Cisco-Linksys Wireless-G Print Server with Multifunction Printer Support
by Linksys
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Our Price: $119.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $49.00 (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 Wireless-G Print Server with Multifunction Printer Support
Customer Review: Do you enjoy Migraines? Then this is for you!
Summary: 2 Stars
Ugh. One would think that in this day and age (an era where we can -supposedly- do things like print wirelessly from any computer to any printer.) a tech company would seriously consider several important factors when developing an item:
(1) Compatibility. We Mac owners are people too, damnit. Is it really that difficult to throw in an option for us?
(2) Usable Documentation. That means manuals that have things in them besides "Run the included software and continue doing the same thing you've been trying for the past 4 hours" (OK, that's not what it actually says - but it might as well)
(3) Comprehensible Error Messages. What the F* does "PJL fail" mean? And why am I being told over and over that my LAN segment does not match with my computer, when it *clearly* does? Hm, maybe I should check the User Manual...oh wait, right, that would be a total waste of my time.
(4) Drivers & Firmware updates. Ones that you can access and download without considering making shady back-alley-type "free trial" deals with creeper websites.
(5) A Useful FAQ/Support section on the website. One that doesn't drive you away to unknown forums where people constantly call you "Noob."
OK, so thats my rant. Bottom line - I can not get this to work between my Canon MP470 & Macbook running OSX 10.6 even when using the Crossover application (allows you to run Win programs on Mac)
After spending 3 days unplugging and replugging cables, checking forums, downloading everything under the sun, resetting the device, resetting my computer, & basically rewiring my whole apt, this Print Server is going right back where it came from. Which apparently is the Black Void of Linksys's product development center.
Customer Review: A little slow, but works great!
Summary: 4 Stars
Just got this to work with our Canon MP960.
Setup was a snap. If anything, it was too easy. The directions take you through the process step-by-step. As in: "Plug in the USB cable." Click Next. "Plug in the server's power cable." Click next. "Plug in the printer's power cable." Click next...
Still, it only took a few minutes. Only problem was that it incorrectly detected the wireless security level, so I had to go back a few steps and redo it. With that done, everything went smoothly.
Advantages:
I now have a simple and effective way to wirelessly print and scan from any computer in the house!
Downsides:
1. Data transmission through the server is noticeably slower than a direct USB connection. (Wireless G maxes out at 54mbps, whereas USB 2.0 allows for connections nearly 10 times faster. You've also got one extra device to relay the data between the comp and the printer.) For printing, that's not a huge deal. It just takes a little longer before everything can start. Scans, however, can take a long time, especially at high resolution.
2. Since only one computer at a time can use the printer, you have to manually connect to the print server before you can do anything. It's not a big deal. You just open the print server program (generally kept minimized to the system tray), click the "connect" button, and wait a sec. Then everything functions normally, as if you had a direct USB connection to the printer. It's just one extra step before you can print, and if you forget, you'll get errors as if the printer were unplugged. Hopefully, future software updates will allow this step to take place automatically.
Customer Review: Great after you get past WEP bug (easy fix)
Summary: 5 Stars
Some of the gripes have to do with installation. I have found that there is a BUG in the installation process if you use the setup wizard (which you HAVE to use, by the way - to install print drivers on your PC).
To install, you do have to hook up temporarily to a wired network to communicate with the print server and tell it what your security scheme is. Someone complained about that, but with WIFI security, there really is no way around this. It detected my network with ease.
Halfway through this detection process, you are prompted for the WEP or WPA keys if you use them, and then promted to remove the hardwire cable and 'reboot' the print server. Supposedly when it comes back up, it is on your network......
That's where I ran into trouble. The WEP key was NOT transferred to the print server. I had to manually log into the server (http://192.168.1.xxx or whatever your subnet is). To find the server's ip address, log onto your network router and look at the DHCP clients table. There it is. If you assigned an IP address to it already, use the one you assigned.
NOW, USING THE Print Server's config pages, go manually type in the WEP key and it will be saved. For some reason the install wizard doesn't transfer it - it got garbled in the process - at least on my setup.
After that, all is well! I'm thrilled at printing "bi-directional" via USB for my Fax/Scan/Print multifunction printer. Now on to try scanning across the network. Not something I do frequently, but will be interesting to see if that works....
Customer Review: Do NOT Buy!!
Summary: 1 Stars
Do not buy this item if you have Vista. Like several other reviewers, I purchased this item but not only would it not install and work, it re-wrote registry level files on the laptop. The Linksys software would not uninstall, and it disabled the System Restore function so it could not be removed. Linksys "Customer Service" was beyond awful!! I am not sure what they consider customer service, but after 2 dozen phone calls and emails (routed overseas) to people who are limited in computer skills and authority, I was told they would email me a software program to uninstall the program. When the promised attachment didn't arrive, I found out later that Linksys reps are not allowed to send email (from the overseas unit, though I did get one email from San Francisco that asked if I was still having a problem and never returned my three emails and four phone messages when I replied that I was definitely still having problems), and they certainly can't send emails out with attachments!! So the rep lied to me!! The Linksys software corrupted the existing print driver for my printer, so now I can't print from it even when it is plugged directly into my computer. The Linksys software disabled the download function so I can't reinstall the original driver because the Linksys software co-opted the "Administrator" function on the computer. I finally gave up and had to buy a professional uninstall software package to remove the entire package hidden on my system. I am not a casual computer user, I work with computers for a living and I found both the program and the company to be horrible. Buyer beware!Customer Review: Works as advertised
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading other reviews here I anticipated problems getting this added to my network but no, configuration was easy and fast and problem-free. (I'm using it in a hard-wired configuration, not wireless.) All of our Windows 7 clients found and configured to the device easily. I'm not sure how much buffer memory this unit holds, but it's enough to contain our usual (simple) print jobs. One area where the unit seems to fall a little short is when multiple print jobs are sent to it. I noticed this when trying to send several one-page PDF documents to it one after another, kind of rapid-fire. Some of the jobs simply never produced output - weird, since there were no queue errors either. So far I haven't had any problems with multiple users hitting the device at once - probably just good luck with timing. The configuration screens hint that this could be an issue because there are delay settings for port release following job acceptance. All of those concurrence issues could be handled by using an external queue. On our network, I used to use a minimally configured Windows server running as a virtual machine dedicated to this purpose. The server-based queue is offline now and the jury's still out on whether I'll need to bring it back to solve any lingering concurrence issues. Bottom line: I needed a box to interface a shared USB printer to our network when an older (same brand) device failed following many years of 24/7 service. The wireless link will provide flexibility when/if I need to relocate the printer. Configuration is fast and easy. And the price is certainly right.