Print Server Description and Installation

Print Server Description and Installation
A general guide to installing both printing and multifunctional printing services with the use of a print server device.

A print server allows multiple users, on a wired or wireless network, to print to its attached printer. This is done without having to share that printer from a computer which would have to be left switched on. It is a piece of hardware that attaches directly to your printer using the printer’s USB cable. It then connects users to the printer over the network using a network cable attached directly to your router or wirelessly (wireless print server) to your wireless router. You get wired and wireless print server devices, print servers that support Multi Functional Printers (MFP) – these are printers that can fax and scan documents as well as do printing, and print servers that can connect more than one printer – i.e. they have 2 or 3 USB ports.

Diagram illustrating options

Some print servers are stand alone devices while others can be built into a router, wireless router, network attached storage (NAS) device or even be built in to the printer itself.

Connecting and powering the Print Server
These instructions apply to most of the devices on the market. You must have a router to connect the print server to and a computer that is networked to the same router.

(Print servers do not usually come with an ethernet cable or a USB cable included).  

• Plug the USB cable from the printer directly into the print server. Plug an ethernet cable directly from the print server into the router. Plug the supplied power adapter into the print server and into the wall socket and turn on.

Installing the MFP print server software (for MFP functions on MFP devices only)
Often the software can also be downloaded directly from the manufacturers web site.

1. Install the MFP software, which is usually supplied on a CD: Put the CD in a connected computer, a screen will be displayed which will show some options. Click the Setup Utility (or similar) option and follow the instructions.
2. If prompted select to configure now and click the next button until a screen appears with an MFP server list. Sometimes this list will be empty, simply click on the Refresh button until you see your MFP server in the display (It will show an obscure name such as MFCAB3F3). Click the item in the list and click next.
3. At this stage you may be prompted to login to the print server. Find the login information from the installation manual or manufacturers website. The login details may be similar to the following:
   User Name: admin
   Password: 1234
4. Now you can give your print server an alias name and a description, this is a friendlier name to assist you to identify it later.
5. You should now set the IP address of the device to be in the same network segment within your network environment or your connected computer. If you do not know what that is then:
   Click Start, Run and type: cmd and click OK.
   At the command prompt type: ipconfig and then press Enter on the keyboard.
   The result will show an IP address and a subnet mask.
   Set the IP address exactly the same as the computer’s except for the figure after the last decimal point – change that to something like 69. Example: if your computer’s IP address was 192.168.1.4, make the print server’s IP address 192.168.1.X where X is any number from 1 to 255, but not the same number as any other connected device. Make a note of the number you have used. Leave the subnet mask as 255.255.255.0 and the Default gateway as 0.0.0.0.
6. Click Next or Continue to save and finish with these settings.
   If your print server is a wireless device, and you want it to connect wirelessly to your wireless router then continue to the next step.
7. Select the wireless router in the displayed table and determine how you will connect:
   a) Infrastructure mode – via the router itself (recommended).
   b) Ad Hoc – peer to peer directly to the device.
   c) Manually.
8. If you chose a) above then you may be prompted for your wireless router security settings to access it. Enter the appropriate key.
9. Click Next and Finish. At some stage you may be prompted whether you wish the MFP Manager utility to launch at Windows startup. Select Yes if you will be using the Multi function facilities of the printer rather than only just printing.

If you installed a wireless print server, now will be a good time to remove the ethernet cable and check that the aerial is correctly attached to it.

In order to use the Multi Functional parts of a printer you must run the MFP Manager installed on your computer and connect to the printer. Depending on the features of your Multi Functional printer you will be able to copy, scan or fax pages from your computer, using the relevant management software that came with your printer.

Installing the device as a Printer
This step MUST be done for any Print Server device whether MFP or not

1. Click Start, Control Panel, Printers and Faxes. Choose Add a new printer.
2. Select Local printer attached to this computer and click Next.
3. Select Create a new port, type in a name and choose Standard TCP/IP from the drop down list.
4. In the new wizard that pop up, enter the exact IP address you did for the MFP section earlier. If not, you need to assign an IP address to the print server. You can do this by using the supplied utility software or connecting the print server directly to your computer using a cross-over ethernet cable. Set your network card’s IP address to the same subnet of the default IP address of the print server. Log into it using an internet browser application, by typing the print server’s IP address in the browser’s address bar. Find the section relating to changing the print server’s IP address and select a static IP address in the same subnet of your network. Save your changes and then change back your network card’s IP address to how it was configured previously for your network.
5. Select the radio button labelled Custom and click Settings. The protocol should be selected as LPR and the queue name as lpt1.
6. Select to keep existing printer driver or if the printer is not yet installed, put in the CD for that printer and install the printer.