wireless printing from tablet to printer ? possible?

[Soundguy]

Question.

Wife upgraded from a surface tablet to a nokia 2520. surface tablet had a usb 2.0 port on it and she would copy documents to the thumb drive to transport to school cpu to print. the nokia tablet she just got ( ups brings good things! ) it has a usb 3.0 micro usb port on it. Guess those are sooo noew.. that there aren't many products for them yet. I've been unable to locate a adapter to use a usb 2.0 thumbdrive in that port.. nor have i found a hub that will plug in to usb 3 micro, and provide 2.0 ports.

Nokia is oming out with a keyboard dock that has a usp 2.0 port in it.. but it has not been released yet..

I have heard mention of some usb 3 micro to usb 2.0 simple pin to pin adapters.. but hear they may not work for tablets. for instance.. samsung has a tablet with that port.. and the generic adapter won't work.. you have to get an adapter from samsung to do it ( driver? issue maybee? )

In any case.. untill nokia comes out with that case/keybaord dock with usb 2 port.. we need a way for her to print. school policy does not allow interconnection of personal devices to the school network... however she does have a dedicated netbook and printer on her desk, and that would at least be better than nothing. the printer is newish.. maybee a few months old.. has some markings about wireless on it. I've never used a wireless printer.. so here's the question. do you have to have a network to use wireless printing.. or can the tablet and printer talk directly?

thanks

 

[archerynut]

With my Epson printer and iPad and iPhones we have to be connected to the same wireless network for it to work. I don't know for others, just my personal experience.

 

[Soundguy]

I believe that is probably the case., no direct device to device printing. Only wirelessly via network.

Ok.. next plan.

 

[Tabasco Jack]

Yeah, most printers connect to a wireless network. She can try saving the documents to the cloud (Microsoft or Google Docs) then open and print from the netbook.

 

[riptides]

A wireless printing requires devices to share a network address space,

The printer will broadcast itself, all you have to do is find it. That can be accomplished by setting up a network from a PC/Tablet, Cell Phone or Access Point like a router.

You can also assign a hard address in the TCP/IP settings of the printer once it is turned on. Then, another machine can browse for the device, or you can force the table/pc/phone to use the hard address you set up.

 

[KubotainNH]

I think it depends on the hardware. My wireless printer gets it's IP from the router and I can print to it from most everything I have including an iPod touch. Of course I did need to load an app that happens to print using a generic driver. It's a bit clunky but does work. I think my printer also allows direct connect via the wireless but I know my mobile devices won't do it. Some printers also do Bluetooth. I think the limiting factor is the software needed on the device to actually send the data to the printer, is this a windows tablet? There may be some things you can do with the desktop PC that allow the tablet to connect to it and print through it. That would mean adding a wireless card to the PC unless you could do it over Bluetooth.

Will this work for the flash drive to usb3? Nippon Labs Black 3 ft. Micro USB Cable A/Male to Micro USB Cable B/Male Model USB-3-Micro - Newegg.com

 

[Soundguy]

Yeah, most printers connect to a wireless network. She can try saving the documents to the cloud (Microsoft or Google Docs) then open and print from the netbook.

unfortunately, the netbook ain't on the schools network either

here's the back story.

Last year.. all the teachers had a school provided pc and printer on their desk. as of the end of the school year, they got rid of all the printers and went to central printing at the office. Teachers still have a school pc on the school network. Now if a teacher needs an extra handout prined or something.. it has to be sent to the office to print. IF it even gets printed immediately, it would still be a walk to the office. Teacers can't leave their classrooom.. so that's not a possibility. besides most of the work gets cached and printed in a batch.. so it's not available when you sent the job in anyway, in case you have an aid or parent voulenteer to fetch it.

Next. they limit teachers printing to xx sheets per month, and don't allow them to 'purchase' more printing if they need it. Literally. you get.. xx sheets and that's it. quit teaching when the paper limit is hit.. ;(

for many of the teachers.. they hit their limit doing regular handouts..

what about 98% of the teachers have done now is to bring in their own laptop and printer.. etc.. and have it on a side desk and do their own document work and printing. My wifes new printer is a scanner and whatnot so she can copy or dupe a handout if needed.. but now that she's using a tablet.. it's gotten a lil diey. we will have to find a usb 3.0 micro a male cable to usb femal 2 ( 3? ) and then thumb drive the stuff over.


it don't get easy.. and seems like the school makes it harder.

worst yet. grumblings have been heard from some in upper admin that some are unhappy that teachers have thier own pc's to do printing.. and my make them take them home.

REALLY?? WTF..... sorry.. had to vent.

 

[KubotainNH]

This thread may be useful on the USB side of things.
Lumia 2520 USB - Nokia Support Discussions

 

[Soundguy]

i just went and posted over there.

I must admit this switch in phones ( we (wife) had an iphone I used for the longest time.. plus a basic cell.. ).. all this stuff with win 8 is new.

then windows pc netbooks and tablets. what a ride.

think I found the cable i need...

 

[KubotainNH]

Isn't progress great?

 

[Soundguy]

Isn't progress great?

kinda great.

It has killed my typing skills.

give me a full 101-104 key kb and I can actually type 90+ WPM pretty good. stick me on a lil thumb button or touch screen and ugh.

my wifes iphone I used for years hated me. I got an older asus pad a while back and that was marginally better.. not much..

now poof. 2 weeks and we have windows phones and tablets...

 

[sshaw]

HP has some printers with "HP Wireless Direct" printing. This allows a direct connection between a tablet and the printer without using a WiFi router. This should allow your wife to print directly to the printer without involving the school network.

Wireless direct | Wireless Printing Center | HP® Official Site

Alternatively, a printer with Bluetooth would work too. Bluetooth is a direct connection and doesn't involve the network. The Nokia tablet would need to support printing over Bluetooth though.

Good luck.

 

[Soundguy]

hmm.. interesting. Iknow the nok has BT.. will see what printer she has.

plan B is a usb dongle or docking port for use of a thumbdrive. unfortunately.. nok relesed the tablet without ANY of it's accessories ready yet. go figure.

 

[sshaw]

If she needs to use her existing printer, and it has WiFi but doesn't support Bluetooth or Wireless Direct, then she could simply bring in her own WiFi router and setup a private network between the netbook, tablet, and printer. A cheap $30 or $40 router should work.

 

[s219]

Our iPads and iPhones support direct to printer wireless printing, so I'd assume other tablets can do it too.

 

[Soundguy]

hmm... never messed with something like a lil private network like that.. an option i guess.

 

[Soundguy]

Our iPads and iPhones support direct to printer wireless printing, so I'd assume other tablets can do it too.

i wonder if that is via NFC pairing or?

 

[Daver1963]

If the netbook is your wife's, here's how to change it to a Wi-Fi hotspot and maybe the tablet will connect to it:
PASTUBBS - PA's Work Log: Turn Your Notebook/Netbook Into A WiFi Hotspot

HP has an Android app to print to HP printers.

How to Print from Android Mobile Devices | HP Support

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hp.android.printservice

 

[WM75Guy]

Whatever happened to the good old days of serial cables. USB 3.0 is suppose to be backwards compatible to 2.0 without drivers. You can use a USB micro b 3.0 male to USB type A female, you will just get 2.0 speeds. Here is one such adapter, it's 3.0 on both ends but the 2.0 USB flash should work. You can also stick a micro b 2.0 plug in a 3.0 receptacle, again you just get 2.0 speeds. The larger side of the 3.0 receptacle is the same as the 2.0 receptacle. To use a 3.0 adapter and get 3.0 speeds you may need a special driver from Nokia.

SuperSpeed USB 3 0 Type A Female to 3 0 Micro B Male Converter Adapter AU3A2 MCB | eBay

More info on 3.0.

USB.org - FAQ: Basic Information

Good luck and keep smiling.

 

[aczlan]

hmm... never messed with something like a lil private network like that.. an option i guess.

If the printer doesn't have the option to create a wireless access point, $5 at the local thrift store will get you a basic wireless router that you can connect the printer and the tablet to.

Do you have the make and model of the printer? Many printer manufacturers (Xerox, HP, Epson and Canon for example) have Android apps to let you print over just such a network.

Aaron Z