Network printer needed?

[SchrodingersDog]

I'm setting up a small office network, 3 to 5 comps with 2 or 3 printers. At home I just hook the printer to one of the PCs and allow others on the network to use it. This will be very light printing, maybe a page an hour at most. A wholesale rep is trying to talk me into buying a printer that includes a network card, saying it'll save me money since I'll have to buy one anyway; which I hadn't planned on. Is there any reason to need one in this situation?

 

[DaveSimmons]

No, you can buy WiFi routers that include a printer port, and wifi / wired print server boxes with either parallel or USB ports. These all are for just printers though, not printer/copier/fax combos.

If you want to run an all-in-one device then paying extra for one with a network port might make sense.

Another choice is to hook the printer up to one of the PCs and turn on printer sharing. For an all-in-one the scanner, fax parts might only work on that one computer though.

 

[LASTGUY2GETPS2]

If its an HP laserjet....watch out they don't work on some printservers...your best bet is to have a pc always on and run print sharing...