I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.
It looks like this one is all Newegg has.
Good? Bad?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833996123

Since this has two USB ports, could this allow a USB hard drive to be
used as a network drive?

I was also looking at one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136746
It doesn't look like it has a USB port. That would make it network
only. I wonder why they would not also include USB?

Metspitzer <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.
> It looks like this one is all Newegg has.
> Good? Bad?
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833996123
>
> Since this has two USB ports, could this allow a USB hard drive to be
> used as a network drive?
>
> I was also looking at one of these:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136746
> It doesn't look like it has a USB port. That would make it network
> only. I wonder why they would not also include USB?
>

Because a small pci usb card would be trivial to add??

Metspitzer wrote:

> I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.

Wireless or wired? You didn't say what type of networking.

Why go to the expense of adding more hardware? Why not just share the
printer on the host to which it is currently attached? Or do you not
like having to spend the money on electricity to keep that computer
powered up and instead want to spend lesser money on electricity to
power the wireless device server? How many years before the savings in
electricity from the less power hungry network device server overcomes
the cost to buy that network device server?

> It looks like this one is all Newegg has.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833996123

Some others listed in this search:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ion=usb+server

> Since this has two USB ports, could this allow a USB hard drive to be
> used as a network drive?

There is a link to the manufacturer's product page on that Newegg page,
which is:

http://www.silexamerica.com/products...sx-3000gb.html

Read the 3rd bullet.
Click on the Features tab and look at the diagram.

> I was also looking at one of these:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136746
> It doesn't look like it has a USB port. That would make it network
> only. I wonder why they would not also include USB?

Um, because its product title is "Western Digital My Book Live 2TB
Personal Cloud Storage". *Storage* (wireless NAS), not a wireless AP
(access point) or general-purpose wireless device server.

On 10 Mar 2012 20:01:34 GMT, Sjouke Burry <s@b> wrote:

>Metspitzer <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>news:(E-Mail Removed):
>
>> I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.
>> It looks like this one is all Newegg has.
>> Good? Bad?
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833996123
>>
>> Since this has two USB ports, could this allow a USB hard drive to be
>> used as a network drive?
>>
>> I was also looking at one of these:
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136746
>> It doesn't look like it has a USB port. That would make it network
>> only. I wonder why they would not also include USB?
>>
>
>Because a small pci usb card would be trivial to add??

The main thing is that I want to move the PC I have in my bedroom to
another location. I would like the printer to stay. The DSL line is
a deticated line to that spot and that where the UPS is.

That computer runs 24/7 but I don't want to do that anymore. I would
like to have a network hard drive without having to run that PC 24/7
any more.

Not quite as trivial, huh?

On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:45:13 -0600, VanguardLH <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Metspitzer wrote:
>
>> I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.
>
>Wireless or wired? You didn't say what type of networking.
>
I wish I had bought a wireless printer, but the printer is right
beside the router, so a wired one will do.
I have a 3/4 basement so I have very easy access to wire a network
connection anywhere, but wireless is more convenient.

>Why go to the expense of adding more hardware? Why not just share the

You can never be too healthy or have too much hardware <grin>

>printer on the host to which it is currently attached? Or do you not
>like having to spend the money on electricity to keep that computer
>powered up and instead want to spend lesser money on electricity to
>power the wireless device server? How many years before the savings in
>electricity from the less power hungry network device server overcomes
>the cost to buy that network device server?
>
>> It looks like this one is all Newegg has.
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833996123
>
>Some others listed in this search:
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ion=usb+server
>
>> Since this has two USB ports, could this allow a USB hard drive to be
>> used as a network drive?
>
>There is a link to the manufacturer's product page on that Newegg page,
>which is:
>
>http://www.silexamerica.com/products...sx-3000gb.html
>
>Read the 3rd bullet.
>Click on the Features tab and look at the diagram.
>
>> I was also looking at one of these:
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136746
>> It doesn't look like it has a USB port. That would make it network
>> only. I wonder why they would not also include USB?
>
>Um, because its product title is "Western Digital My Book Live 2TB
>Personal Cloud Storage". *Storage* (wireless NAS), not a wireless AP
>(access point) or general-purpose wireless device server.

Metspitzer wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>>Metspitzer wrote:
>>
>>> I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.
>>
>>Wireless or wired? You didn't say what type of networking.
>>
> I wish I had bought a wireless printer, but the printer is right
> beside the router, so a wired one will do.
> I have a 3/4 basement so I have very easy access to wire a network
> connection anywhere, but wireless is more convenient.

I was actually what the *rest* of the network was like, not the printer.
If the printer is right next to the router, I'd keep it wired. Wireless
incurs both reduction in security along with reduction in speed. 54
Mbps for wireless is still a lot less than 480 Mbps. While wireless is
probably fast enough for a normal print job, you asked about attaching
multiple devices to the network device server, like hard disks. One you
start using one, you might end up adding more devices to that server.

>>Why go to the expense of adding more hardware? Why not just share the
>
> You can never be too healthy or have too much hardware <grin>

Wrong. Being healthy means eliminating the bad stuff. Adding more
hardware *reduces* reliability. If you've had to maintain a computer
room, the more hard disk assemblies, the shorter the MTBF. For RAID,
the more disks you add to a RAID then the *shorter* the time before
failure. The more fans you put into a case the sooner one of them will
fail. MTBF goes down with increased hardware.

On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:25:24 -0600, VanguardLH <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Metspitzer wrote:
>
>> VanguardLH wrote:
>>
>>>Metspitzer wrote:
>>>
>>>> I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.
>>>
>>>Wireless or wired? You didn't say what type of networking.
>>>
>> I wish I had bought a wireless printer, but the printer is right
>> beside the router, so a wired one will do.
>> I have a 3/4 basement so I have very easy access to wire a network
>> connection anywhere, but wireless is more convenient.
>
>I was actually what the *rest* of the network was like, not the printer.
>If the printer is right next to the router, I'd keep it wired. Wireless
>incurs both reduction in security along with reduction in speed. 54
>Mbps for wireless is still a lot less than 480 Mbps. While wireless is
>probably fast enough for a normal print job, you asked about attaching
>multiple devices to the network device server, like hard disks. One you
>start using one, you might end up adding more devices to that server.
>
>>>Why go to the expense of adding more hardware? Why not just share the
>>
>> You can never be too healthy or have too much hardware <grin>
>
>Wrong. Being healthy means eliminating the bad stuff. Adding more
>hardware *reduces* reliability. If you've had to maintain a computer
>room, the more hard disk assemblies, the shorter the MTBF. For RAID,
>the more disks you add to a RAID then the *shorter* the time before
>failure. The more fans you put into a case the sooner one of them will
>fail. MTBF goes down with increased hardware.

As it is now, the computer that was being used as the printer server
is down. I was thinking that if it were a stand alone network printer
that would be less problems. Seeing the extra USB port made me think
that would be perfect for a portable hard drive to eliminate keeping a
PC on all the time.

Thanks for your suggestons.

On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:36:08 -0600, Grinder <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>On 3/10/2012 1:34 PM, Metspitzer wrote:
>> I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.
>> It looks like this one is all Newegg has.
>> Good? Bad?
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833996123
>
>Hmm, it looks like there's more than that:
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...name=USB%202.0
>
>Here are the ones *without* wireless connectivity:
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Id=1&name=RJ45
>
>
>> Since this has two USB ports, could this allow a USB hard drive to be
>> used as a network drive?
>
>That's certainly what they claim:
>http://www.silexamerica.com/products..._datasheet.pdf
>
>I've had pretty mixed success with those types of devices. I guess it
>might be that if a device is not designed to be networked, then tricking
>into that multiuser scenario has its limitations.
>
>Monoprice has a few network print servers as well:
>http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...&cs_id=1052103
>
>You might be better of just picking up an inexpensive networked
>printer--they're all over the place.
>
>
>> I was also looking at one of these:
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136746
>> It doesn't look like it has a USB port. That would make it network
>> only. I wonder why they would not also include USB?
>
>I supposed it wouldn't have cost much more to have the USB port, but if
>I had the choice between NAS and local USB, I would defintely go for NAS.
>
I will keep that in mind.

Thanks

Metspitzer wrote:

> On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:25:24 -0600, VanguardLH <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>Metspitzer wrote:
>>
>>> VanguardLH wrote:
>>>
>>>>Metspitzer wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I would like to convert my USB printer to a network printer.
>>>>
>>>>Wireless or wired? You didn't say what type of networking.
>>>>
>>> I wish I had bought a wireless printer, but the printer is right
>>> beside the router, so a wired one will do.
>>> I have a 3/4 basement so I have very easy access to wire a network
>>> connection anywhere, but wireless is more convenient.
>>
>>I was actually what the *rest* of the network was like, not the printer.
>>If the printer is right next to the router, I'd keep it wired. Wireless
>>incurs both reduction in security along with reduction in speed. 54
>>Mbps for wireless is still a lot less than 480 Mbps. While wireless is
>>probably fast enough for a normal print job, you asked about attaching
>>multiple devices to the network device server, like hard disks. One you
>>start using one, you might end up adding more devices to that server.
>>
>>>>Why go to the expense of adding more hardware? Why not just share the
>>>
>>> You can never be too healthy or have too much hardware <grin>
>>
>>Wrong. Being healthy means eliminating the bad stuff. Adding more
>>hardware *reduces* reliability. If you've had to maintain a computer
>>room, the more hard disk assemblies, the shorter the MTBF. For RAID,
>>the more disks you add to a RAID then the *shorter* the time before
>>failure. The more fans you put into a case the sooner one of them will
>>fail. MTBF goes down with increased hardware.
>
> As it is now, the computer that was being used as the printer server
> is down. I was thinking that if it were a stand alone network printer
> that would be less problems. Seeing the extra USB port made me think
> that would be perfect for a portable hard drive to eliminate keeping a
> PC on all the time.
>
> Thanks for your suggestons.

You can get an Ethernet printer server hub for about a third the price
of the device server you mentioned. Of course, you can only connect a
printer to that and you mentioned wanted to include a NAS device (but
you listed a wireless one to be used separately).