Cisco-Linksys PSUS4 PrintServer for USB with 4 Port Switch
by Linksys
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Our Price: $129.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $25.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys PSUS4 PrintServer for USB with 4 Port Switch
Customer Review: make sure your printer is compatible before buying
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased the PSUS4 when it first came out thinking a USB PrintServer should be able to handle most (if not all USB printers). I was grossly mistaken!!! You should definitely double check with LinkSys for printer compatibility before purchasing this product because they certain don't openly advertise what printers it's compatible with! I have tried 3 printers without any real success. The best results I had were with the Epson Stylus Color 880. And even then the text printed out was not straight. I also tried the Lexmark X6135, no luck! From what I was told by the LinkSys tech support, multi-function printers may have issues. Finally, I tried it on a Minolta QMS 1250E, no luck at all. I've waited a couple of months to see if they would have new firmware that would support USB printers, nope. Even with the new firmware I have the same results. I don't really understand how you can advertise a USB PrintServer that doesn't support a whole mess of USB printers. Fortunately, it has a 4 port switch, that's about all it's good for to me... When I originally purchased this item the Live support didn't exist. I've been waiting a good hour for a representative to be with me shortly. If I could give this product a negative star I surely would. I really like LinkSys's routers and switches and am really disappointed with this PrintServer. I'm glad to see that it actually does work with a USB printer, so make certain your printer is fully compatible before buying this PrintServer! Works great as an overpriced switch...
Some Updates:
I got through to tech support and it was absolutely useless. I asked for a list of working printers and they would not give it to me. I first asked them if my printer was compatible (Minolta QMS 1250E) and the representative said that it was compatible. I explained to him how I set everything up and how the status light was orange and it was not working. He told me to install the PrintServer driver. I told him I already did that and eventually after I kept on emphasizing I get an orange light on the print server he said it was not compatible. After prying a little more, he said that the 1350W was compatible. Long story short, the conversation was useless and he was basically saying that I should buy a new printer. FYI, netgear actually has a list of working printers for its printserver.
Customer Review: A great little device
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading reviews about this product, I was a little skeptical about how well it would work. However, given the prospect of being able to turn a PC off, I was willing to give it a try.
The setup of the device itself was easy. Since it has a built in switch, I didn't have to run more CAT-5, I just plugged what I had in and connected the provided cable between the PC and the switch. They even provide a USB cable!
The device configuration is straightforward - you set DHCP on/off, set an IP address, subnet mask, etc. if appropriate. Change account/password, give device another name if desired...done. You actually don't need to use their software to do this - it can all be done from the configuration web page.
I've read reviews that said the device ran very hot. Mine is running cool as a cucumber! The case is made from sturdy metal and is rather small. It is easily tucked away to the side.
The difficulty came in with setting up the printers on my various PCs. This was pretty straighforward on Windows XP. I found out that you don't need the Linksys software for that either! You just need the printer driver software for your printer. Configuring the printer on Vista was challenging, but with some Googling, I was able to find a solution. The short version is on Vista, you need to configure it as a locally attached printer (this is counterintuitive) but specify an IP port. At some point you enter the IP address and in the end, you have a working printer!
The only bummer is that I can't get bi-directional to work. This wasn't a surprise. I can live with this...this inconvenience is overshadowed by the fact that I was able to turn the PC my printer was originally connected to off! My printer is a Canon IP4600. All you lose with no bi-directional support are ink status messages, paper jam messages, paper out messages, etc. You'll get an error, but no indication why...but that will be made obvious once you wander over to the printer :-).
I dinged a star because it was difficult to find information on using this with Windows Vista. Windows XP is really long in the tooth now, so saying it supports Windows ME, XP, etc. is pretty lame. They should update their documentation with instructions for configuring printers on Vista/Windows 7.
Customer Review: It works as advertised
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading the reviews about problems with the print server setup, I was slightly skeptical about this product, but I thought I'd take a chance because of the brand and the price for what you get (4 port switch plus a wired print server in one box).
First of all, the device is smaller than I expected; about a third the size of my 4-port Netgear router. The ethernet switch piece worked almost immediately after plugging the unit in. In fact, I just plugged the PSUS4 into my router, which I left up and running, and plugged in one of my running PCs which was already communicating with the router. In about a minute, the router and PC started communicating through the Linksys PSUS4. Didn't even need to reboot anything and I could connect to the Internet.
One thing to note is that if you plug one port of this device into your router, that only leaves you three additional ethernet ports for other PCs, etc. plus the one USB port for the printer. This is slightly different than the 4 devices you can connect together with a typical 4-port router that also has a 5th port to connect to your modem gateway.
Next, I set up the print server part, setting up a Canon i860 inkjet. I followed the instructions exactly: make sure you install or have installed the PRINTER driver (that came with your printer) on the PC _FIRST_, then install the PRINT SERVER driver contained on the shipped CD and follow the instructions. The print server driver setup creates a new port (pointing to the print server) for your installed printer driver to use so that when you select the printer, the PC redirects the print stream to the print server rather than to a local USB port (parallel ports are not supported with this product).
Printing to the print server is seamless to the PC user--you just select the printer from the printer list like you normally would any other printer. In my case, I already had the printer driver installed on the pc, so the print server driver install just modified the printer driver configuration on the PC with the new port. The printer appeared and worked like it always did. Worked like a charm.
I hope this inspires confidence in those who are on the fence about being able to successfully set this product up.
Customer Review: OK product if you lower your expectations + a few tricks to get it to work
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm using it w/ an HP PSC 1350 AIO. Printing works OK, but not scanning. I haven't tried the card reader, but I'm not holding my breath. I haven't put the miles on it to see how it does in the long run. Getting it to work w/ my Mac was a bit of a trick.
The tricks:
I'm using it w/ Win2K, WinXP, and OS X machines.
1. Give it a hard IP address. The first thing I did was figure out what IP address my router gave it. My router starts assigning IP addresses from 100. I then used the assigned address to pull up its config page. From there I assigned it an address below 100 to avoid IP assignment collisions and assigned a netmask.
2. Running the supplied software worked fine on the Win2K machine. It even checked, found, and corrected a typo in the netmask. I was impressed.
3. For the XP machine, since I'm leery of installing software, I used the following trick. I directly connected the printer and the machine over the usb port (i.e. not using the server) and installed the drivers. From the Windows printer control panel, I created a new port of the type standard IP and changed the printer assignment from USB to this new port. Voila.
4. For the Mac, I needed more drivers and the official HP ones wouldn't cut it for use with the server since (as a Mac newb) I don't know the equivalent of the above port reassignment trick. I installed HPIJS available from www.linuxprinting.org/macosx/hpijs
and more or less followed the directions from
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20041020080654229
For the folks considering another brand, look: these things (usually) all use the same chip. Don't expect major differences.
As for value, the box is pretty pricey. Printers are basically free. For the money it's tempting just to get another printer or two. I just don't have the space.
To HP: Let's see some better system & driver support for printers being used over print servers. Or, better, stick an Ethernet port directly on all printers. It's only like a $5 cost adder. So many folks have home networks these days. And, the more computers connected to a printer, the more printing people do (and the more ink you sell).
Customer Review: DO NOT BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP!
Summary: 1 Stars
Linksys is run by morons. I first went through the install process on my Canon printer by myself. It wouldn't work, so I called tech "support". After an hour of going through the install process, disabling my firewall, turning off my anti-virus, deconfiguring my printer, etc., etc., the guy (in the Philippines) mentioned that my printer might not be compatible with the print server at all. I had given him the model information multiple times, and asked, at that point if he could check the list, to see if we were just wasting time. He assured me there was no list, and trial and error was the only way to see if it would work. After all the changes he had me make, I could no longer use my printer, even connected directly to the computer. I asked to speak to a manager, but after several more minutes on hold, I threw in the towel. The following day, I reinstalled my printer's drivers and got it working directly from the USB port. I then tried again to install the print server. It seemed to work: the wizard found and identified the printer through the wireless router, etc. But, alas, my excitement was short-lived. SO I called tech "support" again, and went through what I had gone through thus far. I told him the model of the printer and he told me it wouldn't work. No matter what. Just wasn't compatible. WTF? Why wouldn't Linksys simply have a list for potential buyers to check? Hard to imagine this would be costlier than the idiocy I experienced. So, I would steer well-clear of this product and Linksys in general. When you call technical support, you get a message saying "Due to the overwhelming response to our products, we are experiencing long delays". So I called "Sales" and got through immediately. Seems like the "response" is on the service end, not the sales end, which is quite telling, I believe. I am not sure what I will buy, but the router is going back, as is the print server. Of course I now have to pack it all up, drive back to the store and deal with the return. This is just so stupid, it is amazing that a company like Cisco could be run this poorly.
Thanks for listening.
J