Setting up a Shared Printer on a Wireless Network

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Level 1

4 points

Setting up a Shared Printer on a Wireless Network

Scenario: Brand new to wireless networking --I set up my MacBook to share an HP printer with my iMac, but it doesn't work consistently. I have to manually readd the printer every time I startup.

Dumb question1--Do I hook up the printer to the iMac or the Airport? The iMac is wireless enabled, but when I ran the printer through the Airport, I couldn't get it to print from the MacBook. I can only get it to print from the MacBook when the printer is connected to the iMac.

Dumb question 2 -- Do I have to load the entire HP all-in-one printer driver package onto the MacBook? (This includes the copier, scanner, etc. which I won't use through the MacBook.) How do I do a partial load with just the printer driver?

I actually have lots more dumb questions, but I'll leave you with these 2 for now. Thanks!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.6), iMac G4

Posted on Jul 23, 2006 3:49 PM

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Answer 1

bdmarsha

Level 4

2,580 points

Jul 23, 2006 4:22 PM in response to kmckarnin

My dumb answer: This is what the manual for the Airport says:
If your printer isn’t responding
If you connected a printer to the USB port on the base station and the computers on
the AirPort network can’t print, try doing the following:
1 Make sure the printer is plugged in and turned on.
2 Make sure the cables are securely connected to the printer and to the base station’s
USB port.
3 Make sure the printer is selected in the Printer List window on client computers. To do
this:
aOpen Printer Setup Utility, located in Applications/Utilities.
bIf the printer is not in the list, click Add.
c Choose Bonjour from the pop-up menu.
dSelect the printer and click Add.

I don't have an Airport base station, so perhaps someone with experience will respond. As far as installing the HP software, I would go ahead and install it; the extra goodies for scanning and copying shouldn't interfere with anything. You may want to check HP's web site for more up-to-date software. HP is notorious for including CDs with its products that are way old.

bd

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