setting up wireless printer

[sharp]

I have a HP desktop computer using windows 8 and it is hard wired to my Brother laser printer. My printer works fine this way. I now have a Dell laptop that I would like to be able to print wirelessly from to my Brother laser printer. My laser printer has wireless capability. I have tried to set it up to NO avail. I was told that if you have a desktop computer wired to your printer you cannot do both print from the desktop and also do wireless printing from another computer, is this correct? If not do you know how to set up my laptop to print wirelessly?

[Murf]

No it isn't. To set up the wireless you must have sharing enabled. Also it must be part of a home network.

Windows 8:

From the start screen or Desktop-use the keyboard shortcut Win Key +1 then click on Change PC Settings

From the control panel settings click Homegroup. Then in the left panel under Libraries and Devices, switch on the types of files and devices you want to share

Under Membership, a password is automatically generated for you. You’ll need this to connect your other Windows 7 and 8 machines to it.

You can change the password to something easier to remember — which will make things easier when joining other systems. Use the keyboard shortcut Win Key + W to bring up the Search box for Settings. Type: network and sharing then click on Network and Sharing Center from the results field on the left.

If the other machine is running Windows 7 then go to it and do the following:

Click Start and type Homegroup into the search box and hit enter

On the next screen click on the Join Now button

Then decide which files and folder you want to share on the Windows 8 HomeGroup. Click Next

Enter in the password and click Next.

Now you’re successfully connected to the Windows 8 Homegroup. Click Finish.

Once that is done then you need to install the printer on the wireless computer;

1. Open Devices and Printers by clicking the Start button, and then, on the Start menu, clicking Devices and Printers.
2. Click Add a printer.
3. In the Add Printer wizard, click Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer.
4. In the list of available printers, select the one you want to use, and then click Next.
5. If prompted, install the printer driver on your computer by clicking Install driver. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
6. Complete the additional steps in the wizard, and then click Finish.

[sharp]

I have one more question: The last step you said was to install the printer to my wireless computer (which uses winidows 7) but I have already added my wireless laptop to my printer and printed to my printer uses a hard USB cable in the past. Can I still set laptop to print wirelessly since I didn't do it the way you said?

[Murf]

If the printer is wireless then you can print from the laptop to it using the wireless. Unplug the USB cable from the printer, make sure it is on and broadcasting a signal. Then in Windows 7:

Start | Control Panel | Under Hardware and Sound click Add a device and follow instructions.

Or if you have the DVD/CD that came with the printer, you can use it to set up wireless.

[sharp]

Thanks so much your instructions worked like a charm and now I can print from my wired desktop to printer and also print from my laptop wirelessly to printer.
Thanks again.

[Murf]

Your welcome glad you got it working OK.

[Teemo2]

Thank you! I have the same question, now I don't need to ask another.

[gazool]

Connecting a wired printer is easy. Pick the right cable, then plug it into the printer on one end and into a computer or network on the other. Connecting a wireless printer, on the other hand, is ... well ... not as easy. Even when everything goes smoothly, as it usually does, it's still more complicated than plugging in a cable.
One issue to keep in mind is that there's more than one type of wireless printing. Bluetooth-enabled printers, for example, are wireless printers, and so are printers that offer infrared (IrDA) connections. However, when most people talk about wireless printers, what they mean is Wi-Fi printers, which is what I'll focus on here.
Even limiting the discussion to Wi-Fi, there's more than one way to connect a wireless printer, and for each basic type of connection, the steps vary depending on the particular printer. That makes it impossible to cover all the variations in any detail in one short article. My goal instead is to cover the key information you need along with strategies for troubleshooting problems you may run into. The combination should give you a fighting chance of getting your wireless printer to connect even when the process doesn't run smoothly.
The Other Side of the Equation
The steps for connecting a printer by Wi-Fi depend in large part on what you want to connect to. The three choices are a Wi-Fi access point on a network, one or more individual computers directly, or a smartphone or tablet. Let's start with an access point.
Any Wi-Fi device, including a printer, can support one or more of three different Wi-Fi modes -- infrastructure, ad hoc, and Wi-Fi Direct. Infrastructure mode requires a Wi-Fi access point, usually built into a router. The idea is that all the Wi-Fi devices on your network connect through the access point. If you have a network with an access point, both it and every other Wi-Fi device on the network should already be set for infrastructure mode. Virtually any Wi-Fi printer will support this mode.
For purposes of this discussion, I'll assume that either you set up the network yourself and are familiar with its settings, especially its security settings, or you can easily contact someone who can give you the information. Key information you may need to know, so you can enter it during the printer setup, are the network's SSID (its name), the network password if it has one (which it should), and, assuming there is a password, which security protocol your network uses (WEP, WPA, or WPA2).
You should also know about any other settings that you changed from the most common choices. For example if you turned off DHCP, which automatically assigns IP addresses, you'll have to assign the printer an IP address manually. Similarly, if you set the access point to connect only with devices with specific MAC addresses, you'll have to enter the printer's MAC address in the list before you install it. All the comments here assume that you either stayed with the most common settings or know what changes you made, and know how to adjust the installation procedure to accommodate them.
SPAM REMOVED

[sladden]

Isn't it easier to have a modem/router with a usb port. Then plug any printer into it and go through the router with any wireless-laptop or wired-desktop?

[sharp]

I got it working.
Thanks.

[sharp]

Originally Posted by Murf

Your welcome glad you got it working OK.

My wireless printing has worked fine with the instructions you gave me to set it up, but now all of a sudden I can NO longer print wirelessly. Do you have any idea of what has happened? It seems my homegroup is hooked up to my wireless printer.

[Murf]

The printer may of changed IP address, try this:

1. On your wireless printer go to settings and write down it's IP address (probably a new dynamic one which caused the problem).
2. On your computer go Control Panel - Devices and Printers.
3. Right click on your printer, choose Printer Properties, and click the Ports tab.
4. Select your printer in the list and hit Configure Port button.
5. In the box for "Printer Name or IP Address", enter the new IP address. (If the address is identical to your printer's current one, then you have other problems that this solution will not address.)
6. Hit OK twice

[sharp]

I could not get this to work. My question now is: do you think I could un-install the printer from my laptop computer (which is the computer I am trying to print from wirelessly) and then plug in laptop directly to my wireless printer and re-install my printer in the wireless type printer and see if this will work? I have the disk for the wireless printer and my laptop uses windows 7. I can't mess up anything trying this can I? I hope this question makes sense.

[Murf]

Yes you can, once you get it working that way then try wireless.

[alex10]

starting from start here i what i found and suggest the solution... have a look:
You will need to connect your printer to your network first, as it won't connect directly to the computer itself (ad hoc).

This can likely be done by using the controls on the printer to connect to your wireless access point/router. This is much the same as connecting any other computer to a wireless network.

Scan for networks, select yours, enter the password. If you printer doesn't have a screen, you may have to plug it in via USB for this step, and unplug it later.

Once the printer is on the network, get on the computer and go to:

Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Printers. Click "Add printer". Choose network printer. It should be straightforward from there.