2 ms·

hm.. this is really strange, office equipment like printers, fax has always been developed for Windows first and foremost. Most of the times nowadays you don't

by slt2021 5y ago

hm.. this is really strange, office equipment like printers, fax has always been developed for Windows first and foremost. Most of the times nowadays you don't really need a driver, if your printer has wifi/ethernet capability. Almost all printers with network capability work with generic drivers over TCP/IP, and windows is pretty good with identifying these. Now if you use USB, or god forbid LPT from the previous millennium - then yes, you need drivers that work with your combination of Windows version, x86/x64 version, etc, etc

potta_coffee 5y ago
Developed first for Windows, but abandoned once they're no longer common.
- slt2021 5y ago
  because they are no longer needed, all printers from this millennium work perfectly fine over wifi/ethernet with generic drivers
bjoli 5y ago
Of course. They HAD drivers. For windows XP. Or maybe even current windows version, but the drivers are nowhere to be found today. I will never buy a network printer if USB printers are available. They suffer the usual IOT problem. In a couple of years security updates will stop showing up, and the bloody things usually try very hard to connect to the internet. Then I'd much rather roll my own with a raspberry pi running an LTS OS.
- slt2021 5y ago
  you know it is very easy to restrict internet access for printer if you have a wifi router. Go to your router admin page and: 1. Assign static IP to a printer by its MAC address, instead of dynamic IP in DHCP settings. 2. only allow LAN traffic and disable all WAN traffic for that static IP 3. Disable Bluetooth in a printer settings (you can do it by visiting http://192.168.1.{printer's http://192.168.1.{printer's IP addr}
  - bjoli 5y ago
    To me that seems like planned obsolescence. Networking a printer using a raspberry pi (or similar) means it will stay up to date, regardless of vendor EOLing it or not. I have a printer that does wifi, but it is stuck forever at 802.11g, meaning it will degrade my wifi network and add something like a 10ms (best case) latency. I am just old-fashioned. I understand the comfort of connecting the printer to wifi and being up and running. I will probably never do it if I have the option, since I hate having to replace a printer I like. The only downside of my lexmark is that it is slow compared to modern black and white lasers. But then again it is more than half as old as I am.

potta_coffee 5y ago

Developed first for Windows, but abandoned once they're no longer common.

slt2021 5y ago
because they are no longer needed, all printers from this millennium work perfectly fine over wifi/ethernet with generic drivers

bjoli 5y ago

Of course. They HAD drivers. For windows XP. Or maybe even current windows version, but the drivers are nowhere to be found today. I will never buy a network printer if USB printers are available. They suffer the usual IOT problem. In a couple of years security updates will stop showing up, and the bloody things usually try very hard to connect to the internet. Then I'd much rather roll my own with a raspberry pi running an LTS OS.

slt2021 5y ago
you know it is very easy to restrict internet access for printer if you have a wifi router. Go to your router admin page and: 1. Assign static IP to a printer by its MAC address, instead of dynamic IP in DHCP settings. 2. only allow LAN traffic and disable all WAN traffic for that static IP 3. Disable Bluetooth in a printer settings (you can do it by visiting http://192.168.1.{printer's http://192.168.1.{printer's IP addr}
- bjoli 5y ago
  To me that seems like planned obsolescence. Networking a printer using a raspberry pi (or similar) means it will stay up to date, regardless of vendor EOLing it or not. I have a printer that does wifi, but it is stuck forever at 802.11g, meaning it will degrade my wifi network and add something like a 10ms (best case) latency. I am just old-fashioned. I understand the comfort of connecting the printer to wifi and being up and running. I will probably never do it if I have the option, since I hate having to replace a printer I like. The only downside of my lexmark is that it is slow compared to modern black and white lasers. But then again it is more than half as old as I am.