Bought a print server recently and fell on my face trying to figure-out all the Ip address stuff and router address stuff.
Basically I just want to print to a printer upstairs from my computer downstairs without using my wife’s laptop to “fill in the gaps”.
Is there any chance that I could use a reeeally long 1284 Printer cable 
or maybe USB? I understand that each type of cable is rated for a certain length for the data to travel on it… what the max length is I have no idea. Just looking for ideas that don’t involve a network 
…
You can get extra long parallel cables, I’ve had custom ones made up to 150 feet. See this link:
http://www.cables-unlimited-usa.com/nutek/plink8a100.html
for someone who makes custom long IEEE-1284 parallel cables.
They’re pricey though, I seem to recall that 150’ beast cost me about $200. (That was 10 years back, maybe they’ve come down, I don’t know).
But if you do that, the computer upstairs won’t be able to use the printer without swapping cables, or using your computer to “fill in the gaps”.
If your wife’s laptop and your computer are already networked it should be pretty straightforward to add a network print server box. I’ve used several at various customers without any problems.
Possibly we could help you through the setup of the print server?