# Adding a printer to a network. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808 "2015-11-17T17:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/1 "2015-11-17T17:04:45Z")
A second pair of drops has been wired in my classroom so I am using that for my computer and printer. The printer used to be wired directly to my computer via the ethernet port and I used wifi for network connectivity but I need some features that can only be used via a hard-wired connection and a USB connection is not an option. Oh and I am banned from using a Wifi router but I may be able to get away from it if it is not broadcasting the SSID. Anyways, not that I’ve addressed all of the responses of “Why don’t you do it this way instead.” just assume I need to use the two drops - one for the computer and one for the printer. I have the IP address of the printer but Win7 just can’t seem to find it on the network. Is it a server-side issue or do I need to set it up manually rather than use “Add Printer”? Using “Add Printer” will set up a printer alright, but nothing prints to the printer. It just hangs in spooler limbo. ---
**Author:** ![Caldazar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Caldazar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caldazar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/2 "2015-11-17T17:14:59Z")
1. Ping the printer’s IP address from the computer to make sure it is actually accessible over the network. 2. On your computer, Control Panel \> Devices and Printers \> Add a printer 3. Add a local printer 4. Create a new port \> Standard TCP/IP Port 5. Hostname or IP address = \ . Port name will be automatically filled. 6. Install the printer driver Or contact your school onsite-IT and have them do this for you. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/3 "2015-11-17T17:51:11Z")
Did 1-5 to start and got spooler limbo. ping not finding that IP address. What next? Getting IT out here will be a hassle if it is an easy fix. ---
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/4 "2015-11-17T17:58:27Z")
Do you actually have two connected ports? What are your IP’s / subnets? Personally, I’d just pick up a cheap switch, hook it to the port that you know works, then hook the PC and printer to that. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/5 "2015-11-17T18:05:14Z")
Are both the ports active? Unused ports may be disabled until you call the help desk or whatever. > [@Khendrask](#): > > Personally, I’d just pick up a cheap switch, hook it to the port that you know works, then hook the PC and printer to that. Never do this. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/6 "2015-11-17T18:18:24Z")
Yes both ports are active. First thing I checked. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/7 "2015-11-17T18:23:35Z")
There are many things that can be going on here. First, your network may be setup to disallow any users from just plugging stuff into the network without authorization or whatever. Can regular users just connect new devices without checking with network admin? Is the IP address for the printer hardcoded or DHCP? If hardcoded, where did it come from? Are you sure it is correct? Is it the same subnet as your computer? Maybe the ports are in different VLANS, again, requiring network admin help. Or, maybe something that is far simpler than the above steps (bad cable or something) but if you can’t ping the printer IP, nothing is going to work. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/8 "2015-11-17T18:24:49Z")
> [@Caldazar](#): > > 1. Ping the printer’s IP address from the computer to make sure it is actually accessible over the network. > 2. On your computer, Control Panel \> Devices and Printers \> Add a printer > 3. Add a local printer > 4. Create a new port \> Standard TCP/IP Port > 5. Hostname or IP address = \ . Port name will be automatically filled. > 6. Install the printer driver > > Or contact your school onsite-IT and have them do this for you. This. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/9 "2015-11-18T00:05:54Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > This. 🙂 See post #3 ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/10 "2015-11-18T00:21:50Z")
Is this YOUR printer you are bringing in to the classroom’s network? Or is it the classroom’s printer you are trying to print to like everyone else is? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/11 "2015-11-18T04:38:58Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > See post #3 Thanks, she needs the network guys. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/12 "2015-11-18T04:40:24Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Is this YOUR printer you are bringing in to the classroom’s network? Or is it the classroom’s printer you are trying to print to like everyone else is? If it plugs into the wall, it is not YOUR printer. If it plugs into the PC, it is YOUR printer. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/13 "2015-11-18T04:47:39Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > If it plugs into the wall, it is not YOUR printer. If it plugs into the PC, it is YOUR printer. That was mostly my point. If you normally plug it into you machine, but now your trying to get it on a different network, you need to talk to the admins of that network. And by “you” I mean “the OP”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/14 "2015-11-18T05:19:49Z")
If you had your printer and PC connected together directly via an ethernet cable, that cable was most likely a crossover cable (green/orange wire pairs switched). That kind of cabling works when going directly between devices, but you want a patch cable if you want to connect to a network switch (which I’m sure you’re doing if you’re now plugging into network drops). A patch cable has both ends of the cable looking identical (all pairs of wires in the same order). If you’re reusing the same cable you were using before but now plugging it into one of the drops, that’s probably your issue. Also, getting down to basics, can you connect to anything from your PC? Are there any file servers on your network you can attempt to ping and/or browse from your PC? Can you browse the internet? Just to make sure you don’t have a general network problem from your PC. If you can’t ping the printer from your PC then forget trying steps 1-5. Not being able to ping means you have no connection. A couple of people have mentioned checking to see if your PC is on the same subnet. You can tell by looking at the network mask that your PC and printer are using. A 255.255.255.0 subnet is a standard Class C subnet, and that means that your printer and PC need to have matching octets for the first 3 (for example, 192.168.1.5 and 192.168.1.34 would be the same subnet). If your subnet mask is 255.255.0.0 then ensure that the first 2 octets match for the two addresses. I will say, though, that having been an IT support guy at various levels for the past 16+ years, that getting a printer and PC to connect to each other in a network where you have no control or information over the infrastructure is not going to be an “easy fix”. In most environments where I’ve worked, if someone not in IT tried to hook up a printer on their own using the network it’s just not going to happen. They’re likely to end up picking a bad static IP address that will create a conflict, or use a dynamic IP that you can’t connect to reliably. Or the network isn’t going to allow network access to a device that isn’t registered to the domain. Or something else along those lines you have no way to troubleshoot in your position. I’d just suck it up and call IT. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/15 "2015-11-18T05:30:38Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If you had your printer and PC connected together directly via an ethernet cable, that cable was most likely a crossover cable (green/orange wire pairs switched). That kind of cabling works when going directly between devices, but you want a patch cable if you want to connect to a network switch (which I’m sure you’re doing if you’re now plugging into network drops). A patch cable has both ends of the cable looking identical (all pairs of wires in the same order). > > If you’re reusing the same cable you were using before but now plugging it into one of the drops, that’s probably your issue. You would have to be using very very old equipment to need a crossover cable since most things are auto sensing these days. But, the OP DID say they were in a classroom… ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/16 "2015-11-18T05:37:51Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > You would have to be using very very old equipment to need a crossover cable since most things are auto sensing these days. But, the OP DID say they were in a classroom… 😃 Yeah I was thinking along those lines… Don’t assume everything is state-of-the-art. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/17 "2015-11-18T05:43:53Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > 😃 > > Yeah I was thinking along those lines… Don’t assume everything is state-of-the-art. There’s assuming state-of-the-art, then there is just hoping it is from this century…and again, it being a classroom… ---
**Author:** ![Caldazar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Caldazar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caldazar)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/18 "2015-11-18T18:21:52Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > ping not finding that IP address. What next? Getting IT out here will be a hassle if it is an easy fix. Call IT. It will probably be an easy fix for them, but it won’t be an easy fix for you as you don’t have access to the network configurations. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/19 "2015-11-18T18:33:11Z")
If you can’t just hook the printer up, have it get an IP address from DHCP or use an assigned IP address, and ping it from the PC, then either the network is set up to disallow what you’re trying to do, or you lack the technical knowledge to set this up by yourself. Either way, your site IT is going to get to a solution quicker than posting here. Don’t try to hang a router or switch off of one of the ports unless your site IT recommends it, because that’s very likely against their security policies and will often result in your ports being shut down until they figure out what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808/20 "2015-11-20T10:50:26Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > A second pair of drops has been wired in my classroom so I am using that for my computer and printer. The printer used to be wired directly to my computer via the ethernet port and I used wifi for network connectivity but I need some features that can only be used via a hard-wired connection . No, the wifi is ethernet just as the cable is ethernet. Neither printer nor software will know the difference. Only the speed is the issue. Unless there is sort of security in the wifi system which catches you. If you plug the computers cable into the one allocated to the printer, does it still work? Cause if it doesn’t perhaps the socket is no good. And with this change the printer needs to change IP address presumably, it may have been set statically, and only had to be compatible with your computer, and now has to be set to something compatible with the whole network… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-printer-to-a-network/737808.md?page=2)