View Full Version : two macs and a printer!!!!!!?????

Jul 12, 2004, 01:49 PM

1. ibook with airport extreme
2. emac with no airport card

I have the above and would like to connect the emac to the printer either wirelessly or hard-wired. I would like to print wirelessly from my ibook.

I haven't yet bought a printer because I saw some HP printers were called "wireless printers." How does this differ from a regular usb printer??

Please help me!! thanks,


Jul 12, 2004, 02:08 PM
Get an Airport (Extreme) card for the eMac, and get any printer you want.

A wireless printer has a WI-FI card built in. If you are just printing text this is fine. If you want to be able to print photos, get a wired printer.

Jul 12, 2004, 02:17 PM
Or hook up the printer to the emac. Hook the emac into the network (or connection) that your airport is on (you might need a hub to do this). Share the printer on the emac with the network. You should be able to see it from you ibook then and print wireless (slow for pics though) If you don't have a hub, just buying the airport card for the emac might be the easier route. Then you can either hook the printer to the airport base station, or to the emac. (I would advise the emac, that will be faster for printing large files if you print them from the emac)

Jul 12, 2004, 02:19 PM
If you don't have a wireless router, you can always get an Airport Extreme/Express and plug the printer into it's USB port.

Jul 12, 2004, 02:53 PM
Airport extreme is what you must have.

Jul 12, 2004, 03:40 PM
Airport extreme is what you must have.If wireless printing is all he wants, then a standard wireless router is all he needs.

The cheapest way to go would be to buy a $40 802.11g router. Many to choose from at this price range. Plug the printer into the eMac (via USB) and "share" it to the network. The iBook will be able to find the printer as long as you leave the eMac on.

The next level up would be to buy an Airport (or Airport extreme card) for your eMac. Set up an "ad-hoc" network between the iBook and eMac. Then do the same as above. This will cost you about $80-$100 for the Airport card.

Next option would be to buy a $200 Airport Extreme Basestation. Make sure the printer is compatible with the AEBS's printer sharing function. You would plug your eMac into the AEBS. The iBook will connect wirelessly. This gives you the benefit of being able to share the printer without needing to keep the eMac on all of the time.

A similar option to the one above would be to get an Airport Express. However, you would need to get an Airport card for the eMac since the AExp doesn't have an ethernet port for the eMac to connect to. This would be $130+$80 = $210 (or $230 if you need the Airport Extreme card for the eMac).

Keyspan makes a USB server that retails for $130 that can be added to a regular router (or wireless router). It'll enable you to share the printer with any computer connected to the network. However, it's not a print server in the traditional sense. Each computer will need to "lease" the printer and "release" it when finished. The advantage is that you can hook-up scanners, USB hard drives, and multifunction printers as well. Add this to a $40 router and your set-up costs $170.

Every option except the 2nd will allow you to easily share a broadband internet connection. You can do it with the 2nd option, but you'd have to hook up the cable (or DSL) modem to the eMac and share the internet connection to the iBook. It'll work, but the 1st option is cheaper and easier.

I hope this isn't too overwhelming.

Jul 12, 2004, 05:54 PM
Simple is better, plug in the airport express. Boom your ready to go.