If I added Airport Express to a wired printer, would airprint work as well?
If you mean, can I connect a non-AirPrint-enabled printer to the Express base station's Ethernet port to make it AirPrint-enabled, then the answer is no. However, if the printer is already AirPrint-enabled, then is should work whether it is connected by wire or wireless to the network.
Unfortunately, simply adding a USB printer to the AirPort Express will not make it an AirPrint compatible device. You need an AirPrint compatible printer for that type of functionality.
Check this Apple support document for details on compatible models:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4356
If your printer is not compatible, you might be able to use a workaround by installing an application like Printopia on your Mac.
There is a free trial for Printopia, so you will know in a few minutes whether this will work for you.
Bob,
Thanks, if I have a Netgear router instead of an airport model, will the airport printers work with it?
Pete
Yes, if the printers connect to the network using wireless and they are also AirPrint compatible.
Hello. Here is the answer...
I got one my self. It works.
I also use the Lantronix xPrintServer.
http://www.lantronix.com/it-management/xprintserver/xprintserver.html
xPrintServer lets ios devices recognize any printer on your network via AirPrint. Just like the ad says,"Open it, plug it in, print." Your ios device and wifi printer have to be signed into the same network as the xPrintServer. Non-wifi printers have to join the network either directly to an ethernet router/hub or via USB to a print server such as AirPort Express/Extreme. I believe the latest version of xPrintServer has a USB port to serve this purpose.
Option two. Some printer manufacturers (HP for example) have apps you can download from the app store or company website to make their non-wifi printer available to your ios devices. The problem is you can only print from within those proprietary apps. There are also third party wifi printing apps available at the app store. These also only work from within the app. These solutions are not as versatile as using AirPrint natively.
Finally option three. Buy an AirPrint wifi printer. There are a lot more to choose from these days, and they are not that expensive anymore. You will probably pay more for ink/toner cartridges than you would for the printer.
If you plan to keep your current printer the simplest solution is the xPrintServer. Good Luck.
Will AirPrint work through Airport express?
