print servers and device servers

March 31, 2004
Jeremy Lawson

The Linksys WPS54GU2 print server has the option of either connecting to the network via a network cable or wirelessly. If you have a wireless network, then you can put the printer wherever there is a power source. If the print server is connected (wired) to a hub or switch, then no clients can print wirelessly.

My experiences with this print server have all been with Windows 2000. I had no problem with getting it to talk to the network. I have two laptops, both with a 3com 3CRWE154G72 PC-Card, a desktop with a 3com 3CRDAG675 wireless PCI adapter, and a 3com 3CRWE454G72 access point. I use the print server to print to a HP LaserJet 1012. All the clients in my network print just fine.

Linksys is a business partner with Cisco Systems, which builds world class networking equipment. The included software is used to configure the IP port. If you look in the settings of a printer, one of the tabs is for specify which port to print to. The included software configures a port to use. If you are currently using a printer with your desktop, and you move it to this print server, then you change the port to the one created by the Print Server Utility. Most of this is automated and you won't have to worry about it.

Here is a list of the places I saw quality:
1) Good web site
2) After the Print Server Utility establishes a port, a redo of the same thing will change the existing port, not create a new one.
3) You can specify the name of the printer hooked via USB cable and via parallel cable. After you are done installing the port, the Print Server Utility will try and match the correct printer to this port. In other words, if you have the drivers for the printer already set up, it does a good job of matching up the driver with the name you put for the printer.

Here are the places I saw value:
1) $100 less! All I wanted from a Print Server is to be able to print! This was the cheapest I could find, that did what I wanted. I paid at least one hundred dollars less, expecting I might have trouble with the setup. I had no trouble with the setup.
2) The Print Server has never done weird things for me.
3) I didn't expect to find well written software that would automatically try and match the port with the correct printer.
4) To view or change the configuration for the Print Server, you browse in Internet Explorer to the IP number of the Print Server. The configuration web pages were well laid out, and easy to understand.

My gripes:
1) There has got to be a better way to reset all the settings back to factory.

Instructions are only included on how to initialize the server wired. It does not tell you how to add a printer port (most people would not know a print server port in windows is a local printer). Instead Linksys arrogantly instructs you to check the Windows help system. It would also be helpful if they actually mentioned you have to unplug the print server when switching from wired to wireless or the wireless will not work. Also when wired the PS erroneously reports it's wireless channel as "0" making it look as if it is not set correctly. Took me a couple of days to figure this out. It also has no ability to automatically discover wireless access point. Again Stinksys gives you no instructions on how to track this information down yourself and this is yet another avoidable challenge for a novice installer. They do have toll free support but I managed to finally get everything straight about 2 seconds before I called it.

I purchased this wireless print server because my current home network is also Linksys. My initial setup left me in total confusion. The included setup software didn't work right away. I contacted Linksys technical support and they had me push the reset button on the print server to conduct a test print. After there was no response they concluded that my Apple Pro 600 was not compatible with their product. I inquired what printer manufacturers are compatible and I was put on hold for over 5 minutes. I plugged up my Brother 3800 Fax Machine and Linksys also concluded it wasn't compatible, and suggested I return the print server and purchase another brand....wtf??? What kind of suppport is this??

I hung up and did a series of shutdowns and restarts until a IP address was assigned to the Print Server. Once an IP address was assigned the Setup Utility worked and I was able to configure the Print Server to be recognized on my network.

With WinXP you will also need to setup new Print Drivers through the TCP/IP option. Be sure to select "Print Server" as the gateway.

Don't trust Linksys Technical Support if things don't work out right away. Either call again and ask for further support or play with it yourself if you feel comfortable doing so.

So far this product is working fine.

Bad Points: there is no WPA encryption and it doesn't print when you are connected through a VPN.