I get asked questions frequently by networkers, clients and others about computer matters. One I got last week was really good and I will discuss it now. A client asked, “Does my computer need to be wireless to print to a wireless printer?” They were asking me because they had an office full of desktop computers connected to their network with ethernet LAN cables.  They didn’t know how they would print to a wireless printer on the wireless router.

Their question made sense because they saw their company network as two separate, disconnected ones.  There is an ethernet switch in the network for interconnecting the wired computers and a wireless router for interconnecting laptops, wireless printers and smartphones. The switch and wireless router are connected together with an ethernet cable so the wired and wireless computers and devices are connected together physically.  Another criteria for the printing to work, is all the devices must be on the same logical network on the same TCP/IP subnet. This means they need to have IP address in the same range as in 192.168.1.4 or 192.168.1.6.  The last criteria is the wireless printer is connected to to the same wireless router AP (access point) which is wired to the switch. 

If all this criteria are met, then you should be able to print wirelessly. Oh, and the printer must be powered on!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This