Wireless Peripherals?

Now that wireless technologies are more-or-less a household name, BSDevil wonders if it's possible to use such technologies (ie Bluetooth, 802.11, etc) as a replacement for those situations where long ungainly cables are usually called for: "My laptop and printer are placed such a way that running a cable from one to the other would just plain suck (too long if not direct, if direct then in the way, etc.) and because both are about a year old. I want (to make, if need be) a little box that I plug into my Parellel port on the laptop and one that I plug into the port on the back of my Printer, and have them talk and print and be merry. Power could either be directly off the port (best) or from a rechargable battery inside the thing that is used to power the system when transmitting, and recharges when not - like a big capacitor - off the power of the Port. Does it exist, and if not, any ideas on making one?" And if such can work for printers, why not other peripherals as well?

Comments

How about 10BT bridge?

[xyzzy]

I'd like the same thing -- except with 10BT on one end. Essentially, I'd like a IEEE802.11->10BT bridge.

Why? I don't have the ability to run cable from my "lan" area to my stereo without it looking extremely unsightly. But I'd love to be able to buy an audiotron. If I had such a bridge, I'd be all set.

Does anyone out there know of such a thing, for a reasonable cost?

Re:How about 10BT bridge?

[swillden]

Essentially, I'd like a IEEE802.11->10BT bridge... Does anyone out there know of such a thing, for a reasonable cost?

Unless I'm missing something, *many* such devices are available. They're called Wireless Access Points. Are they reasonably priced? The cheapest I've seen are around $130.

Personally, I have one made by SMC and I'm buying another one, probably a Linksys. I plan to carry the SMC around with me; it's compact enough to fit very nicely into my laptop bag, and it's very convenient when I go into the office or to a client site to be able to plug my AP into the LAN and then wander with my laptop (only in low-security environments, of course; some of my clients would string me up if I plugged an AP into their LAN, and for good reason.)

Re:How about 10BT bridge?

[xyzzy]

Well... maybe. I don't honestly know if this will work. Will an access point talk to another access point? If so, then your suggestion will definitely work. The setup I'm envisioning has the access point in my "computer loft", and any clients (be they laptops or whatever) having a smaller/cheaper (!) solution.

Have them already

[gus goose]

I have had some of these for a while. Three remote "client" units, and one 'master' unit. They can all use batteries, and the clients have standard printer connectors... that is, you plug a printer cable in to your computer, and the other end in to this box ... you get the story. I retired them about 2 years ago as they were too slow, and opted for a print server over ethernet instead.

The units themselves are buried in a box, and used a presumably proprietory RF system .. i.e. not 900MHz, etc.

Doing a google on 'wireless printing' gave me this link to aerocomm which has a similar product, but which is faster .. 1mbps.

Still, a little searching youeself would have been better.

gus

Wireless Peripherals

[slandis]

Check out the HP 995C here.
It seems to support Bluetooth out of the box. A little pricey to me, but it seems like a good deal.

Buy two Linksys WAP11's

[Llama Keeper]

I bough an Auditron and needed a 10BT bridge. I just bought two Linksys WAP11's and upgraded the firmware on them. There is a point to point bridging mode with the most current firmware. I also used WAP11's with an external antenna to link up my garage to my network (internet appliance and downloading MP3's to my car). e-mail me if yah need info. I'll send yah a bunch of info.

LLAMA

Re:Your options...

[larien]

You can buy seperate print server solutions; search for "network print servers". These are small devices with an ethernet port and one or more serial/parallel ports to connect to printer(s) (often you can drive more than one printer from the same box).

Cost is around 50 quid or so ($75-ish) for a basic one.

Re:Unsightly (slightly OT)?

[xyzzy]

Well, since you asked :-)

Yes, I own the house. But it is a decidedly non-traditional house.

The house is an open, three-story loft-style abode. This means that there are 3.5 floors, all open to a central core, with no internal walls to speak of! (other than bathroom, half-bath, a few closets).

And, as there is no basement or attic, I can't run under or over to get from one side of the house to another, which is where a cable run would need to go -- due to arrangement of the "office" on floor 2.5 and the entertainment center on the ground floor on the opposite wall.

I could pull the baseboard off, but I would have to drill a hole through each and every stud in one wall to get a cable to my TV/stereo cabinet -- this is not terribly practical.

I could rearrange the entire "downstairs" to accomodate this project, but I like the way things are set up!

Plus, this is the wireless era! I should be able to do this :-)

Broadband router with print server

[nategasser]

I connect my laptops wirelessly with my printer because my SMC Barricade router for my DSL circuit has a print server built in.

I go DSL line -> SMC router -> Wireless AP.

I only paid around $70 for the SMC, and I needed a router anyway so the print server part was a bonus, but now I can't live without it!