Printer sharingis a popular way of reducing printing costs and supersedes the need for multiple printers in a home. A small Mac home networkis simple and easy to set up but it requires a few pieces of hardware and a printer that is capable of being connected to a wireless or Ethernet network. The first piece of equipment needed will be the routing hub or switch which enables all of the Mac computers to talk to each other and the printer. If using a wireless router it will need to be plugged into the Internet connection and the wireless software will need to be installed on all of the computers that are to be part of the network.

The router needs to have the Internet plugged into the receiving port which is usually marked. Then plug all of the devices into the router via Ethernet cables; if wireless networkingis being used skip this part and install the wireless software to each device. The user may wish to get a switch instead of a router; switches operate just like a router but add Internet sharing for up to 256 a Mac computersand are very easy to install and use. Older models of Mac computers have an AAUI jack that will need an adapter to work with the Ethernet cable and these can be found for around thirty dollars. If the user needs to add another hub, do so just as if it was another computer and add more computers to the hub.

Each computer on the network will need a different name and odds are they have already been named. If the user is dealing with an all new equipment, which is unlikely, then all of the devices will need to be named and configured before the networking process can take place. There are software routers that can be used but on average they are more difficult to set up and maintain than hardware routers. If the user is a novice or beginner it is highly recommended that a hardware router be used. If an individual is feeling up to the challenge and wishes to use a software router look into IPNetRouterandSurfDoubler. It should be noted that software routers require the use of a server computer or server service run on a computer. If the server or computer holding the server technology crashes the print sharing also crashes and will not work.

After plugging the printer into the router, install the printer software to every computer or device on the network. To use the , shared printerselect it from the chooser when printing. All of the Macs should be restarted after the printer software is installed to complete the printer sharing. Should the printer be added to a wireless network, use the steps and instructions included in the documentation of the printer to complete these steps. The instructions will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but will typically use a utility program from the wireless router to add a printer or device to the network.


This was written by Printerinks.com the home of Printer inks and Laser Toner