How to Make a Printer WiFi

With printer sharing, you can make your printer wireless.

Most printers on the market today need to be locally attached to a computer using a USB cable. However, you can set up printer sharing through the Windows operating system, and turn your USB printer into a wireless device. The printer will need to remain connected to a single host computer, but all other users on the local Wi-Fi network will be able to send documents to the printer wirelessly.

Things You'll Need

• PC running Windows XP or later
• USB printer

Instructions

1. Make sure your PC is connected to a wireless network and has an active Internet connection.

2. Connect your USB printer to your PC computer using a standard USB cable. This computer will be known as the host computer and will need to remain on in order for wireless printing to work.

3. Turn on the printer and install any necessary software that came with the device.

4. Open the "Start" menu and click on the "Printers and Fax" icon.

5. Right-click on the icon of the printer you want to make wireless and choose "Sharing."

6. Click on the radio button next to "Share this printer" in the pop-up window.

7. Enter a name for the wireless printer in the "Share name" field.

8. Hit the "OK" button to save the settings and enable wireless printing. The USB printer is now being shared over your Wi-Fi network, and any other computers on the network will be able to send documents to it wirelessly.

References

• Windows Networking: Share Your Printer Over a Home Network Using Windows XP