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How do I set up this network please

bumpkin

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Posted September 10, 2012 at 7:25PM

Hi everyone, I have a Belkin F5D 8633-4 wireless modem/router which also has ports for wired connections. Would like to network the 3 PCs that currently use it for internet to be able to share printers. 2 are XP Home and 1 is XP pro. XP pro is the wireless the other 2 are wired. Tried the Wizard on XP pro but could not get it to work. Ideally I would like all 3 PCs to be able to access either of the 2 printers that I have but if I could do it with 2 of the PCs that would be OK. Is there a way of doing this using a USB cable, it is only the printer sharing that I really need.

Ray

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mgmcc

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Posted September 10, 2012 at 8:05PM

See if this tutorial I wrote a few years ago about sharing printers over the network helps.

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bumpkin

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Posted September 10, 2012 at 8:44PM

Thanks, I will give that a try.

Ray

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bumpkin

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Posted September 10, 2012 at 10:44PM

Hi again, tried what you said but the pcs do not show as networked. I am sure that will work but I have to set up the network first which seems to be my problem, set up wizard will not do it.

Thanks

Ray

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mgmcc

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Posted September 11, 2012 at 7:33AM

If all computers are connected to the same router for their internet access, then they are already "networked". Any Folders and Printers that you set as "shared" in a PC should be available over the network from the other PCs.

It might help to set at least one folder in each PC as "shared" in addition to the printers you want to share. Also, if you're running any third-party firewall software, you may have to allow access to the networked computers, possibly by adding their IP addresses in a "trusted" section.

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bumpkin

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Posted September 11, 2012 at 5:14PM

Thanks mgmcc, I have tried your suggestions but can still not get it to work. The 2 PCs that I am concerned about are both connected to the same modem/router and share internet. I have installed both printers on both PCs both are set for sharing and show hand icon but when I try to print to a printer attached to the other PC is says it is offline. The same happens either way round nor can I get the file sharing to work. One of the PC`s is wireless and the other is wired would this be anything to do with it?

Thanks Ray

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bumpkin

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Posted September 11, 2012 at 10:22PM

My reasons for wanting to this are that my main printer is also copier/scanner/good photo printer but very expensive ink. Other printer is good for everyday things like printing large documents in colour or B/white and very cheap on ink. I always use the main printer as I can`t be bothered to switch cables around. If I could sort this with a few clicks Would be nice and also anyone wanting to print a good photo could do it on main printer but not getting anywhere so far.

Ray

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Ventad

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Posted September 16, 2012 at 3:29PM

(you said) both are set for sharing and show hand icon but when I try to print to a printer attached to the other PC is says it is offline.

Just a thought (probally silly question) you are trying when the pc of the target printer is switched on?

I had one hell of a problem when I was trying to set up a printer attached to a 'wired' Vista pc with a W7 pc on wireless , until I noticed that on add a printer the W7 was calling the printer a canon iP6600D and the Vista was calling it a canon printer, once I got both target names the same Bingo.

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