Simple Print Server Questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter James Brown
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James Brown

Hi,

I've made the decision to buy a Brother HL-5150D laser printer on the
basis that the price is right and the support is pretty good.

One issue I now face (and would appreciate some help with) is how to
connect it to my (ethernet) network.

Q1: Am I correct in thinking that I can buy any cheap print server
instead of paying the extra for the HL-5150DN model, which has an
integrated ethernet interface?

Q2: I read somewhere that to use a print server, your printer must a)
Support a PCL standard and b) Not be host-based. Is this rumour true?

Q3: How do the print servers communicate with the PC? Are they using
Netbios/CIFS?

Q4: Can anyone recommend a cheap print server - we only have a tiny
network with 4 PC's.

Sorry for all the demanding questions.
Thanks in advance,

James.
 
James Brown said:
I've made the decision to buy a Brother HL-5150D laser printer on the
basis that the price is right and the support is pretty good.
Click to expand...

I think you'll be happy. After two days' ownership, I love mine.
Automatic duplexing -- how did I even live without it? And I haven't
got into the automatic N-up printing yet.

Two caveats:

(1) Expect power surges as it switches in and out of sleep mode, and
as it begins or ends printing. My UPS clucks disapprovingly.

(2) Print is just a hair lighter than it was with my Laserjet IIIp.
I believe it's adjustable, but the difference isn't enough that I've
been motivated to find the adjustment yet. :-)
Q1: Am I correct in thinking that I can buy any cheap print server
instead of paying the extra for the HL-5150DN model, which has an
integrated ethernet interface?
Click to expand...

Here some some totally uninformed speculation: The 5150-DLT is just
a giant box containing one slightly-less-giant box with the 5150-D
and one moderate-sized box with the 5150-LT (the extra tray). By
analogy, I wouldn't be surprised if the 5150-DN is a box with a
5150-D plus a box with a network interface. But I emphasize that I'm
just going by analogy here.
Q2: I read somewhere that to use a print server, your printer must a)
Support a PCL standard and b) Not be host-based. Is this rumour true?
Click to expand...

FWIW, the 5150-D _does_ support PCL6. Not sure what you mean by
"host-based".

I've snipped your other questions because I'm even _less_ qualified
to answer them. :-)

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
"Sticklers unite! You have nothing to lose but your sense of
proportion (and arguably you didn't have a lot of that to
begin with)." -- Lynne Truss, /Eats, Shoots & Leaves/
 
James Brown said:
Q1: Am I correct in thinking that I can buy any cheap print server
instead of paying the extra for the HL-5150DN model, which has an
integrated ethernet interface?
Click to expand...

It depends on the printer. Most printers with a standard parallel port
will work with a parallel print server. But consider that integrated
print servers are more convenient and reduce a fair amount of extra
cables and (usually) a wall-wart power supply.
Q2: I read somewhere that to use a print server, your printer must a)
Support a PCL standard and b) Not be host-based. Is this rumour true?
Click to expand...

a) Not true. Ability to be connected via print server is not dependent
on the printer's page description language.

b) True. The printer has to have enough brains to understand a page
description language, but it could be PCL, PostScript, or even Epson
escape codes.
Q3: How do the print servers communicate with the PC? Are they using
Netbios/CIFS?
Click to expand...

It's usually lpr/lpd or the port 9100 protocol made popular by HP. But
some print servers also support Windows networking.
Q4: Can anyone recommend a cheap print server - we only have a tiny
network with 4 PC's.
Click to expand...

I've mostly used HP JetDirects, which are usually not cheap--the 170X is
$140 or more. However, they work well and reliably. The ridiculously
priced internal JetDirects are simpler to set up physically, and
eliminate the extra cables.
 
James said:
Hi,

I've made the decision to buy a Brother HL-5150D laser printer on the
basis that the price is right and the support is pretty good.

One issue I now face (and would appreciate some help with) is how to
connect it to my (ethernet) network.

Q1: Am I correct in thinking that I can buy any cheap print server
instead of paying the extra for the HL-5150DN model, which has an
integrated ethernet interface?

Q2: I read somewhere that to use a print server, your printer must a)
Support a PCL standard and b) Not be host-based. Is this rumour true?

Q3: How do the print servers communicate with the PC? Are they using
Netbios/CIFS?

Q4: Can anyone recommend a cheap print server - we only have a tiny
network with 4 PC's.

Sorry for all the demanding questions.
Thanks in advance,

James.
Click to expand...
I don't know how fast your new printer is but you must consider whether
an external print server talking to the printer over a parallel port
might limit the print speed. An internal server might get you faster
printout. If you print text, it probably doesn't matter; if you are
printing graphics, parallel port might slow things down considerably.
 
That's cleared things up for me.
Thank you very much Warren and Stan.
Regards,

James.
 
Bennett Price said:
I don't know how fast your new printer is but you must consider whether
an external print server talking to the printer over a parallel port
might limit the print speed. An internal server might get you faster
printout. If you print text, it probably doesn't matter; if you are
printing graphics, parallel port might slow things down considerably.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping to steer well clear of the parallel port stuff.

If you look at the specs for the HL-5150D, you'll see it has a USB-2
interface.

http://www.brother.co.uk/our_products/downloadable_leaflets/datasheets/printers_hl5150d.pdf

When combined with a USB(1.0) print server:

http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=34&scid=32&prid=580

Hopefully, I'll have a fairly decent solution for a good price.

I'll know for sure by Friday ;-)
 
James said:
I'm hoping to steer well clear of the parallel port stuff.

If you look at the specs for the HL-5150D, you'll see it has a USB-2
interface.

http://www.brother.co.uk/our_products/downloadable_leaflets/datasheets/printers_hl5150d.pdf

When combined with a USB(1.0) print server:

http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=34&scid=32&prid=580

Hopefully, I'll have a fairly decent solution for a good price.

I'll know for sure by Friday ;-)
Click to expand...
I think, but am not sure, that USB1 is not much faster than parallel. A
USB 2 print server is very fast. (Remember that the S in USB is serial.)
 
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