USB Hubs over IP disappearing?

[BJZeak]

Back in the day there were plenty of Print Servers over IP for virtually any type of interface ... as most printers have switched to USB, shouldn't it follow that there would be Print Servers available for USB over IP ... several companies; StarTech, IOGEAR, and Belkin to name a few, appear to have had USB Hubs over IP ... but ... they all have discontinued selling product (unless you want to pay several hundred $'s for a digi product)

IOGEAR still sells a single port USB over IP which I may have to fall back to ... but I would prefer to have a 4 port ... if there is some technical reason these devices are being discontinued? What other options does one have to share USB devices over IP.

To have either a wifi or wired USB hub tech over a 10/100/1000 network would seem to be a given ... Yes, there are software solutions but these require a dedicated PC ... most of Windows Versions have Virtual USB ports for most printer devices ... one should expect that extending these out over IP wouldn't be that much more of a trick?

 

[rclarke250]

Just a guess, but I would think that if it is a soho/enterprise type printer, it will already have a network port, my color laser does. If it is for home use laser and ink jet printers that only have a single usb port, they think most people have only a single pc or laptop, and don't need the extra enet port, so it is left off the lower end models. Also most home routers, come with a usb port that can be configured for a usb hdd or a usb printer. So the thought is most printers that need enet support already have a model that supports it, and you just have to purchase the printer with enet already installed.

Now there are 4 port usb print servers that support this and are still available. Check Monoprice. This model according to the manual, supports multiple printers on the server. And it is under $35.00 USD.