Three Ways to Print Over Your Network

Reader Ryan Conrad writes: Is there a way to print from my laptop to my printer? I've seen a printer at Target that says it has built-in Wi-Fi for this purpose. I'm assuming since my printer doesn't (like most) I am unable to? I thought since I have a home network set up to link me to the desktop where the printer is connected that there was some way.

Indeed, there are a handful of ways to print over your network.

The least expensive way makes use of your existing equipment and costs nothing extra. If you have a network already (either wired or wireless) you can print by sharing the printer in Windows. To do so, using the computer where the printer is physically connected, just go to the Printers control panel (Vista) or Printers and Faxes Start menu item (XP), open it, and find the printer you want to share. Right-click it and select Sharing. Click "Share this printer" and give it a good name. (See screenshot for detail.)

Now, go to the other computer and go to the Printers or Printers and Faxes section. Some printers will now automatically add themselves as an option here (you'll see it listed as "Auto printername") but most will have to be added manually. Double-click Add Printer, click Next, click "A network printer...," click Next again, select "Browse for a printer," click Next again, and then dig through the network structure to find the computer and printer you want. There will probably only be one choice here, so don't panic. Click Next and follow the rest of the wizard to get things running. Print a test page and see if everything works.

Now, printer sharing can be tricky, as sometimes drivers won't install properly. If you run into this problem, connect the printer directly to the second computer, install the driver manually (from CD or downloaded from the vendor's website), and then disconnect the printer and connect it back to the first computer, then follow the above instructions again. The driver will already be installed on your computer, so it should work fine. Be advised, though, all bets are off if you are trying to share between XP and Vista machines. I've never gotten this to work reliably, ever. Having the same OS on both machines works best.

Option #2 involves getting a device that can share the printer directly: You can plug your printer into a wireless print server like the Netgear WGPS606, or replace your router with one that also has a print server in it (though these are rare), like the D-Link DI-724GU. You plug the printer into a USB port on the router, then set up printer sharing through the router's management utility; the advantage is that you don't have to deal with Windows as much.

Finally, you can get a printer with wireless networking built in. (Virtually every printer vendor offers a wireless model or two.) This is the most expensive option, but it's definitely worth considering if you're planning on upgrading your printer anyway.

It's also a bit more reliable: The major flaw with the first option is that the computer the printer is connected to has to be left on all the time, and if you shut the PC down, you will often not get any warning when you try to print a document. It will simply go nowhere, and you will probably forget all about it. Good luck!