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Five computers sharing a single laser printer - how to set it up

K

Kaalm

Junior Member
Have a small company in an office building. Our office has 5 Apple computers - two G5's, two G4 powerbooks and one G4 imac. Each of the 5 computers is connect to the internet via ethernet (I believe we're on the building's network). What I'd like to do is set it up so that each of our five computers can share a single laser printer (haven't bought printer yet but looking at models similar to HP 2300 series).

Can someone give me a briefwalkthru of what hardware I'd need and basics of setting this up. I'm fairly computer savvy but have never set up a network before. A wired connection is fine. Questions include:

What hardware would I need? Router? hub? other?
Can I connect the computers to printer via usb cables? Or, should I use ethernet?
Since our computers are already on the office building's network, will that act as network for the printer sharing?

Not really sure what else to ask. Thanks for any help.
 
Is this your company's internet connection, or do you share it in the building with other companies? If so, is there an It person in charge of that?
You really need to find out the current topology and let us know. Only then could anyone give you proper advice.
 
Easiest thing to do if the computers can already see each other is hook the laser up to one of the computers and then share it on the network. I am assuming that with the mac you can share a printer, but not having used one, I can't say for sure that you can or can't, or how you would go about doing it. The downside to this method would be that the computer that hosts the printer would always have to be on in order for people to print. That would be the cheapest and easiest way to do it, but has that one big downside. That's how I have my house set up. One linux box acts as a print server and web server, and all the computers print to that one.

If you are wired into the newtork, you can buy a box that hooks up to the printer and then hooks into the network to share the printer that way as opposed to having to use a computer.

It really depends on what your current setup looks like, and how much you want to spend to get it going.

Jeff
 
If you are already connected to a network just buy a HP 2300 that is network ready...usually HP adds an N to the model number(2300n). Then you just plug it in and setup the appletalk settings and you will be able to print from all your computers via the network.

John
 
Hi and thanks for responses. Our company shares an internet connection with other companies in the building - we can see many of these companies on network and have accesss to things like their shared itunes files.

Found out building doesn't allow individual routers/hubs but the building rep says I can set up a shared printer by connecting a network printer (like the 2300n mentioned) to an existing ethernet port. Sounds like we'd simply have to enable another ethernet port, connect printer to it then use appleshare to allow all workstations access to the printer. This sound right? It seems to make sense but I wonder whether or not the printer would need it's own IP address.

Down side is this will cost us an additional monthly fee of approx $30. Anyone sees any holes in this setup? Or have a better way? Thanks for the help.
 
Wait a second.. You're saying that your company shares an Ethernet segment with other companies in the same building without any security and that you can see their files and they yours? Man, there's no WAY I'd go for that or let any of my customers do it. If one of those PC's got infected with a virus or any kind of worm, you'll get nailed. Guaranteed.

I'd go out and buy a SOHO router (good linksys, etc.) and plug all your computers into it, then connect it's WAN port to the building Ethernet. That would protect your network from prying eyes. Some of these routers also come with built-in print servers that you can hook your printer too, to meet your original needs, plus it won't be that much more expensive than buying a "N" upgrade (2300 -> 2300N) for the printer, and maybe even cheaper.

- G
 
Originally posted by: Kaalm
Hi and thanks for responses. Our company shares an internet connection with other companies in the building - we can see many of these companies on network and have accesss to things like their shared itunes files.

Found out building doesn't allow individual routers/hubs
Click to expand...


DANGER!!!! DANGER!!!! WILL ROBINSON...

Holy bad idea batman.

one sniffer hooked up to an ethernet port would be undetectable, and would have more passwords,. and security infomation then one could imagine. You are in a seriously bad situation. I can only pray that your in a swiched vlan environment, and that you network administartors aren't really as cocky as they sound..

If they dont want you to get your own internet connections, then that would be fine, but to tell me i'm not allowed to router off my own company assests from the other legal entities in the building is just asking for the worse kind of legal/security troubles one can imagine.

 
Originally posted by: Kaalm
Found out building doesn't allow individual routers/hubs but the building rep says I can set up a shared printer by connecting a network printer (like the 2300n mentioned) to an existing ethernet port.
Click to expand...
?No individual routers/hubs.? That's an almost unbelievable statement. Please don't misunderstand; I do not doubt your truthfulness. I just can't believe that this type of situation exists.

Someone with authority in your company had better sit down with this individual and have a serious discussion in regards to this. It may be wise to have legal representation present. My god, anyone in the building has access to anything on your 5 computers if they have the knowledge and desire. I don't know the nature of your business, but all businesses have customers and the company has a responsibility to protect any information related to those customers.

I'm obviously not a lawyer and can't do a convincing argument on this.

The boss should thank you for this.

 
Originally posted by: skyking
Is this your company's internet connection, or do you share it in the building with other companies? If so, is there an It person in charge of that?
You really need to find out the current topology and let us know. Only then could anyone give you proper advice.
Click to expand...

This is exactly why I asked those questions. I suspected something "hinky"

Digging around in this thread turned up the same thing.
Link

I have no qualms about sharing a broadband internet access via NAT, but whoever is in charge of those buildings needs to employ an expert, and use something other than a SOHO device to do the sharing and traffic shaping.
 
Ok, you've got my attention. Let me see if I can piant a clearer picture of the setup here - I'm comp savvy but not an IT guy so please bear with me.

The building has T1 lines. Each T1 may be shared by more than one company - depending on the number of computers. I'm told by our building rep that each company has a firewall that prevents access to other companies on the shared network. I wastold that yes we can see other companies on thhe network but was assured no other company could gain acess to our computers or pass a virus (and vice versa) due to the firewall set up - some itunes folders are accessible because people have set them up so they can be shared.

What I see when I click the hard drive icon on my desktop and then select Network are several folders. These folders represent companies in the building. If I click on a folder it asks me for a workgroup domain, user name and password. There is also a folder labelled: Local. On this I can see several individual computers, i.e. Bob Jones's Computer. If I try to open a computer listed in this folder I am asked for username and password or the request simply times out.

Withh that info in hand, is my set up then as dire as you all have indicated in previous posts? If I need to get someoine in here to set up a SOHO router, etc I'll do it - but building assures me of our privacy. I'm a producer not an IT guy so if any explanation could be done in lay terms i'd apppreciate it immensely - as I appreciate all current advice.

BTW, what questions should I ask my building IT rep - they are calling me back to step me through the whole security setup, but like I said I'm a producer not an IT guy. I know more than anyone else in my small company by far about comps but I'm still rather ignorant about networks, routers, etc. Thanks a ton.
 
And this privacy/security for your leased line, it's in writing from your building? In all case, I would highly recommend you get someone to do a network audit, but remember to ask permission from your building to do your own network audit.

Are they also providing you with external/routable IP addresses or just internal ones?
 
Judging from your post above, you must pay $30/month per additional drop. What are you paying total for this internet access?
it sounds like they are billing you for each drop, and that is why they do not allow additional routers, etc. They want to control and bill for all the access.
Of course this is their right, but if the network were properly subnetted, you would never see those other companies.
 
Here's the important question to ask your landlord: Are all companies individually protected by a firewall just like you are? If they say Yes, then you know they are full of it or don't know what they are doing, as you're obviously seeing people's computers who are not on your company network.

It's possible that they might have a firewall between their network and the Internet and someone might have mis-interpreted that as being a firewall to protect individual companies from other people that share the same network.

There's a quick, simple test you can run.. When you go into the network neighborhood, you see domains or workgroups belonging to other companies. Double-click on one at random. It should list a number of computers in that domain on your screen. Write down the name of one of thse machines.

Open up a command prompt and enter "ping <computername that you found above>". It will show you it's IP address if it pings successfully. Next, do an "ipconfig" and find your own IP address. If the first three digits of the IP address match between your computer and the other computer, chances are you are not divided up. (The exception to this would be if your subnet mask is GREATER than 255.255.255.0 - If there's anything other than a 0 in the last octet you can be splitting things up more granuarly).

Let us know how this works out.

It sounds like you have some areas of concern and things to deal with on your network. The situation is complex enough that it will hard for us to provide much advice. I'd recommend finding a local company to come in and give your computers a once-over and make sure that things are really as you expect they are. Yes, it might cost you a couple of hundred bucks, but it's cheap insurance against a major break-in or security event like a virus outbreak or worm.

- G
 
Sounds to me like they have a firwall between the building network, and the internet, but possibly not between compaines.

Ask them directly if each company is firewalled off from each other. It just might be that those itunes folder are being passed through the firewall, but that would mean enough holes in the firewalls for windows networking, whcih is basically no firewall at all.

 
Talking to building tech guys this week. Will post follow up when I know more. Thanks for help/info.
 
Lots of helpful replies here already. I personally recommend use of an HP or Xerox printer with built in printserver. In my home I share two printers with my Windows PCs and my Apple PowerBook over my network (Cat 5 100BaseT Ethernet and 802.11g Wireless). The printer is an HP LaserJet 4050. I added a JetDirect ethernet print server card to the printer (making it now a 4050N model). My Mac and my PCs see the printer perfectly now. I also share a Canon color inkjet printer in a similar way, but with an Apple AirPort Express module (which is also a second Wireless Access Point and remote audio output). The Canon printer via the AirPort works great again for my Mac and my PCs.
 
Given that you'd be charged $30 a month extra for another connected ethernet device, that a JetDirect card or already equipped printer would cost several hundred dollars more than one without and might be somewhat difficult to manage access control on (necessary given the unsecured network), I would recommend that you use one of the existing workstations as a a print server. Use cups, which I think may be installed by default in OS X (or would be easy to install if it wasn't there), and pretty easy to administer. You can even set it up to use encryption when the print jobs are sent over the network. All in all, I think it's you're best option hands down.
 
Thanks for all the great replies. I should have said - all the computers are macs running OS X (10.3 or higher).

The firewall is between internet and network not between each company/ Each company is safeguarded from other companies on network by passwords. We do indeed pay for each drop but won't have to pay for an additional drop if I add a network printer Building throws us thhat one free).

Security from the other companies isn't a big concern for me as none of these companies will be hacking into our stuff anytime soon (only a handfull on the network and we know them all - all on same floor with us).

Mostly looking for most efficient way to network a printer. Right now the two options I'm looking at are:
1] Make one comp a print server and set up printer sharing, or
2] Get an additional drop and buy a network enabled printer that can also act as a print server

First option seems the least expensive but may not suit our growth and output needs - I understand that only a single print job can be processed at a time, while on the networked printer, print jobs could be added to the queue.

Thhe ability to add a few more comps as we grow and ability to set print jobs in a queue so we have no wait time are highest priorites. Any other opinions about the printer network (pros/cons) are much appreciated. And thanks again for all the helpful info.
 
There is a third option actually. I use several very inexpensive usb print server units I got from fry's. They connect to the printer via usb and have at least an ethernet port (I've have one that also has 802.11g wireless). They support socket (lpr) printing, and I use them with both windows and linux, and I'm sure that OSX would have no problem either. The great thing about them is that they were dirt cheap on sale, and very affordable otherwise. The non wireless unit cost me < $15, and the wireless unit (with basic access control and support for more printing protocols) cost me ~$60. And unlike a network enabled printer, I can easily transfer the networked functionality to other printers (they're external units and model agnostic).
 
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