the information "bubble."

Hold down the "option" key while hovering the cursor over the version number ("7.6.3" for my AirPort Extreme).

Click on the version number while continuing to hold down the option key.

This should bring up a list of the software versions that you have previously applied (and still have) and and "Other..." option that allows you to select a version you have downloaded directly.

sometimes, life can be soooooo difficult but the solution is right in front of you and you just don't see it.

My DHCP lease time was set to 1 day.....duhhhhh.......I set it to 30 days and now it works as expected.

I checked the version and it is set to 7.6.1 with 7.6.3 available, I will upgrade later, however the TC does not ask for this upgrade, need to do it manual, like you said.

Anyway, my printer is an HP Officejet Pro 8600, which is AirPrint compatible.

Now all I have left is one more question, why is the radio so weak ?

I had a Sitecom of 1 year old and when connected to my iPhone I could walk all the way around the house and always have 100%. With the TC I can hardly keep the signal when I walk outside the door.

The TC replaced the Sitecom so no interference unless the TC has a problem sitting next to the HP printer, although the Sitecom never had a problem with that...

Any thoughts on that ?

DHCP clients are supposed to be smart enough to know when their lease expires and ask for renewal or reassignment.

Thoughts on the difference in WiFi performance:

Is the Time Capsule using the same WiFi band or bands (2.4GHz or 5GHz) as the Sitecom?

Is the Time Capsule using the same WiFi channel or channels (1-14, 36-64, 100-140, and/or 149-165, depending on country) as the Sitecom?

Does your iPad have the same problem with varying WiFi strength?

If you are using the simultaneous dual-band capabilities of modern Time Capsules, are the iPhone and the iPad using the same band?

It looks like the TC is very sensitive to noise, as the signal drops frequently when I check using NetSpot.

Initially I didn't even see the 5Ghz network until I forced my laptop (MBPro) to join.

Now I can see it and the 5Ghz wifi signal is much more stable.

I cannot test with the iPad as it is currently not in my possession.

Thanks for the hints so far REALLY appreciated.