Billion UK Forum

What kinds of functions does the USB port on the 8900AX-2400 support? I thought I read somewhere that the 8900AX-2400 has a USB-driven print server.

I've a printer that has USB connectivity only (and therefore can't be networked) and so I'm wondering if the USB port on the 8900AX can be used to effectively network the printer so that I can share it. Or is that port only meant for connecting stick-type drives or for 3G/4G dongles?

If that port can facilitate the sort of function I'm after, do any special drivers have to be used? Presumably, the port is on the LAN side of things and is therefore protected via NAT? In which case, would it have to be assigned a pseudo LAN address of some sort?

BTW, haven't got the 8900AX yet. But I'm seriously thinking of getting one in a few months time.

Couldn't think of where I read that the USB port on the 8900AX was usable as a print server, but at last today I found the reference. It's described on p143 of the Billion 8900AX-2400 user manual PDF, the downloadable file for which a link was given in these forums about a week ago.

It does indeed state that that port can be used to attach a shareable USB-connectable printer, if required. It goes on to describe how to set this up for a Windows 7 machine. Looks quite straightforward.

Only problem is that my Windows machine is an old XP PC and somehow I doubt that its 'Add a Printer' feature caters for a situation like this. I do already network a laser printer on my existing Billion setup (by the more conventional means) and therefore many moons ago have used 'Add a Printer' in my XP machine to do that. However, I'll be very surprised if XP, as updated as it is on mine, caters for router-installed USB printers. Anyone here know?

When XP's Add Printer wizard opens it says:

This wizard helps you install a printer or make printer connections.

If you have a plug n' play printer that connects thro' a USB port (or any other hot-pluggable port such as IEEE1394, infrared, and so on) you do not need to use the wizard. Click Cancel to close the wizard, and then plug the printer's cable into your computer or point the printer toward your computer's IR port, and turn the printer on. Windows will automatically install the printer for you.

The printer in question is a high-performance Canon Pixma 9500 Mk II, which has only a USB connection and normally requires its comprehensive driver to be independently installed BEFORE being attached. Usually, failure to adhere to that basic rule screws up the driver, as well as corrupting XP. Possibly, setting up the driver for use on the 8900's USB port but doing it from my Mac instead may be the way around it. But then I'd still need to somehow install the same driver on the XP machine, and my fear is whether the XP machine will subsequently find and recognise the printer?