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easiest way to print wirelessly

V

Vegasus

Member
I'm getting a tablet soon for someone who has very little skill with technology. She wants to be able to print documents with it so I've looked up the various wireless printing standards, with a focus on monochrome laser printers. Wifi seems most common but it also seems like it'll be too hard for her to setup and maintain, partly because of the flakiness of wifi and her inability to configure a router, and partly because printers skimp on user interfaces, especially at the low end. NFC printing and iBeacon sound simpler since they would directly connect the tablet and the printer, but there don't seem to be many tablets or printers that use those.

Since I haven't settled on a wireless standard, I also haven't settled on Apple or Android yet. My hope is to make it so simple for this person she can do everything she needs without a person standing over her, which she has always needed in the past. If iPads are as simple as they sound, she might be able to do everything other than printing. But if Android has a better non-Wifi wireless printing standard, I might go with that even if everything else it has is a little bit harder to use. Any advice is appreciated.
 
The easiest way is to have your ISP provide a modem which has Wi-Fi. Tablets and smartphones will see that and connection is easy, and a passcode is provided to make it mas or menos secure. That's how I do it with my old wireless printer.
 
I imagine that would be simpler than my current setup of DSL modem plus Linksys router. Yes, I'm still on DSL. I may switch us to cable internet service with an ISP-provided wireless router after I get her the tablet.

What's it like configuring a printer for WiFi, especially if it doesn't have a screen? I was looking at a Brother monochrome laser that's under $100 and supposedly its a nuisance to set up and keep connected with its tiny text display.
 
With Win 7 or 10, configuring a wireless printer is fairly easy. My printer has both wireless and wired capability. The wireless is on by default. You use the Windows Add Printer feature in Control Panel's Devices and Printers. If your PC has wireless, then it will "see" the printer, and then you simply install the printer using the media that comes with it. Depending on your setup, it can be installed as network printer or an attached printer. Mine is on a network (LAN) since I access it with two computers wirelessly.
 
What does it take to connect a printer to a WiFi network with WPA2 security? Mine has a password with random characters.

Also, I'm giving her a tablet, probably an iPad but I haven't completely ruled out Android yet. I use a Windows 10 desktop and could probably use it easily with the wireless printer but I'm not buying this one for me.
 
Always use a secured Wi-Fi. WPA2 is OK, and the password simply becomes a step in connecting. When I travel, I use my smartphone as a hotspot and my laptop connects to Internet via that link. The password is programed into the connection cycle. I have a tablet and a kindle that also use that and other Wi-Fi links along with passwords.
 
Some printers can also connect directly with your device, with no need for connecting to the home wireless network. I have a HP DeskJet that does just that and printing from my Android tablet is really easy. I just had to install the HP print service app. It can also scan wirelessly.
 
lehtv said:
Some printers can also connect directly with your device, with no need for connecting to the home wireless network. I have a HP DeskJet that does just that and printing from my Android tablet is really easy. I just had to install the HP print service app. It can also scan wirelessly.
Click to expand...

This right here. I have an epson printer and I installed their app an my ipad and Shield tablet and printing works fine. My son has a school ipad and the other day he was able to print something and it did not have the epson app on it. The printer has wifi direct, so that could be why.This type of use is probably pretty standard today, but I would research a printer before buying it.
 
It's east with a Brother printer. You can configure it via computer or on the device itself. All you need to know is the wireless password. Once it's on, it's on. That's it.
 
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