Setting Up a Printer When You Don't Manage the Network
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So I had to go fix something I setup for an onsite for Staples. So here's the situation...
Guy bought a Brother MFC-L2700DW. He had me set it up in an office he works from some of the time. He only uses it with one computer and that's it. He rents the office from a company that rents the suite and then leases individual rooms to different people. He is using that management company's wireless as he didn't have any real need to get his own whole separate internet connection. He does have a mobile hotspot through his phone as well.
Originally I hooked the printer up via the hotspot because I couldn't safely set a static IP on the wifi I couldn't manage. The issue became that the printer didn't want to automatically connect back to the hotspot for some reason I can't understand. I had originally set it up to the hotspot.
The way I had the printer mapped was by hostname to the computer. So I set the IP address back to DHCP, connected it to the local wifi, and connected his computer to the local wifi. It started printing without issue. Because it's mapped by hostname, it doesn't matter if the IP changes. My only concern is if he ever has a caching issue with DNS where it holds onto an old IP to hostname entry for some odd reason. Unfortunately, there isn't much I could do about that.
So my question is, with the exception of cabling it via USB to the computer, is there another way that would have been better to set this up? I didn't have a cable to work with so that wasn't an option. Just curious.
Thanks,
A.J. -
Unless he has permission from the company (and therefore a static IP) it should be setup as a local printer only. Not to mention anyone else on the network could easily find the printer and start printing to it, costing him money.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
Unless he has permission from the company (and therefore a static IP) it should be setup as a local printer only. Not to mention anyone else on the network could easily find the printer and start printing to it, costing him money.
My understanding is most of the other tenants in their own respective offices uses their own internet connections. The management company is letting him use theirs as a courtesy. Technically, yes, someone could find the printer and install it and go crazy, but it's in his office, which is a locked door, so it wouldn't do them any good other than to be malicious.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
Unless he has permission from the company (and therefore a static IP) it should be setup as a local printer only. Not to mention anyone else on the network could easily find the printer and start printing to it, costing him money.
My understanding is most of the other tenants in their own respective offices uses their own internet connections. The management company is letting him use theirs as a courtesy. Technically, yes, someone could find the printer and install it and go crazy, but it's in his office, which is a locked door, so it wouldn't do them any good other than to be malicious.
It would waste his printer and ink still. They may not know the printer isn't their's as it will likely automatically show up if anyone tries to add a printer.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
Unless he has permission from the company (and therefore a static IP) it should be setup as a local printer only. Not to mention anyone else on the network could easily find the printer and start printing to it, costing him money.
My understanding is most of the other tenants in their own respective offices uses their own internet connections. The management company is letting him use theirs as a courtesy. Technically, yes, someone could find the printer and install it and go crazy, but it's in his office, which is a locked door, so it wouldn't do them any good other than to be malicious.
It would waste his printer and ink still. They may not know the printer isn't their's as it will likely automatically show up if anyone tries to add a printer.
Theoretically, yes. Given the situation, I'm not worried about that.
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What about setting him up through Google Print?
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@scottalanmiller said:
What about setting him up through Google Print?
I hadn't thought about that. That could have been an option.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What about setting him up through Google Print?
I hadn't thought about that. That could have been an option.
My sister in law does that and it is not perfect but mostly works. It's a nice idea, at least.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What about setting him up through Google Print?
I hadn't thought about that. That could have been an option.
My sister in law does that and it is not perfect but mostly works. It's a nice idea, at least.
It's something to consider.
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I'm anything but a printer expert and have not set up Google Print myself and don't know the caveats. So take it with a grain of salt. But I suspect it is a potential solution to keep in mind.
We have no printer with us most of the year, now. So for us USB will do. But it seems like a nice idea.
