Connecting a HP2840 Color Laser printer to a server via USB and sharing on a network

csalerno
csalerno used Ask the Experts™
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I have a HP2840 Color Laser printer that I want to connect to my Server 2003 and allow to share on my network. The printer has a Ethernet connector in the back but 1) Can't seem to find the software and 2) the configuration is very sensitive to network changes and usually stops working after a few network mods.

Is it possible to connect the printer to my server via a USB and share?
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rindi
Most Valuable Expert 2015

Commented:
What problems are there with the ethernet port? Just set it up so it uses DHCP, and on your DHCP server reserve an IP address for the Printer's MAC address.

You shouldn't need any additional software for that, and things work much better that way.

But of course you could always share a printer connected via USB, but that just isn't as elegant.
Jaroslav LatalMSP

Commented:
or use printserver if printer ethernet doesn't work.

jarda
NinjaStyle82Systems Administrator

Commented:
I agree with adding an external USB print server like this guy: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=105&cp_id=10521&cs_id=1052103&p_id=5343&seq=1&format=2
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rindi
Most Valuable Expert 2015

Commented:
The printer already has a print server, why add an external one? The built in one should work without any issues at all if properly setup with DHCP like I mentioned.
NinjaStyle82Systems Administrator

Commented:
Because they said the internal print server is unreliable, of course. If it is an issue with the network config we will need a lot more information.
rindi
Most Valuable Expert 2015

Commented:
I doubt that it is unreliable. It is far more likely not setup properly. If you use an additional print server you can set it up as incorrectly as the internal one is, and then it will be just as unreliable.
NinjaStyle82Systems Administrator

Commented:
That's very possible, but we will need details on the network config to diagnose that.

I was assuming there were other network printers on the network that were not unreliable.
csalerno

Author

Commented:
Rindi,
Do you know of have a link to instructions on setting that up without the HP software?
JohnBusiness Consultant (Owner)
Most Valuable Expert 2012
Expert of the Year 2018

Commented:
Here is the Driver Software on this HP Support page. Use the pull down for your server.  

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/readIndex?sp4ts.oid=445197

With proper setup, it should work fine. I use Static IP address for ALL printers as this prevents them and client drivers from getting confused during restarts.
Most Valuable Expert 2015
Commented:
The default setting of each printer should be dhcp. So just check the manual on how you can reset it to it's defaults. Then on the printer itself you should see a label where the MAC address of it's NIC is shown. Then all you need to do is to reserve an IP for that MAC address on your DHCP server.
csalerno

Author

Commented:
Wow! That was stupid easy. Sorry I bothered you. Configured the port on the server, loaded the driver and then configured the client and all works.

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