Need help using a wireless printer

  • Thread starter Thread starter mohead
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mohead

I hope someone can help me. I just built a computer with that has
built-in wireless b/g capabilites. Because of the setup in my bedroom I
bought a wireless printer (HP C6180) which would let me place it
anywhere in the room without having to deal with cables. My motherboard
has the capabilities of being a soft access point apparently. Will this
take the place of a separate router?

What's the best way to do this? Do I have to create a network first and
then share the printer to the network? Is a network needed at all?
There are no other computers in the house right now. I don't have
broadband yet either (will have it in another 3 weeks).

This is my first experience with networking and wireless, so any advice
no matter how basic is appreciated.

Thanks,

-Trent
 
If you are going to broadband, and have no current home network, it would be
much simpler to wait until you have a broadband modem and router. Otherwise
you will end up undoing whatever you do now, and complicate the broadband
setup. If you have the router, or a modem router, in theory, you could
setup the "LAN" side now, and the internet side when the broadband
connection is installed and operational.
It's not really a good idea to setup a computer as an access point, due to
security considerations, unless you want to turn it into a server.
 
Chuck said:
If you are going to broadband, and have no current home network, it would be
much simpler to wait until you have a broadband modem and router. Otherwise
you will end up undoing whatever you do now, and complicate the broadband
setup. If you have the router, or a modem router, in theory, you could
setup the "LAN" side now, and the internet side when the broadband
connection is installed and operational.
It's not really a good idea to setup a computer as an access point, due to
security considerations, unless you want to turn it into a server.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chuck. Last night, I set up the network using the mobo's setup
utility and it let me complete it without the broadband connection. My
wife had to print something off, so I really had to get this thing set
up. The printer detected the network and I got it running fairly
quickly. The wizard I was using before wouldn't let me past the
internet connection step and had me stumped. It looks like it won't be
a problem to add the internet connection after the fact using the
utility.

Could you explain why it's not a good idea to use the computer as an
access point? I have encrypted the network.

Thanks,

-Trent
 
Thanks Chuck. Last night, I set up the network using the mobo's setup
utility and it let me complete it without the broadband connection. My
wife had to print something off, so I really had to get this thing set
up. The printer detected the network and I got it running fairly
quickly. The wizard I was using before wouldn't let me past the
internet connection step and had me stumped. It looks like it won't be
a problem to add the internet connection after the fact using the
utility.

Could you explain why it's not a good idea to use the computer as an
access point? I have encrypted the network.

Thanks,

-Trent
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by a "soft access point." Most likely, what
you have done is create an "ad hoc wireless network." There is nothing
intrinsically "wrong" about doing this, except that IIRC, for ad hoc
connections, you can only use WEP to encrypt the wireless communication
link, and WEP is more vulnerable than WPA or WPA2. Note that "more
vulnerable" doesn't mean "wide open." It just means that if you happen
to be so unfortunate as to attract the attention of someone who really
wants to break into your network, they will be able to do it in about 10
or 15 minutes rather than taking a number of days.

Once you get your broadband connection, you could just connect your
computer directly to the broadband modem and leave the printer hooked up
as is. You could even share the broadband connection with other
computers via your wireless ad hoc network and Windows Internet
Connection Sharing. I do not recommend this.

You should get a wireless router, hook that to your broadband modem, and
then connect all of your computers and the printer to the router. Your
main computer can be connected to the router via Ethernet (most all SOHO
wireless routers have 4 Ethernet jacks in addition to the wireless
capability) or wireless. The router provides an important layer of
protection between you and the Internet, including both "Network Address
Translation" (NAT) and a type of firewall. You will have to reconfigure
your printer to use the router, but that isn't difficult. You will then
be able to use WPA or WPA2 encryption.

I suggest that you buy a name-brand router. I also suggest that you do
not spend the extra money on a "pre-N" router. Wireless spec 802.11n
has not yet been ratified. Personally, I have had good experience with
Linksys. Jack (www.ezlan.net), an MS-MVP who frequently posts in this
ng, has recommended a Buffalo router
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833162134 ), which
I understand is a "cut above" Linksys, Netgear, D-Link and the like.
 
Lem said:
I'm not sure what you mean by a "soft access point." Most likely, what
you have done is create an "ad hoc wireless network." There is nothing
intrinsically "wrong" about doing this, except that IIRC, for ad hoc
connections, you can only use WEP to encrypt the wireless communication
link, and WEP is more vulnerable than WPA or WPA2.
Click to expand...

Lem, what I have is a computer with on-board Wi-fi (motherboard: M2N-32
SLI Wireless Edition) and it is designed to be used as an access point.
When I ordered it, I thought I would have to buy a router too, but one
of the selling points of the motherboard is that it saves you the extra
expense of an access point. I am starting to understand the difference
between a router and an access point, though it's still a bit fuzzy.

While setting up the network, I had to specify which type I wanted. The
choices were Soft AP, Infrastructure and Ad hoc. Infrastructure is used
when you have a separate router and you are joining an existing network
through that router.

I chose Soft AP and I can support up to 64 devices. I encrypted it
using WPA-PSK. I think it's called a software access point because the
computer and access point are one and the same.

For right now, I'll keep things as they are, but the router seems to be
an even better way to go and I will probably get one once my DSL is up
and running.

Thanks,

-Trent
 
I agree with LEM. If you connect your computer directly to a broadband
connection (e.g. cable or DSL modem), your computer(s) could be vulnerable
to attacks from the Internet unless you are quite careful.

A "router" is not very expensive and is a good investment - "wireless"
routers tend to be a bit more expensive. "Routers" designed for home use
include firewall type capabilities, DHCP service, DNS forwarding, Network
Address Transalation as well as the basic "routing" function.

If you want, you could still use your motherboard wireless feature as a
wireless access point instead of using a "wireless" router. You can use
Windows XP's Internet Connection Sharing to allow wireless connected
computers to access the Internet through the wired connection to the router
(from your computer that has the wireless capable motherboard).
 
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