Have Yourself a Wireless Printer

It’s good that modern printers are starting to become compact and sleek. Yet, they can still take up a chunk of your work space, especially when your desk is cluttered or just really small. One way to avoid this and thus maximize your limited desk space is to make your printer go wireless.

There’s an abundance of wireless printers available at any given computer store. However, if you don’t own one yet, do not go rushing towards the store just yet. Though they are readily available, wireless printers can be costly. Besides, what would happen to your old and reliable printer? Fortunately your current printer can be made wireless easily. Here are the ways to turn your printer into a wireless one.

Plug a wireless print server

You can plug in a wireless print server if your printer has a USB port. It’s a small box for which you can connect your printer. There are plenty of print servers in computer stores with a price ranging from $75 to $100, though you can get cheaper ones if you search dutifully in the internet. During the setup, you would obviously need a router because you will have to connect the printer with the printer server to the router using an Ethernet cable. Then just like setting up a wireless internet, you are required to install software on your computer and configure the connection.

Buy a Bluetooth adapter

Between a Bluetooth adapter and the aforementioned wireless print server, this is definitely the easier one to install. In fact there is no installation needed; you just need to plug a Bluetooth device on your printer. Unfortunately, not all computers have built-in Bluetooth devices. Sometimes you have to purchase one and have it attached to your computer. If you are on of those who use an old computer, you can purchase one at any computer store. These units, which include both devices for your computer and a piece to attach to your printer, usually cost at around $50.

If you’re planning to use a Bluetooth device to make your printer wireless, it’s important to that you use the new version of Bluetooth devices. The trade-off in connecting your printer via Bluetooth is the limited range to which you are able to position the printer from your computer. The older Bluetooth products that use Version 1.1 or 1.2 have a very limited range of approximately 33 feet, which is significantly shorter than your router’s range. If this is the case, you’re better off using a wireless print server instead. However, the Bluetooth Version 2.0 and 2.1 have a rated range 10 times more than the previous versions, thereby allowing you to have more options as to where to place your printer.

Share your wireless printer

It’s not uncommon to have several computers sharing one printer, as this is normally the setup in offices and some households. After all, it’s both convenient and cost-effective. You can definitely do this as well; all you need to do is connect the printer to a host computer, acting as a server to allow the other computers use the same printer. Simply go into the Control Panel in Windows and enable the printer to be shared on the network. GP