WiFi Printer Question

[lancekidd]

I have a question about wifi printers. I have my current printer plugged into the usb port on my desktop. My laptop and desktop are networked together and the printer is shared, and so I am able to print from my laptop wirelessly from my laptop over the network.

The only problem with this is that my desktop has to be on and logged onto the network in order for me to print from my laptop. Is this what a wifi printer is suppose to solve?

My understanding is that the printer connects to the network itself and doesn't have to be plugged into another computer and shared in order to print to wirelessly. Am I right about that before I buy one?

Also, I would like to have the same thing in an external hard drive. Is that possible, to have a wifi hard drive, so that backups would be a breeze?

I really appreciate the help.

 

[kwing112000]

yes your correct. the printer will sit on the network and not on another computer. you wont need your desktop running to print. You may even be able to get a USB print server. then you can keep your printer and turn it into a WiFi printer.

for the storage there are network attached drives that you can get. take a look at linksys. they make a bunch of them. i am sure you can find tons of them.

Kevin Wing
ACSS Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Communications
ACS- Implement IP Office
ACA- Implement IP Office
Carousel Industries