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Network printer connected to router
Message
From
13/11/2010 17:01:06
Hilmar Zonneveld
Independent Consultant
Cochabamba, Bolivia
 
General information
Forum:
Hardware
Category:
Printers
Miscellaneous
Thread ID:
01488857
Message ID:
01489053
Views:
52
>>>>>If you have a network printer connected to a router then, I suppose, you can print to this printer from any computer on the network. If two computers try to print at the same time what controls the spooling (since there is no printer server)?
>>>>
>>>>More precisely, typically a standalone network printer is connected to a switch rather than a router. Many consumer-grade routers contain a built-in switch with 4 or more LAN ports, which may be what you're using in this case.
>>>>
>>>>Network printers do contain built-in print servers. They usually run an embedded OS (often Linux-based) which offers a print server/spooler, print processor, and these days usually an embedded web server for administration and configuration. Some higher-end models have lots of RAM and may even have an internal hard drive for spooling large print jobs, holding document templates etc. They are basically computers with a print engine.
>>>
>>>Thank you very much for the explanation. I am in the process of shopping for a network printer and a router. So I will look for a router with LAN ports and a printer with RAM and more advanced features.
>>
>>What do you need a router for? My understanding is that routers are usually used (a) to connect a LAN to a WAN technology, or otherwise connect different networks, and (b) to divide larger networks into subnets, among other things for administrative purposes.
>
>I currently use a cable company modem with a router built-in. This router has 4 ports where I connected computers in my office. So it allows me to have all computers (connected to the router) to be on the same network. So I can share drivers, printers, etc. I may need more that 4 ports (if I buy a network printer, for example). So I would need to buy another router with, say, 4 ports. Then by connecting the second router to the first one (the cable-modem router) I will increase number of devices I can connect to the network. Does it make sense?

Connecting different computers in a local network is s basically the function of a switch, not of a router. The function of a router is to connect DIFFERENT networks among themselves. (This may include "subnets" within a company.) Of course, "all-in-one" devices may be sold for small networks, that have both switch and router capabilities. You have to check what is available. Typically, a switch has 8 ports, or more. (A typical Cisco basic Catalyst router has 12, 24, or 48 ports.)
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)
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