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Question

Print From Two Seperate Networks

Apr 4, 2015 1:55PM PDT

I have two seperate netwoks that i would like to print from without changing the printer from one network to the other. Is it possible ?? I have a modem with a built in router that i use for one network. It is a Bell 2wire. I set up a seperate router in another office with a different SSID just for that office. I am not sure of all the terminology if i'm explaining this properly or not. Thanks for your help

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Could be several ways
Apr 4, 2015 7:28PM PDT

How large are the two networks...how many devices on each need the printer? The easiest way is probably to use both an Ethernet port and a USB port if the printer has both. There's also some port forwarding tricks, use of print servers, etc. I'd avoid any possibility of DHCP wars between the routers so I'd think you're going to want a fixed IP address on the printer

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Clarification about the USB port
Apr 4, 2015 7:50PM PDT

USB ports can accommodate some print servers so you'd not need to share the printer via the connected device.

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Print from two networks
Apr 5, 2015 11:51AM PDT

The networks are not large at all we just want to keep them seperate. I would say about four to five devices on each network would need the printer but not at the same time.There are a couple laptops a tablet and maybe two smartphones. Could you expand on the port forwarding please if that is an option i would like to try it. With a print server can i print from any device as long as i'm in range. If i tried to print from say my smartphone would it recognise the printer. If that works i might try that. Thanks again

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Too many variables to offer specifics
Apr 5, 2015 8:01PM PDT

I'd really prefer to suggest using Google and the right search terms to do some study before deciding on the best option. Port forwarding is just one way of re-directing data from one network to another and how your hardware is set up can affect that. I can tell you that port 9100 is typical for network printers so you'd want your own printer to use that port along with its static address and might read such as 192.168.1.102:9100. That port address could be linked to another address on a second network. You may need to deal with firewalls and such so specific instructions aren't possible. Frankly, the only port forwarding experience I've had is with media steaming and not with printing but I know it's a possibility. It would be possible to use two physical ports on the printer if available such as an Ethernet and a USB port. You could add a print server to the USB port and treat it like a separate network port or you could connect the USB port to a PC and share the printer. That gets a bit complicated if the devices on the network don't have the same OS and cannot use the same driver, however.

I'd have to offer that, no matter what you choose to do, there may be new hardware needed and a few headaches in store. You could find that, if no printing large volumes, you're better off just buying a "workgroup" class printer and be done with it. Good luck.

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Connected Both Networks
Apr 13, 2015 1:42PM PDT

Thanks again for your help. I just connected the two routers together creating one network.Keeping them seperate seemed like it was just going to cause a lot of headaches. I disabled the DCHP in the secondary router and changed the ip address to something different than the primary router. I connected them lan to lan. Everything worked out good except my printer kept showing up as offline . I had to reinstall it and reload the drivers . It is working ok now. Is this a normal thing to do when making changes to a network or was there something that i did wrong. One more question. Each network that i connected together has two SSIDS. I have the printer set to one of them now. Is it possible to print from all of them without having to switch the printer back and forth

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About that last question
Apr 13, 2015 11:29PM PDT

It's nothing I've dealt with. My offered solution presumed that the printer had a wired connection. I've not seen a wireless printer that didn't also have an Ethernet port. In any event, if your printer connects by SSID and sends a username password to authenticate, I'd say you're stuck with that one connection to one network. If the printer allows both a wireless and wired connection (some do and some don't) you'd have that option as well. To be honest, I try to avoid wireless printing altogether. There's just too much potential for additional headaches so I really can't help with that.