USB Printer Sharing

[dthomsen8]

Is there an inexpensive gadget that allows me to share my USB printer with two or three computers? I have such a device for a parallel printer, but my HP Deskjet is a USB driver printer.

I am not asking about network sharing, just a little hardware device.

[gary]

USB sharing device for $66.50

Regardless whether serial, parallel or USB printer the most "inexpensive" way is to attach the printer to one system and have that system share the printer with it's network partners.

[dthomsen8]

I have three computers (2 XP, 1 Win98SE) sharing one router, but so far I have only used the router for sharing the cable modem to the internet. Is there a security consideration to using the router for printer sharing?

Originally Posted by gary

USB sharing device for $66.50

Regardless whether serial, parallel or USB printer the most "inexpensive" way is to attach the printer to one system and have that system share the printer with it's network partners.

[John Spragens]

Looks like this little device wouldn't involve your router at all. You'd run a separate USB cable from each computer to this box, and a USB cable from this box to the printer.

The other approach is to connect the printer directly to one computer and share it.

Have you shared any folders on any of the computers? The Windows setup for printer sharing is much like that for sharing folders. I don't know of any security issues. Unless you're concerned that someone on your home network is going to print too much. The shared printer won't be visible outside your home network.

[dthomsen8]

The parallel port printer sharing device was less than $20. $66 sounds like a lot, but maybe there are other devices like it for less.

No, John, I have never done any network sharing at all. When I move a file, I do it with a thumbnail flash memory device. I was using an Omega removable disk.

Originally Posted by John Spragens

Looks like this little device wouldn't involve your router at all. You'd run a separate USB cable from each computer to this box, and a USB cable from this box to the printer.

The other approach is to connect the printer directoy to one computer and share it.

Have you shared any folders on any of the computers? The Windows setup for printer sharing is much like that for sharing folders. I don't know of any security issues. Unless you're concerned that someone on your home network is going to print too much. The shared printer won't be visible outside your home network.

[John Spragens]

Networking can be a little intimidating if you've never tried it before. But once you get started, I suspect you'll find it's manageable. Since you already have all the computers plugged into the router, you're most of the way there. And if you'd like to avoid the cost of the extra gizmo, you might prefer to invest a little time in learning about printer sharing on Windows. Might even get some help here if anything stumps you.

[gary]

Originally Posted by dthomsen8

Is there a security consideration to using the router for printer sharing?

The router is merely the communication channel; it is not actively involved in "sharing" the printer. You may want to make certain that the router denies external access to/from printer sharing - port 445 as well as general sharing ports 135-139.

I would expect the only significantly less expensive sharing "device" would be tennis shoes.