I'm thinking of getting the Airport Extreme dual band ac router. If I plug my trust OLD non WiFi HP printer into AirPort's USB port, will that allow me to access it with my WiFi devices like my iPad Air, iPhone and MacBook Pro when in WiFi mode vs ethernetted into the Router?
Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 4-Core Mid 2012
Probably, but no guarantee.
If I plug my trust OLD non WiFi HP printer into AirPort's USB port, will that allow me to access it with my WiFi devices like my iPad Air, iPhone and MacBook Pro when in WiFi mode vs ethernetted into the Router?
Two part answer.....
1) Yes, you will likely be able to print from the MacBook Pro if you use Print & Scan in System Preferences to install the printer.
2) The iOS devices like the iPhone iPad will not be able to print unless you install an additional software App like Printopia on the Mac....and the Mac is running on the network when you want to print from one of the iOS devices.
Printopia - AirPrint to Any Printer - Print from iPad - Print from iPhone ...
There are other Apps that can do this as well, but I have not used them.
You cannot print to a USB printer from iOS unless you use a print app.
Apple do not support any printer type natively except airprint.. and they mean that literally .. it must be wirelessly connected not connected via USB.
There are plenty of apps to get around the apple limitation but old USB printers can be more pain than they are worth.. a new airprint capable printer is cheap.. it is the toner or ink they get you on.
Airport Extreme USB port and iPad Printing?
