printer network

In my house we have a 2010 13" MBP, two 2008 15" MBPs, an iMac G4 (flat panel), and a an eMac. the 13" is running 10.6, the 15" 10.5, the iMac and eMac both run 10.4. We have an Epson R260 printer and would like to network it. However it doesnt have any kind of NIC, only a USB connection. I would like to be able to connect to it wirelessly with the 3 laptops and ethernet with the other two. What is the best way to do this?

thanks!
mayflyTR

PS i do have a netgear wireless router already with the eMac and the 3 laptops connected to a network that we use basically just to play games...if i could use this that would be awesome..

You'll need a USB print server. Unfortunately, one weakness of OS X is that it doesn't do port redirection at all for printers. So, if the driver doesn't support anything more than a USB connection, then you're stuck. Sometimes you can find a more generic driver that will work, but more often than not, you'll need one specific to the model.

You could go out and spend $50 on a USB print server, but at the end of the day, you'll save a lot of heartache just buying a network ready printer - they're a dime a dozen these days.

would an HP jet direct work? we use those at my work, which is how i was planning on setting it up anyway, thought i'd ask for advice first.

mayflyTR said:

would an HP jet direct work? we use those at my work, which is how i was planning on setting it up anyway, thought i'd ask for advice first.

Click to expand...

An external JetDirect would certainly work as a hardware solution. What I'm speaking of is the software side. When you attempt to connect to the printer using whatever protocols that particular JetDirect happens to support, you likely won't find the printer driver in the list. That's because often times the drivers aren't made available by OS X unless the printer is attached via USB. In that case, your options are to try a Gutenprint driver (a set of open source drivers that accompanies OS X, and usually supports network printing) or an aftermarket driver set like PrintFab.

Your mileage may vary of course, since I'm not familiar with your particular printer, but it's a very common problem -- and one that I keep hoping Apple will fix in OS X. The issue is non-existent in Windows, since Windows has the capability of changing ports on-the-fly just by ticking a box.

ahhh, ok i gotcha...alright well ill give a shot...thanks for the help and explanation!!