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Tarabella · Mar 9, 2003, 09:26 PM

I've been successfully printing to my Xerox Phaser 6200 for months, wirelessly via Airport and a MacSense router that was connected directly to the Xerox printer.

Now I want to move the printer to another room and don't want to run cables.

I found a Linksys WPS11 and it looks like I should be able to connect it to the printer and have it talk to the Airport base station.

Easier said than done.

Has anyone been successful with this?

AssassyN · Mar 9, 2003, 09:39 PM

Hmm...you can't move the MacSense router along w/ the printer?

My old guess would be to power down everything for 5 mins., then power up the Linksys, then Printer, then AirPort and hope for recognition. You also may need to re-install the AirPort software in case it's hung on not finding new equipment properly.

If not, I'd call Linksys and see if they'd lend their input. Good luck!

aaanorton · Mar 10, 2003, 10:34 AM

Don't bother doing ANY trouble shooting. Linksys does not bridge AppleTalk to the wireless side of their devices.
Your choices are to either return it for something that does or setting up IP printing. To use IP printing, go to Print Center, click Add (printer) and select IP Printing instead of AppleTalk. You'll need the IP address of the printer, which may be that of the Linksys device. If the default queue does not work, try lp (lower case LP).

Tarabella · Mar 10, 2003, 02:54 PM

Problem solved. Thanks for the input.

I solved the problem with _very_ little help by Linksys tech support, and a great deal of fiddling.

First of all, aaanorton, the Linksys WPS11 does appear to route AppleTalk. There is a tab in their web-based config screen that lets you turn it on and off.

Here's how it works:

First, you need to get the fixed IP address of the wireless print server. Easier said than done. Because the device comes preset to use DHCP, not fixed addresses. I guess if you have a PC, this is easy. But I only have VirtualPC. You have to connect the WPS11 with a cable through an open port on the Ethernet router, not through the port on the back of the Mac.

But from within Virtual PC, you can use the Linksys Admin utility to change the device from DHCP to a fixed IP address. Their tech support reccomends 192.168.1.78, but I suppose any correct address would work.

You can quit Virtual PC at this point.

On the Mac side, you now can type in the IP address in your browser and set the wireless settings. The wireless settings must exactly match the Airport config for your Airport LAN. This isn't difficult, except Linksys uses a bunch of techie lingo that doesn't match up with the simplicity of the terminology of Airport. For example, Airport's "network name" corresponds to the Linksys' "SSID". They must be the same. You also must set the channel number to the same value (1 through 11).

You may want to change the "server name" on the setup screen at this point, because the default Linksys name is something catchy, like "SC1045SW". I changed it to "Xerox Printer".

Then you click "save" on the Linksys screen and are instructed to reset the WPS11 for the new settings to take effect. Linksys tech support said that all you need to do to reset the WPS11 is unplug it and wait ten seconds. This in not true. You must also depress the tiny "reset" button while it is powering up.

This is all that's needed to get it talking on the Airport LAN.

Finally, although I was accustomed to using IP printing on my Xerox Phaser 6200, I found it much simpler to add a printer in Apple's Print Center with AppleTalk. The printserver correctly published its name and allowed me to select the printer description file from a list.

Done! I am now printing to a Postscript printer wirelessly for only $100.

aaanorton · Mar 10, 2003, 03:03 PM

That's great. I'm really glad it works, but I sure wish Linksys would make up their mind. They specifically state that AppleTalk is not bridged on their products both in literature and through tech support. Oh well. Maybe this works because it is an all-wireless device and does not require a wireless to wired bridge.

Tarabella · Mar 10, 2003, 03:19 PM

Here's what the config page looks like to turn on AppleTalk:

If they would just provide a static IP to start with, a simple page in their manual could explain the whole process and you could do the whole thing from your browser.

Instead, they make you sit on hold and talk with half a dozen people who do their best to assure you that it will not work with a Mac.

Tarabella · Mar 10, 2003, 03:23 PM

Oh, yeah, AssassyN, I never explained that I couldn't move the router, because it is next to the DSL phone jack and the DSL modem has to be connected to the router.

But I did think twice after reading your reply!

Thanks.

Bob Tarabella
--
http://admobile.com

aaanorton · Mar 10, 2003, 03:34 PM

Well, it seems like a relatively good deal for 100 bucks. Even nicer in that it works.
I am expecting my new (to me) D-Link DP-313 wireless print server. I got it off eBay for $90 and it's got 3 parallel ports, ideal for my two laser printers. I think it will work. I will be posting here in a couple days with results.

Tarabella · Mar 10, 2003, 03:44 PM

I'm looking forward to a standard wireless card port, or even integrated Airport in the next generation of printers. Maybe Bluetooth is the solution to all of this.

Its almost indefensible that a $2500 office printer would not offer some type of wireless functionality.

The flexibility of being able to place these devices anywhere at any time is very attractive.

Bob
--
http://admobile.com

aaanorton · Mar 10, 2003, 04:06 PM

word

ickettpe · Mar 27, 2003, 11:37 PM

I used to be able to print from my iBook to my printer on my iMac over ethernet LAN.

Now i have a new wireless router with a built in ethernet switch, so i have the imac wired with the ethernet and the ibook wireless w/ airport. I am unable to print on the epson inkjet printer that is attached to the iMac with the wireless. However, the ibook does see the printer, but when i tell it to print, it just queues it up but then nothing happens on the other end.... nothing in the queue on the imac and nothing being printed. Any suggestions?

aaanorton · Mar 28, 2003, 09:20 AM

So, the printer is connected via USB to the iMac?
Check that printer sharing is enabled in Sharing pref pane. Also check that printer sharing is checked (allowed) in the firewall tab there.

ickettpe · Mar 30, 2003, 07:44 PM

Originally posted by aaanorton:
So, the printer is connected via USB to the iMac?
Check that printer sharing is enabled in Sharing pref pane. Also check that printer sharing is checked (allowed) in the firewall tab there.

yes it is attached via USB to the imac. The printer shows up on my ibook, and i print, and it says "spooling pages..." and it acts like it worked just fine. Then nothing happens on the other end.

ickettpe · Mar 30, 2003, 08:01 PM

ok actually it IS giving me an error now, but it is just "there was an error while printing" right when it should have finished queueing up the file. When i open up the print dialog and select the printer, it finds the shared printer (epson styluss color 777) and sees that its location is the imac.local. Any suggestions?

thanks