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,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys Wireless-G Print Server with Multifunction Printer Support
Customer Review: It's almost perfect.....
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this print server primarily because of the mixed/poor reviews of other printers from linksys, dlink, netgear, etc. Setup is easy, simple and straight forward if you don't plan on running WEP or WPA. Just put the CD in and follow the directions in the wizard. However, if you want to run WEP or WPA, the wizard should be smart enough to know that a fixed IP address is _REQUIRED_!!! I found this out by searching Linksys' support site. Once I learned, this, I just ran the setup wizard again, and created a fixed IP address for the print server and then chose WEP, entered my WEP key, and it worked. As others have mentioned, you do need to have the printer driver installed prior to configuring the network printer driver, which I don't think is a big deal. The wizard does tell you this, but it's not in big bold flashing letters, so if you just skim through the text, you may miss it. I'm not using an MFD, just a simple Epson C88+ inkjet printer. My wife is ecstatic now, as she can print from her laptop. I would have given this product 5 stars, but the seemingly glaring error on Linksys' Setup wizard to not know that a fixed IP is required for WEP & WPA takes away. Additionally, the requirement to have the printer driver installed prior to installing the Network Printer Driver should be made more noticeable (read big bold print). Other that those two small points, it has functioned flawlessly as a print server. I can't attest to it's ability to perform MFD functions (faxing & scanning), as I don't own an MFD, but it works flawlessly as a print server.Customer Review: Nevermind.. it's complete junk!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I wish Amazon would let me change my stars. I wouldn't give this product a single one.
I sympathize for all of you that already have this product. You deserve a refund and an apology from Linksys, a company that used to make fairly good home networking hardware. Linksys's quality and support standards have dropped considerably.
Maybe I'm an anomaly. I was able to get the print server set up (convoluted, such that the installation was). My problem is that the print server loses connectivity with my Canon MF4150. The USB indicator light on the print server will often cut out - then windows will report a print failure. This occurred so frequently that I needed to power-cycle the unit of every print attempt.
I went in circles with the Linksys tech support (left much to be desired). Their conclusion was that the hardware was defective. Rather than send the defective unit back, I exchanged it at my local retailer. The new unit has the same problem. Apparently the whole lot of them are defective.
However, this only moderately annoys me. I'm a software developer, so I can understand how version 1.0 of anything can be buggy. But this product has been out for a long time - plenty of time to get a firmware update out. C'mon Linksys! The job's not done yet! You gave us junk, now FIX IT!
So, lesson learned. I stopped buying Linksys junk. I hope they either improve their product (and support) or have their market share taken by a company with better products and support.
Customer Review: Doesn't play well with Windows 7 or 64 bit OS
Summary: 3 Stars
I had been meaning to set my printer up as a wireless device for some time now. After some research I settled on this print server. I have other Linksys products and generally like them.
My only complaint (so far) is that the product description does not explicitly say it does not support Windows 7. It says that it supports XP and Vista so I assumed Win 7 would be ok too. Wrong.
The setup program walked me right through setting up the server itself to work on my wireless networ just fine, but when I got to the steps to install the drivers to the computer and saw the "This OS is not supported" error, I thought 'oh no; now what'.
So, thinking there was probably an updated driver set on the Linksys website I headed over there to get it. Come to find out, I wasn't the first to think Linksys would have provided updated drivers to support Win 7. According to the website, it doesn't like any 64 bit OS (Vista 64).
After reading through a Forum post about it, I was finally able to find a way to make it work with Win 7. However, it entailed specifying an IP address to the print server and then adding it as a TCP/IP device to the computers. It was a bit more cumbersome than simply adding a printer.
I have to say that it works just fine now but the set up was a lot harder than it had to be in my opinion. Someone that isn't all that comfortable with computer hardware and networking would probably have just sent it back and ordered something else.
Customer Review: One of the worst Linksys products
Summary: 1 Stars
Allthough its advertized as a wonderful and magic solution to share the printer/scanner, unfortunately there is nothing magic or wonderful in this product.
The main complain would be the lack of information on the requirements and limitations that you'll find out when you start using this product:
1. You must PHYSICALLY install the printer/scanner on every single computer that needs to have access to it. Installing the driver/software only wont work. If you have many computers and a heavy MF then you'll have to go and install one by one prior to anything.
2. You must install an additional software on the computers that will trick the printer/scanners drivers to use them via network. These are additional services that will have to run on the computers.
3. For printing this utility will lock the connection between your computer and the print server until one minute after you've finished printing. If other computers try to print they'll get an error. This is very annoying.
4. For scanning you need to use a Linksys utility to lock the communication between your computer and the print server. Neddless to say that nobody will be able to print or set prints in the print queue.
5. For scanning it doesn't always work well. HP scanning software (or twain driver) sometimes gets blocked and a reboot is required.
Awful product. A lot of improvement is required before seriously considering it "a solution".
Customer Review: Works great, documentation lacking
Summary: 4 Stars
The wireless Linksys print server works just as advertised. I used it to connect my computers and my Canon PiXMA iP6600D photo printer. The printer's not multifunction so I can't comment on how the Linksys handles tasks other than printing. But as far as photo printing goes, it works great. I can now easily print pictures from both my desktop and laptop machines.
As others have noted, the main drawback of the Linksys print server is the documentation. My install was not without its hiccups. I followed the instructions and made sure the Canon print drivers were installed on my desktop before attempting to set up the print server. After I completed the install I attempted to add the printer but the Lynksys software claimed I didn't have the drivers installed. Worse, when I went to WinXP's Printers & Faxes all of my previously installed printers had disappeared. After a brief moment of panic during which I almost threw the Lynksys unit across the room, I rebooted. My printers were back and then when I tried to add the Canon to the print server everything worked fine.
I adjusted my procedure when I next tried to set up the laptop. I rebooted after I installed the Canon drivers and rebooted again after I installed the Lynksys drivers. Then I had no problem adding the Canon printer and now both machines work fine.
The moral of the story: Be sure to reboot after installing drivers, whether the instructions advise you to or not.