WPSM54G Wireless Print Server

I helped a neighbor install a WPSM54G Wireless Print Server this morning. The product page says it's Vista compatible, but nothing on the box said that so Best Buy (or wherever he went) must have sold him an older model and of course the software said it couldn't work.

It doesn't matter because you can configure this with a browser. Plug it in to the wired network, let it get an ip, find it by pinging up or down from ip's you know and then browse to that - everything you need to set up the wireless side is right there.

Fortunately I was the one who had set up his wireless originally so I had left myself a "Wireless.txt" document on his desktop with the WEP key I needed. Not having this and not having passwords to the router are what I commonly run into at neighbors, but this time I had everything I needed.

That did leave the computer side. Fortunately this print server is just an LPR server which is very easy to configure in Vista. Add a Local printer, with a new Port. Give the port the IP of the server and for convenience name the port something easy like "WirelessPS". In the Additional Port Info that comes up next, clicl Settings and select LPR. Put the Port Name you set in as the Queue name and go on to pick your driver. It's that simple.

It's annoying that this old stuff is out there. My neighbor might have had a chance of doing this himself if the supplied software had worked with Vista, but without it of course he was helpless. Not fair..

3 comments

More Articles by Anthony Lawrence - Find me on Google+

Click here to add your comments




Sat May 30 09:39:23 2009:   anonymous


i use a folder in my webmail to store my ""Wireless.txt"" filesat my age (50), no longer trust my memory and I need to have everything written down

It is very gratifying to have these settings in the future

joe



Fri Jun 5 03:13:17 2009:   CaptainCaveman


APy,

//Fortunately I was the one who had set up his wireless originally so I had left myself a "Wireless.txt" document on his desktop with the WEP key I needed//

It's 2009 and you're using WEP on a wireless router instead of WPA or WPA2 ??

Remind me not to hire you.



Fri Jun 5 10:28:21 2009:   TonyLawrence


Yeah, valid point but I really don't think of that stuff around here. Sniff the neighborhood and most of the systems have NO wireless security at all. Those that have been set up by Verizon (FIOS is common here) almost always are WEP, and the router insists that's "recommended" and WPA/WPA2 are only available in "Advanced"..

But when you are right, you are right. I will remind you not to hire me :-)

Don't miss responses! Subscribe to Comments by RSS or by Email

Click here to add your comments

If you want a picture to show with your comment, go get a Gravatar

Jump to Comments

Many of the products and books I review are things I purchased for my own use. Some were given to me specifically for the purpose of reviewing them. I resell or can earn commissions from the sale of some of these items. Links within these pages may be affiliate links that pay me for referring you to them. That's mostly insignificant amounts of money; whenever it is not I have made my relationship plain. I also may own stock in companies mentioned here. If you have any question, please do feel free to contact me.

Specific links that take you to pages that allow you to purchase the item I reviewed are very likely to pay me a commission. Many of the books I review were given to me by the publishers specifically for the purpose of writing a review. These gifts and referral fees do not affect my opinions; I often give bad reviews anyway.

We use Google third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.