Bluetooth network printers?

[savak]

Hi all

I have two Pc's at home and two printers, one inkjet & one laser.

How feasable is it to network the computers & printers so that either computer can access either printer and how is done? :blush:

Can this be done by bluetooth or should I use USB networking. My Internet access is by broadband router. :)

The computers have Windows 98 and 2000 as their respective operating systems. One is PII 450 and the other AMD 2400+

If you have any recommendations please let me know.

Thanks

Graeme

:group:

[Agent Smith]

Hello savak,

Right first off I will state that I do not know a great deal about Bluetooth networking. For most of it's history, it has been too slow, too expensive and too short ranged to be of much use. I appreciate that newer devices are faster and have a longer range, but they are still expensive and as far as serious networks are concerned, they lack security at the lower end of the scale. Hence I have had no use for them.

Now for your question. You state that you already have internet access through a broadband router. Can I take it from this comment that you already have a home network setup? Depending on this answer, there are several possibilities as to how to proceed.

As a guide though, the cheapest solution would be to simply connect the printers to your computers and then allow them to be shared. This would of course mean that the computer to which the relevant printer is attached would need to be switched on. The next cheapest solution, would need the computers to be fairly close together, and in this example you can use a switch box. This allows the printer(s) to be connected to more than one computer at a time, and depending on the model (and of course price) can be either manually switched or automatically switched. This solution also restricts upgrade access should you add more computers to your network at a later date.

To truly network a printer, you need to attach it to some form of network printer server. This is not a server in the sense of a dedicated computer (although of course they can b used), but a device which allows the printer to plug into your network, and which receives the signals sent to it and then sends these on to the printer. Print servers can be found in a variety of types, including standard ethernet, wireless and Bluetooth. However they are not particularly cheap.

One example is this Linksys device, which can support three printers

Click Here , but it will cost about £95.00

Belkin do a Bluetooth device

Click Here , but I think it will cost you around £110.00 and you will also need to consider the cost of Bluetooth connections for your other computers.

Please let me know what you currently have in the way of networking, and locations, and I can advise you further.

Regards. Mr. Mouse.