Some things to watch out for:
If the printers (or printer server) are USB1.0 or USB1.1, then you
can have a lot of problems depending on which version of software is
being used to run the print server. USB 1.x does not give the device
unique enough IDs (like you get using FireWire), so the softwares end
up using other means to separately identify the different printers
connected to the same hub or what not. This is a big problem when you
try to have several of the same type of printer connected, say two or
three or more Epson Wonder Printers or Canon Jazzy Printers (uh
Marta, I made those names up, no such real printers like this out in
the real world). The computer may know you have the separate
printers, but the print spooler will only see the first one in the
list of a specific kind (the first printer of that kind that gets
turned on in the morning) and send all print jobs to it, regardless
of which printer is chosen in the printer dialog box. This is a known
problem with USB1.0 and USB1.1. USB2.0 has made some progress, but ...
You might be better off (fewer headaches) in the long run by turning
on Printer Sharing for each computer / printer combination over the
network (don't forget to adjust the firewall settings on each computer).
Jerry
p.s. On the other hand, if each printer is an entirely different
model than the others, then none of the above applies, just get a
multi-port print server, hook the cables up, turn things on and ....
On Aug 17, 2005, at 10:50 AM, Tom Guenthner wrote:
> Has anyone had any experience with adding a USB printserver to a
> network? Pitt has a few inkjet printers that would be better used
> if they were on the network rather than on individual Macs.
>
-----------------------------------
Someday, I will come up with a clever signature line. I am not sure
if I will use it or not, but I will come up with one.
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