How to Add a Laser Printer to an Office Network

Computers and their users are required to communicate and share information. Therefore, networks have been created to link computers together. This allows several different users to use the same printer. Here is how to add a laser printer to an office network:

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Laser printer
• Office network

1. Determine whether your office is on a wireless or wired network. Identify the network.

2. Set up the printer where it is accessible to everyone. Unpack it, plug it in and connect the cables to the printer server.

3. Connect the print server to the network router or server, depending on whether you are wired or wireless. Some printers will have internal print servers that allow you to connect directly to the office router or server.

4. Install the printer drivers on each computer. Then add the printer in each computer’s Control Panel. Set it as the default printer.

5. Print a test page from each computer in the network.

Tips & Warnings

• Find a laser printer that can handle many different types and sizes of paper media such as paper, envelopes, business cards and transparencies.
• External print servers allow a wider range of printer-network access. Even printers that are old and not designed to handle internal print servers can be connected to their external counterparts.
• With wireless print servers and wireless networks, computers and printers can be connected without the physical burden of wiring.
• Changing network settings in any way can affect everyone in your workgroup or network. Make sure you follow the printer’s installation instructions carefully.
• Sending more than one print job to a printer with insufficient memory can cause the machine to slow down and, in some cases, freeze altogether. The more memory your laser printer has, the more tasks it can run at the same time.