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On 10/12/11 13:30, Julian Hall wrote: > On 10/12/2011 13:07, Gordon Henderson wrote: >> On Sat, 10 Dec 2011, Julian Hall wrote: >> >>>> As I have said my router does not have a USB port. However I have >>>> noticed mention of some printers being able to link to one of the >>>> ethernet ports on the router. Is that a good idea, or am I not >>>> understanding what I read? >>>> >>>> Regards >>>> >>>> Neil >>>> >>> Some do have Ethernet ports, however they tend to be aimed at the >>> business market with a price tag to match. Your first thought of >>> the WiFi enabled printer is probably the best one :) >> >> Which is bizarre as the hardware for Ethernet is cheaper than that >> for Wi-Fi and it's less software required to drive it. >> >> My wifes HP PhotoSmart multifunction printer/scanner/copier/card >> reader cost about £89 and came with Ethernet and USB ports - it's now >> 3-4 years old. >> >> Gordon > I think the logic goes that businesses want networked printers for the > office while home users don't need it. Very old thinking but I think > still prevalent. > > Julian > Of course, if you want a networked printer (as in, physically wired via cat5 instead of wifi) on the cheap, any HP model you can get your hands on with a parallel port can be hooked up to a jetdirect box which you could get from ebay for pennies these days. It's a bit old-school - you have to configure them via telnet (!) just for a start - but I did hundreds of older HP laser printers like this when rationalising the printer setup at Kings College London a few years back. Cheap, cheerful and efficient and prevents AD getting littered with a million printer queues hanging off of random workstations. Some of the later/nicer jetdirects have some pretty decent management software and even support WOL as well I believe. Cheers, Mat -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq