Problem caused by Windows XP

[waldvogelmj]

I have a Sony laptop, Epson printer, cable modem and Windows XP and would like to create a very simple network at home. I would like to be able to have wireless internet access on the laptop and be able to print to a fixed printer. I see a very simple setup where the modem is attached to a wireless router that has a built in print server.

Here is my problem. For Windows XP, Epson only offers a USB driver for my printer (although the printer also has a parallel port). I can't print directly from the laptop to the printer though a parallel cable. The only wireless routers that I've seen with a built in print server have only parallel connections. I don't believe I can get my XP laptop to print through a router with a parallel connection.

Does anyone have any ideas or solutions? I would think this would be a common problem with newer computers. Maybe the network components haven't caught up with Windows XP. I don't want to dedicate another computer just to support the printer. Does anyone make a router with a USB connection for the printer?

 

[JohnnyPC]

Ya the printer poses a problem in the sense it will most likely need to be connected to a host PC of some sort. the wireless internet isn't a problem since you just connect that to the wireless router which in turn will serve out your woreless internet to the laptop. Is it possibl to just connect your USB printer to your laptop whenever you need to print? I'm not aware of any wireless router print servers that would accomodate the USB connection to a printer.

Or....you could pick up an inexpensive PC to which you could have your USB printer permanently connected AND have it wired to the router. This way you would have a two station network from which you could print from where ever you might be in your house and have the wireless freedom to roam the mansion...

 

[zephyrprime]

Why wouldn't you be able to print if the router is connected to your printer with a parallel port? Seems to me that the fact that your notebook has no parallel port is irrelevant.

 

[Silver222]

Wait a minute....you're printing to the print server, right? Not the printer directly, so as long as there are drivers for your print server, you should be ok, shouldn't you?

It's been a while since I messed around with a printer that didn't have an ethernet card in it, sorry