router as print server?

[System_Error]

Can I use my linksys wireless G router as a print server? I'd hate to buy a print server when all I want to do is use one printer wirelessly and the router seems like it 'should' be capable of doing that.

[si_the_geek]

A router just directs network traffic, while a print server receives traffic and converts it into entire documents (perhaps from multiple sources - multiple computers and/or programs!) and sends them to the printer in an appropriate way.

It is possible (but fairly unlikely) that your printer contains its own print server.. check the spec's/documentation.

If it doesn't, you could try without a dedicated print server, but if it is used by more than one thing at a time then it will waste paper/ink/etc - perhaps hundreds of pages each time, so I wouldn't recommend it!

[System_Error]

Thanks. I'm sharing this printer with one other person who doesn't print very often, but it's really annoying for me to hook my computer up to the printer every time they want to print. I'll just try it on the weekend and hopefully some kind of magic happens.