Wireless LAN extension

[Angrboda]

If it is an electronic solution, I doubt it will work. The electronic device will need an ip in order to communicate with the network, and that device will need to contact the printer at its assigned ip. Generally devices don't have that much smarts to them to be able to manipulate ip's in that way.

[bennyboy]

If it is an electronic solution, I doubt it will work.  The electronic device will need an ip in order to communicate with the network, and that device will need to contact the printer at its assigned ip.  Generally devices don't have that much smarts to them to be able to manipulate ip's in that way.

Yeah, I looked up some solutions, and they are all too high tech-- they can have settings set by the network, which means they are devices with IPs assigned.  What I essentially need is a kind of walkie-talkie that picks up a LAN signal, sends it to its counterpart, and outputs on another LAN cable to the printerr-- but is completely transparent to the system.

My wife came up with a very good idea. She is having new CCTV cameras installed, and they are going to hardwire them, so she asked them to bring some extra cable. Looks like I might just have to pay for the cable.

[johan]

Ok so what you're asking sounds pretty much impossible. Based on what you're asking I'm going to assume you have access to a network which is administered and controlled by someone else. So I guess the obvious and probably somewhat dumb question is, why not just ask whoever admins your network to move the printer, or ask them what it would take to get the printer moved the right way instead of trying to Macgyver your own solution?

Short of that, I probably won't cost as much as you think to get someone to run a CAT6 drop for you.

[bennyboy]

Ok so what you're asking sounds pretty much impossible. Based on what you're asking I'm going to assume you have access to a network which is administered and controlled by someone else. So I guess the obvious and probably somewhat dumb question is, why not just ask whoever admins your network to move the printer, or ask them what it would take to get the printer moved the right way instead of trying to Macgyver your own solution?

Short of that, I probably won't cost as much as you think to get someone to run a CAT6 drop for you.

The problem is that it's a small company, and the printer stuff was done by a small rental company which no longer has the capacity to set up anything on the network.

I have experience with computers and some basic networking.  However, some of the hardware displays only in Korean.  If I do anything that screws up IP addresses, then I may end up with downtime, something I can't afford.

tbh in the long run, what I really need to do is gut the whole shit system and replace it with a wireless system, and redo all the port forwarding etc. myself.  But I have more important things I want to do right now.

[johan]

My advice. Hire another firm. Any tech worth their salt ought to be able to come in, identify what static IP the printer is using, perform a hard reset on it, change the language and redo the settings in an hour or less. I would think $200 will get you there with minimal downtime.If your business is going so balls to the wall that you can't afford downtime, you ought to easily be able to afford $200 to fix this right.

[bennyboy]

My advice. Hire another firm. Any tech worth their salt ought to be able to come in, identify what static IP the printer is using, perform a hard reset on it, change the language and redo the settings in an hour or less. I would think $200 will get you there with minimal downtime.If your business is going so balls to the wall that you can't afford downtime, you ought to easily be able to afford $200 to fix this right.

I totally agree, and we are in the process of doing that right now.  To be honest, I'm thinking of purchasing a new-model printer and just redoing all the networking myself.  That's what I did at the last place, and it went fine.

[johan]

I was going to suggest that, considering what SOHO printers cost these days. But then I thought about the gargantuan roll-around floor model printers that I use at work and what they probably cost and I thought better of suggesting it just in case.

[bennyboy]

I was going to suggest that, considering what SOHO printers cost these days. But then I thought about the gargantuan roll-around floor model printers that I use at work and what they probably cost and I thought better of suggesting it just in case.

Yeah, we're talking about multiple sorting trays, special function for transparencies, covers, etc.  It's not a very good or advanced machine, but I think even this one would cost a few thousand dollars or more.

[dyresand]

When i wanted to boost my wifi signal and didn't want to buy a extender i would use a pringles can it works just as good.
something like this


and 

[bennyboy]

Dude. They don't even HAVE Salt and Vinegar flavor Pringles in Korea. That's it, I'm leaving this shithole!

On a good note: the CCTV guys came in and as expected, they happily dropped a new line for the printer. And by dropped, I mean some dude crawled in the crawlspace for 10 minutes, drilled and plugged a couple neat little holes, and got me hooked up for nothing more than the price of the cable. Korea's like that.