Trying to print from MacBook Air to HP5Laserjet via Prolific Technology IEEE-1284 Controller

I'm trying to print from my MacBook Air through my home network to my HP 5 Laserjet Printer and having very limited success. The printer is old (pre usb) and so I have connected it with a Prolific Technology INc. IEEE-1284 Controller, running from the parallel port on the printer to the usb port on my Belkin Router, which serves my home network.

When I go to the Belkin Network center, it shows the Prolific Technology INc. IEEE-1284 Controller, with the word "printer" after it. When I send my first print job, the MacBook will sometimes find it and sometimes not. But it will never find it a second time.

I have tried all three settings in the Belkin network center (1-always start it manually; 2-always have it on at startup; 3-shared, starting up and shutting down with each job) but none seems to work. When I've tried to set it up as shared it tells me it's looking for the printer driver but then won't let me install it (and I know it's already installed.)

ANY HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!

Thanks,