Slow Network Printing to Shared Printer

[Fred Marshall]

Situation:

LAN of 2 XP Pro computers.
One computer has EPXON 880i printer that is shared.
The local computer can print OK.
The networked computer can print on the shared printer but it takes nearly 1
minute!
Slowness is application independent. Notepad, Word, etc. all the same.
No internet connection. No firewalls enabled.

I tried everything I could think of:
Uninstalled all printers.
Downloaded new drivers and installed them.
Tried printing direct to printer and spooled - no difference.

Used suggestion to set up the networked printer on the distant machine on a
"local" port.
No change.

The host is Front with IP address 192.168.1.1.
I set up ports on the distant machine as:
\\Front\EPSON Stylus COLOR 880
and
\\192.168.1.1\EPSON Stylus COLOR 880

In checking the printer properties I noticed there is a check box "Enable
Printer Pooling". (er... I thought it said "spooling" ... ) and I tried it.
In checking the box I got back a message saying that 2 ports had to be
checked. Having multiple ports available as above, I did that.
This solved the slowness problem but I have no idea why.

Where can I read more to get a better understanding?
Or, if I had not mentioned the "solution" what solutions might be suggested?

Thanks,

Fred

 

[OShah]

Situation:

LAN of 2 XP Pro computers.
One computer has EPXON 880i printer that is shared.
The local computer can print OK.
The networked computer can print on the shared printer but it takes
nearly 1 minute!
Slowness is application independent. Notepad, Word, etc. all the same.
No internet connection. No firewalls enabled.

I tried everything I could think of:
Uninstalled all printers.
Downloaded new drivers and installed them.
Tried printing direct to printer and spooled - no difference.

Used suggestion to set up the networked printer on the distant machine
on a "local" port.
No change.

The host is Front with IP address 192.168.1.1.
I set up ports on the distant machine as:
\\Front\EPSON Stylus COLOR 880
and
\\192.168.1.1\EPSON Stylus COLOR 880

In checking the printer properties I noticed there is a check box
"Enable Printer Pooling". (er... I thought it said "spooling" ... ) and
I tried it. In checking the box I got back a message saying that 2 ports
had to be checked. Having multiple ports available as above, I did
that. This solved the slowness problem but I have no idea why.

Where can I read more to get a better understanding?
Or, if I had not mentioned the "solution" what solutions might be
suggested?

Thanks,

Fred

A few suggestions:
-Have you enabled page protection on the printer (if it has enough memory
insalled)? Probably yes (as the local machine has
-Is it quicker using the numeric IP than the Netbios name?

How long does this command take? (run from a dos prompt)
C:\>nslookup FRONT



--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
oshah [shexec32]
Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Error Reporting -> Choose Programs
-> Do not report errors for these programs:

Acrobat.exe
waol.exe

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Fred Marshall]

OShah,

Thanks for the reply.
I'm not there but presume that nslookup FRONT works quickly enough because
front hosts a database and application being used across the network with no
discernible slowness.

It is not any quicker using either of the defined printers/ports.
The delay is 35-60 seconds in either case.
I have no idea why but Pooling the printers helps quite a bit - makes the
problem virtually disappear.

I got an answer back from Epson that may bear investigation:

If a networked computer (not the printer host) has the printer monitor
running / enabled then it apparently loads things up.
Their suggestion was to turn off the printer monitor on the networked
computers. They said it's OK to have the monitor on the printer's host
computer.

Fred

Situation:

LAN of 2 XP Pro computers.
One computer has EPXON 880i printer that is shared.
The local computer can print OK.
The networked computer can print on the shared printer but it takes
nearly 1 minute!
Slowness is application independent. Notepad, Word, etc. all the same.
No internet connection. No firewalls enabled.

I tried everything I could think of:
Uninstalled all printers.
Downloaded new drivers and installed them.
Tried printing direct to printer and spooled - no difference.

Used suggestion to set up the networked printer on the distant machine
on a "local" port.
No change.

The host is Front with IP address 192.168.1.1.
I set up ports on the distant machine as:
\\Front\EPSON Stylus COLOR 880
and
\\192.168.1.1\EPSON Stylus COLOR 880

In checking the printer properties I noticed there is a check box
"Enable Printer Pooling". (er... I thought it said "spooling" ... ) and
I tried it. In checking the box I got back a message saying that 2 ports
had to be checked. Having multiple ports available as above, I did
that. This solved the slowness problem but I have no idea why.

Where can I read more to get a better understanding?
Or, if I had not mentioned the "solution" what solutions might be
suggested?

Thanks,

Fred

A few suggestions:
-Have you enabled page protection on the printer (if it has enough memory
insalled)? Probably yes (as the local machine has
-Is it quicker using the numeric IP than the Netbios name?

How long does this command take? (run from a dos prompt)
C:\>nslookup FRONT



--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
oshah [shexec32]
Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Error Reporting -> Choose Programs
-> Do not report errors for these programs:

Acrobat.exe
waol.exe

------------------------------------------------------------------------