Belkin 802.11g Wireless USB Print Server

After reading other peoples experiences it was with some trepidation that I attempted to connect my Belkin Print Server as I'm very new to networking. However forewarned was forearmed and I found it amazingly easy. I have a Canon ip4500 and a Thomson TG585 v7 router and this is how it worked for me. I knew the set up wouldn't work wirelessly as connection encripted so attached the Belkin straight to my router through ethernet connection. Then went to the routers gateway to get the ISP address assigned to the Belkin. Then entered the address into Internet Explorer address bar - note YOU NEED INTERNET EXPLORER IT WILL NOT WORK WITH FIREFOX. From there it was simply a matter of selecting the Thomson as preferred connection and entering it's password. Then disconnect the ethernet cable - insert set up wizard disc into each p.c you want to connect to and it sets up and works no bother. Very happy, only reason given 4 stars is because of lack of bidirectional communication with printer so can't check ink status. but will get around that by occasionally connecting laptop up direct to check which is simple enough to do. All in all very happy with product for price I paid for it.

Could not get this working at all. Product documentation is very poor and shows Belkin to be a manufacturer who does not appear to care about making their products user friendly. The reviews here are useful for getting info on how to make it work. Configured my wireless network with no encryption at all to get the print server visible to the network. The server itself was about 2 metres away from the main router with nothing in between, and it would just never show itself. Wasted about three hours on this, realised that this was more than the cost of the kit (self employed), so smashed it into pieces (so I would not be tempted to waste 3 hours in the future thinking I could get it to work) and stuck it in the bin. If others have got it working, then well done. My experience has not been good.

Let's just state facts... This device will allow you to connect two of your USB printers in a wireless network as long as you only want WEP encryption. Unfortunately WEP encryption is no longer secure and therfore unacceptable as an encryption level. As a result this device is now largely useless as a wireless print server. If you require WPA encryption, do NOT buy it. If you have a wireless router supporting WPA you can connect it to the Belkin print server via an ethernet cable, you will then have WPA encryption and a max. of two printers working via wireless. However, a non-wireless print server will do the job just as well and could be cheaper. The installation/configuration software worked for me on all machines. The requirement to have to physically connect each computer directly to each printer via a USB cable before configuring via Belkin's software is a real pain in the neck. Multi-function printers cannot scan to a PC via this device. Some older printers do not work at all. I could not get an HP815C to function at all via this device. One benefit of this device is that it is cheap to buy. So, if you really have to buy it assume the wireless does not work, just turn it off by plugging in an ethernet cable. To sum up, I cannot recommend a device that does not work in one of its main stated capabilities. If Belkin put wording on the packaging stating that this print server does not work with current requirements for encryption, that it might not work with your printer and is also very awkward to configure, I assume it would not sell very well. I suppose that is why they keep quiet about it. Avoid this product unless it is very cheap and only if you do not mind the lack of WPA encryption.

The Belkin wireless print server is a great little box, but only once you've got it set up right. this is not a Newbie friendly unit and I suspect that the only people who have got this going right out of the box are too green to have set any security on their home network. The user guide that comes with this is completely pants, so here are some tips that will save you some tears and the possibility of drop kicking this little unit out of the window. 1) Firefox is not fully compliant with the browser interface used to set up this unit. Either use Internet Explorer or switch to the IE plug-in for Firefox. (I havn't tried Opera, Safari etc but be suspicious of them too. Microsoft is still paying the sheriff in this town!) 2) Turn off all security on your router and make sure you have enabled SSID broadcasting. 3) If you have MAC address filtering enabled on your router (and you really should have) look at the MAC addresses (there is two) on the bottom of the print server and add them to the MAC address filter list on your router. A note of caution: If you do not currently have MAC address filtering enabled do not enable it now. You will just make things horribly complicated for yourself. Only set it on once you are happy that your network is set up with the print server working nicely. 4) No matter what the print server set up suggests to the contrary, only WEP security encryption works with this print server. If you have more advanced WPA/WPA2 security on your network you will have to either scrap it in favour(??) of WEP, or not use this print server. 5) Only once you have done the above can you go ahead and used the installer on the packaged CD. Once you are done, you can set the network security back on. I recommend you switch off SSID broadcasting once all is working. This adds a very valid extra layer of security and your print server will still be able to talk to your router without issue. 6) By the way, the bundled help provided by the user interface with this unit is simply a short list of definitions. It just couldn't be worse and Belkin, if you are reading this, hang your collective head in shame. Finally, if what I have written above is gibberish to you, you should have second thoughts about buying this unit. Happy installing!

On the plus side, this is a dinky piece of kit that doesn't take up much room on the desk. It can be a pain to set up though and having just got mine working after a day of fiddling around, I can confidently report that the user guide is pretty pants and the helpdesk, whilst very polite, really just cover the basics and don't delve into router config issues. I'm supposed to be getting a call back - but the 24hr turnaround time is up, so not expecting a call. This print server is not compatible with way too many printers, and importantly, multi-function printers. I got mine working, but not sure the copy/scan/fax features will now work - but I use mostly for print. You need to configure your WEP encryption on the print server (doesn't support WPA, doesn't like Firefox either) exactly the same and if you use MAC Address Control, include the MAC address of the print server on your 'allowed' list on your router - easy to find, printed on the bottom of the print server. If you use static ip, turn off the DHCP client in the 'IP address' section on the online set up after entering the dedicated IP for the server. Remember to turn off the DHCP server on your router too or the wireless link will not work. If you can't access the online page wirelessly, connect via ethernet and configure - remove the cable to test if your wireless set up is working. If the 'WLAN' green light is on, but you can't print, it's a config issue. A word of warning, if one of your computers is used to connect to your office network via VPN, you will not be able to print as most companies don't allow access to 192.168.1.x (home network) ranges. You can get round this by using a USB switch hub for the 'work' machine. I'm going to try out FTP print, but think the switch will be my best bet. Would recommend if you have the time and energy to tinker around to get it all working as the support is well below par and newbies may struggle - but for the price, not bad!

... due to the lack of WPA support. Should have checked for this, of course. Have to downgrade wireless LAN to WEP to support wireless printing. Yes, can connect with cables, but bought 'wireless' print server to avoid that. Annoying. Wish that suppliers would state "doesn't support WPA".

I got this to work by ignoring the setup disc. First off, turn off encryption on the router or wireless adapter. Hook up your ethernet cable to the Belkin, log in to 192.168.2.253 and then search your router or firewall logs for it's MAC address. You're best off setting up DHCP if you have a router that assigns fixed IP addresses, or disable DHCP and fix the IP address on the Belkin. Then you need to set the printing port manually. Select the printer you want to use as default, and click Properties. Click the ports tab, add a TCP/IP port at it's IP address, call it what you want, and configure it to use "Custom Settings". The protocol is LPR, the port number is 515, queue name is lp1 FOR THE LOWER USB SOCKET, and lp2 for the upper. Get this bit wrong, and you'll never print. You then need to set up WEP, but frankly if you have a wireless router with WPA reasonably close to the printer, don't bother. Use an ethernet cable instead. Oh, and it can be used on Linux, using the CUPS setting lpd://(ip address):515/lp1 or lp2. Overall, only 3 stars due to lack of WPA and the really buggy setup software.

I recently bopught this second hand off of Ebay for £20 and wow is it good. We have 2 dead spots in our house, the spare bedroom and my sister's room. It doesn't find the wireless in those places. I moved it down into my garage about 150 feet or so away through my wireless router and still manages to find it. I use a belkin wireless access point and external adsl router. this thing works great with my epson stylus colour 880 and samsung ml-1610. never had any problems and if it doesnt connect to your wireless then yours could be too far away or connecting to someone else's. my advice: buy it buy it while you can

With encryption turned off in my network I had this unit set up and printing wirelessly off my HP PSC750 printer in a couple of minutes, using the printer set-up wizard downloaded from Belkin. I did not use the supplied CD. However, when I connected a cable in order to enable wireless security I found myself stumped for a long time before discovering that Firefox does not display the set-up screen correctly, so I could not enter my network password. Switching to Internet Explorer cured this problem immediately. I agree with other users' comments about the poor documentation, but it is probably no worse than others I have seen. Basically the device does what it says on the box, and at the low price we have come to expect from Chinese-made products. On that basis I would recommend it, and believe that even a novice would find it fairly simple.

Bought this to work with my Epson CX3200. Wasted lots of time trying to get it to connect and eventually Belkin support advised that the server does not work with that printer - or many others....why couldn't they tell me that on my first contact - or heaven forbid before I bought the print server? I have now bought a different printer and the server installed quickly and works excellently. I just wasn't expecting to have to buy a new printer in order to use it. The list of compatibilities is at http://www.belkin.com/support/printserver/list.asp