PRINT FROM YOUR PHONE OR TABLET
Wireless printing is incredibly useful, but it’s not easy to understand the difference between Wi-fi standards and confusing terminology. Will Stapley cuts through the jargon and explains everything you need to know
Yes, printer ink is still outrageously expensive. Yes, it’s absurd that new printers are often cheaper than replacement ink. But we still love our printers, and in today’s digital world, they’re a reminder that you can still use your PC to produce something you can actually hold in your hands.
In Issue 532 (page 58) we looked at surprising uses for your printer. Here, we focus on the benefits of sharing your printer wirelessly. We’ll show you how to make your printer accessible to any device on your home network and beyond, letting you fill out and print an online form while away from home, for example, and have it waiting in your printer’s out tray when you return.
Make your USB printer wireless
No matter what type of printer you have in your home office, you can make it wireless one way or another. A standard USB printer without built-in Wi-fi can be shared using the computer that it’s connected to. In Windows 10, go to Settings, ‘Printers & Scanners’, select your printer, click the Manage button, then Printer Properties. In Windows 7, go to Control Panel, ‘View devices and printers’, right-click your printer and select ‘Printer properties’.
Next (on either system), select the Sharing tab, then tick ‘Share this printer’ (see screenshot above right). Windows will now display the printer when other computers on your home network search for networked devices. However, be aware that the printer will only be available when the computer it’s connected to is switched on.
One alternative is to give your printer a Wi-fi upgrade using a wireless print server. These devices connect directly to your printer’s USB port, much like using a wireless USB adapter on a computer, though you need to choose one that’s compatible with your printer.
One we’d recommend is Tp-link’s TL-WPS510U (£47 from Scan.co.uk: www.snipca.com/28894 - see a list of printers it’s compatible with at www. snipca.com/28895). You could, of course, pick up a decent Wi-fi printer for less, so a print server is only worth considering if you have an expensive printer that you don’t want to part with.
Unlike USB models, printers with Wi-fi built in don’t need to be connected to a computer that’s switched on. Instead,
they connect directly to your wireless router and are always accessible. Most new printers have built-in Wi-fi, including our current ‘Buy It!’ recommendation - the Canon Pixma TS6150 (£109 from Amazon: www.snipca.com/28902). It also works with Apple Airprint and Google Cloud Print.
Print anywhere with Google Cloud Print
Google Cloud Print is an easy way to access your home printer no matter where you are. And, unsurprisingly, printers that have Cloud Print already built in are the simplest to set up (see the full list at www.snipca.com/28890, though it’s possible to use it with printers that are not on this list).
To set it up, open your Chrome browser, type chrome://devices into the address bar, then look for your printer under ‘New devices’. All nearby printers that work with Cloud Print will be displayed here. If yours is listed, click the Manage button next to it, then Register and follow the registration steps.
If your printer isn’t listed, you can still use the service, but you’ll need to leave the computer you set it up with switched on. Any print jobs sent while your computer is turned off will queue up, all ready to print when you turn it back on. Type chrome://devices into Chrome as above, then click ‘Add printers’ in the ‘Classic printers’ section. You’ll see a list of available printers - place ticks next to the ones you want to use, then the ‘Add printer(s)’ button (see screenshot above).
You can now use your printer from Chrome on any computer – you’ll just need to be logged into your Google account. To print from other programs, such as Microsoft Office, download the Cloud Print driver from www.snipca. com/28896. You can also share your printers with other people. Go to www. google.com/cloudprint, click Printers on the left, then highlight your printer, click the green Share button and enter the email address of the person you want to share it with (see screenshot above right).
Print from your phone and tablet
How easy it is to print wirelessly from a phone or tablet depends on the type of printer you have. Most new printers support Apple Airprint, which makes it simple to print from IOS devices. For a full list of compatible printers, go to Apple’s support page at www.snipca. com/28897.
To use Airprint, tap the Print button on your IOS device (this appears at the bottom of the screen when you tap the Share icon - a box with a small upwards arrow). If you have a compatible printer, it will be displayed here.
Using Google Cloud Printing on IOS devices isn’t quite so easy. Google programs (such as Gmail and Google Docs) support it, but few others. To be
able to print from more apps, Google recommends you install the non-google app Printcentral Pro ( www.snipca. com/28898), but it’s expensive at £7.99. Read Google’s recommendation for this and other printer apps at www.snipca. com/28899.
If you’ve got an Android phone or tablet, you can print using Google Cloud Print. If your printer doesn’t have built-in support for Google Cloud Print, you should still be able to access it by downloading an app provided by your printer manufacturer (such as the Canon Print Service app from www.snipca. com/28900 - see screenshot left). These apps also let you print from IOS devices if your printer isn’t Airprint-enabled. Search for your printer manufacturer in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to see what’s available.