How can I connect a HP deskjet printer that only has a USB cable to my home ethernet network?

December 24th, 2008 | by Joe |

Is there a USB to ethernet adapater?

Right now, if I want to print from my computer upstairs, the computer donwstairs which is connected to the printer has to be turned on.

Generally speaking no, you can't connect a device that isn't network aware (i.e. one that doesn't have an ethernet port) to a network like that. It's not just the fact that a USB port and ethernet port are different shapes, the device has to have networking protocols and knowledge built into it or it's got no idea how to interface with ethernet. I have heard of routers that will allow this kind of thing, that'll accept USB devices and do all the networking transactions on their behalf, but that's mostly for hard drives so you can have shared storage, I don't know if they handle printers. It seems unlikely because printers all need different drivers while USB hard drives are totally standard.

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  1. 5 Responses to “How can I connect a HP deskjet printer that only has a USB cable to my home ethernet network?”

  2. By shmifty_14 on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

    Connect it to a computer that has drivers for it (or install drivers ona computer). Then enable printer sharing on the network and every computer on your network should be able to use the printer.
    References :

  3. By Steven L on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

    Buy a USB print server like the one below..

    http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=165
    References :

  4. By bryanjrobertson on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

    Generally speaking no, you can't connect a device that isn't network aware (i.e. one that doesn't have an ethernet port) to a network like that. It's not just the fact that a USB port and ethernet port are different shapes, the device has to have networking protocols and knowledge built into it or it's got no idea how to interface with ethernet. I have heard of routers that will allow this kind of thing, that'll accept USB devices and do all the networking transactions on their behalf, but that's mostly for hard drives so you can have shared storage, I don't know if they handle printers. It seems unlikely because printers all need different drivers while USB hard drives are totally standard.
    References :

  5. By person103 on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

    look around at stores or the internet. You'll find a USB to Ethernet adapter somewhere.
    References :

  6. By Horny MOFO on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

    There are two ways to do this in a Windows environment, but one of them doesn't work in every circumstance.

    The first, traditional way is to connect the printer to a machine on the network, install the drivers, and then share the printer. In Windows XP, you do this by right-clicking on the printer and choosing "Sharing and Security". Sometimes this doesn't work — some HP inkjet printers shipped with drivers that specifically prevented them from being shared.

    The better way to accomplish this is to get an HP Jetdirect 175x print server. This print server has USB ports on it and is widely supported. You plug a network patch cable into the Ethernet port and the printer USB cable into the USB port.

    Here's a link:

    http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/18972-236253-64302-34214-64302-28830.html
    References :

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