adding printer to wireless network

I'm a little confused about adding a printer to a wireless network.
I currently have a canon mp500 using a usb output but have not yet bought a wireless router. As I research routers I'm not seeing any with usb inputs to connect my printer. Must it be a network printer with an ethernet connection? Can I use a USB cable that has an ethernet connector on the other end to connect to the router?

 

You need something called a print server.

I use a Linksys WPSM54G that connects wirelessly or wired to my existing Linksys WRT54GS router and has the USB port for the printer.

I got mine refurbished/recertified for about $50.

 

There are several way to add. One is add a printer sever to your current printer. To me these have been hit and miss. If your printer is listed and supported it normally works, other wise not so good. Some printer have a network option for them, either by wired or wireless. Of those two I would go wired every time and connect it to the router. A third option is to share it off of a desktop pc, the pc must be on for this to work.

 

Just to verify, is this your printer: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/c...TechSpecsTabAct&fcategoryid=238&modelid=11995

If so, then you will either need to connect it to one of your computers and share it to the network, or else get a separate print server and connect it to the network that way.

I use a wireless print server with my USB all-in-one printer on my home network, and generally haven't had too much trouble with it, although since my printer is a Brother printer, not all of the functions are supported (scanning is a PITA). I believe that Canon products are much better supported however. The wireless server I use is the Netgear WGPS606, which can also be used as an access point for other wired computers onto your wireless network.

 

Agreed, using a print server is a bit hit and miss, as not all the printer funcitons are usually supported, escpecially if it a Multi Funtion Printer. Best option to retain all functionality is to share it from another PC on your network. If you do decide to change the printer, get one with ethernet connection as much easier to network and set up.

Shyster 1 - sorry to hijack you through this post, but need your help on a Sony Vaio PCG-Z1VA and saw you used to run one. Swapped the HDD out from 80Gb to 320Gb, but only registering 137Gb either with Ubuntu or Win XP. Any ideas on the limit of HDD? Many thanks.

 

LBA48bit is not active or supported, may need a BIOS update. Some drives have a jumper to control this. May need to use a preloader for hd.