# Sharing a scanner over a LAN

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-scanner-over-a-lan/398384>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 2, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-scanner-over-a-lan/398384 "2007-04-02T03:45:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-scanner-over-a-lan/398384/1 "2007-04-02T03:45:46Z")

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Alright, I encountered this a few days ago for the first time and seem to have hit a wall. What I want to do (to help a friend out), is to share a single scanner (as part of a multifunction device) over a LAN/home network. Currently, the print function is shared without a problem - that’s a pretty standard setup. However, attempting to share the scan function to multiple (2 remote, 1 local) PCs has got me stumped. The multifunction in question is a Samsung SCX-2521F. I just can’t seem to allow the client workstations to use it, and fairly extensive googling leads me only to third-party software purporting to enable this for ANY scanner (for $100, of course). Looking at the Samsung website, there are instructions for doing this with the SmarThru 3 software, but this multifunction comes with SmarThru 4 - no networking support seems to be available.  
If someone could help fight my ignorance, I’d appreciate it. This one is hitting right in the joint of my ego! :rolleyes:

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-scanner-over-a-lan/398384/2 "2007-04-02T03:50:41Z")

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Do you have access to the computer that the scanner is hooked up to? My suggestion would be to scan it to the local computer and then pull/push the file to the remote computer. Of course depending on your situation that my not be convienent for you.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharing-a-scanner-over-a-lan/398384/3 "2007-04-02T09:14:14Z")

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Did you mean the [SCX-4521F](http://www.samsung.com/uk/products/printsolutions/multifunctionproducts/scx_4521fxeu.asp)? There’s no sign of a 2521. The manual seems to indicate that you can’t network the scanning facility.