It should be said that connecting a printer through a router is not the most difficult task, so almost every PC and office equipment user can cope with it. In general, setting up a printer through a router is a very convenient way to install the so-called. network printer, because in this case, several personal computers can be simultaneously connected to one printing device without the need to lay a large number of wires.
Installing and configuring the router
- To connect a printer via a router, first of all, connect the computers from which you want to organize printing to the router. To do this, use special network cables that you can buy ready-made or crimp the twisted pair yourself. Then check the performance of the organized network.
- Then you should turn off both the connected device and the router. After that, you will need to connect the router via usb to the mfp. Turn on the router and after about a minute do the same with the printing device.
- In the next step, you need to do a little router setup. Find the local address on its box and type it into the address bar of any web browser. Typically 192.168.1.1 is used as the address. After that, you will be taken to the authorization window, where you need to enter your login and password – you can find these data on the back cover of the device. Thus, you will find yourself in your personal account, where you can configure any parameters that interest you.
- Go to the Network Map tab, which displays a list of all connected devices. Finding the right installed printer in it is easy. But if it is not there, then be sure to make sure that the connection is fully functional. Also, try installing a newer firmware for your router. If this does not help, then most likely you have connected something incorrectly or some of the devices is not working correctly. If everything is fine and the router has found your printing device, then proceed to the next step.
Setting up the printer
- To answer the question on how to set up the printer, you need to go through the control panel to the section called “Hardware and Sound”. Find the submenu with devices and printers there, and click on it.
- In a new window, where the entire list of equipment connected to the PC is displayed in front of you, click on the inscription “Add a printer”.
- In the empty window that opens, find the inscription at the very bottom, implying the absence of the desired device in the list, and then click on it.
- In the list of settings for installation that opens, you need to check this item: “Add a printer by its TCP / IP address or hostname”. Click on “Next”.
- In the drop-down list that appears, select the device type “TCP / IP Device”, after which you just need to set the IP address of the router – the same address that you entered in the browser line to go to the device’s web interface. After clicking on “Next”, wait for the port search to come to its final end.
- At the next step in solving the problem related to how to connect a printer through a router, a window will open in front of you, where you need to enter additional information about the port. At the very bottom, where it says “Device Type”, check the “Special” item, then click on the button with the parameters.
- In the port settings in the “Protocol” category, check “LPR”, then in the LPR parameters set any queue name and click on “Next”.
- After that, a window will open again in front of you, where you need to enter additional information about the port. You can safely click on “Next”.
- Now a window will open in front of you with the installation of the mfp driver. Alternatively, you can select the manufacturer of your device and its specific model from the offered list, or click on “Windows Update” and wait until the list of available devices is loaded. There is a high probability that the current driver for your device is available in the update center. In this case, the required software will be installed automatically. But if none of these methods suits you, then download the driver yourself from our website. After unpacking it, you will need to click on “Install from disk …” and specify the correct path to the folder with the software.
- But if you have already installed your device before, then in the installation window of the printing device you will be prompted to select the driver version. If you have more up-to-date software, then click on “Replace current driver”, otherwise, check the box that allows you to use the device software application already installed on the PC.
- After completing the installation and selecting a driver, the installation wizard will ask you to give you a name for the printer. Having solved this problem, click on “Next”.
- In the next step, remove the sharing of the printer by checking the appropriate box.
After completing the procedure, be sure to print a test page to make sure that the task related to how to connect the printer to the router was really solved.
Please note, however, that some printer models may not respond correctly to a setting such as Bidirectional Exchange Mode. When performing a test print, the device does not stop on one sheet – it will work until you stop it manually.
- To solve this problem, you will need to go to the web interface of the router and go to the “Print server” section (the name depends on the specific router model).
- After that, uncheck the “Two-way exchange mode” checkbox.
- It is also recommended to check the box to enable the print server.
- Then save the changes and reboot the router.
In general, despite the length of the process, solving the problem of how to install a network printer through a router is not as laborious as it seems at first glance.
Watch the video: setting up a printer via a router