Networking a Printer

Prisoner6409

I have a desktop PC running Win 7 Ultimate and I have a Lexmark M3100 printer. Both are connected via a printer cable, no issues there. I also have a laptop running Win 10 Home and I want to be able to print from the laptop to the Lexmark without using a physical cable. So I set up a homegroup on the PC and added the Laptop to it. I also connected the Lexmark to my wireless modem/router via an Ethernet cable thinking this would allow me to use the Lexmark from the Laptop without having to turn my PC on. However this is not happening, it seems I need to have both the PC and Laptop on when I am in another room and want to print to the Lexmark from the laptop. Is there a way to Print from the Laptop to the Lexmark wirelessly as it were through the router without turning on the PC.

Johnboy1951

Does this printer not have Wifi connection capability which you could use?

Of course you could use a USB key to carry the file to the printer and plug it in to be printed.

It is this printer you refer to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUv-7dMwtkQ

emaherx

Prisoner6409 wrote: »

I have a desktop PC running Win 7 Ultimate and I have a Lexmark M3100 printer. Both are connected via a printer cable, no issues there. I also have a laptop running Win 10 Home and I want to be able to print from the laptop to the Lexmark without using a physical cable. So I set up a homegroup on the PC and added the Laptop to it. I also connected the Lexmark to my wireless modem/router via an Ethernet cable thinking this would allow me to use the Lexmark from the Laptop without having to turn my PC on. However this is not happening, it seems I need to have both the PC and Laptop on when I am in another room and want to print to the Lexmark from the laptop. Is there a way to Print from the Laptop to the Lexmark wirelessly as it were through the router without turning on the PC.

The issue is you have setup your laptop to connect to the printer share on your Desktop, so of coarse your PC has to be on. You need to connect your laptop to the printer using the printers own IP address (in which case PC can be off).

degsie

Not sure why you connected a network printer directly to a pc.

pizzahead77

If the printer has an ethernet/network connection and its plugged into the router, you should only have to install the printer software on the laptop and it should detect the printer and it wont be necessary to have the desktop turned on

smuggler.ie

As it was mentioned, you currently have your printer shared from PC.
1. Remove/delete printer from laptop.
2. Set static IP on printer via printer settings menu. Set it some nice number, like 192.168.xxx.200 (adjust according your actual network range)
3. On laptop go Add printer, choose TCP/IP option, give it a name and enter IP you have printer on. Install drivers at prompt for printer

Now you only have to have printer on to be able to print.

Great feature is network printing, isn't it.
You still need someone to bring printout back to you:D