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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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the printer to a single computer and then share the printer on the network.

The downside to this was that the computer connected to the printer had to be

left on for others to use the printer.

Today, the typical network printer comes with its own built-in 802.11(a, b,

g, n, ac) Wi-Fi adapter to enable wireless printing over infrastructure or ad

hoc network connections, though you should avoid ad hoc connections for

security reasons when possible (see Chapter 20, “Wireless Networking,” for

more on setting up an ad hoc wireless network).

Other printers include an onboard network adapter that uses a standard RJ-

45 Ethernet cable to connect the printer directly to the network by way of a

router. The printer can typically be assigned a static IP address, or it can

acquire one dynamically from a DHCP server. (Don’t know what a router, IP

address, or DHCP server is? Take a look back at Chapter 18, “Essentials of

Networking,” and Chapter 19, “Local Area Networking.”) Once connected to

the network, the printer acts independently of any single computer.

Alternatively, some printers offer a Bluetooth interface for networking.

NOTE Since printers tend to have longer lives than most other computing

devices, be aware that printers with a built-in wireless print connection may

be using older Wi-Fi or Bluetooth standards than you’re used to

encountering.

Even if a printer does not come with built-in Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or

Bluetooth, you can purchase a standalone network device known as a print

server to connect your printer to the network—but beware that you may not

be able to use all features of an MFD connected to a print server. These print

servers, which can be Ethernet or Wi-Fi, enable one or several printers to

attach via USB cable (or even parallel port, if you still have a printer that

old). You may not need to go to the store to find a print server, though—

check your router, first, to see if it has an integrated print server. If it does,

you may be able to plug your printer into a USB port on the router. So take

that ancient ImageWriter dot-matrix printer and network it—I dare you!

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