Connect USB scanner to network

Rogier

Rogier

Rogier Willems
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Jul 7, 2008
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Hi,

I need to connect an Epson V700 / 750 to a network. Since these printers only have USB 2.0 / Firewire connections I am thinking about using a USB print server.

Does anyone have experience using this or any other suggestions?

Rogier
 
Depends on what exactly you want to achieve, personally if I wanted to scan on one computer, but have access to the images on others, I'd use Dropbox or some other network drive style solution.
 
I need to connect to the printer in a cabinet across the room where I only have network and power. Cant run USB across the room....
 
Exactly I need to access the scanner via ethernet and I am wandering if one of these print servers will work... Or some other reliable solution.

Running USB is not an option.

I have to do the IT in a upscale house with a classic library. The owner wants to occasionally scan old images for reproduction. Problem is that the antique desk is free standing and the printers and scanner will be located in the in the cabinets under the build in book shelfs located on the wall across from the desk.

I can get network and power inside the cabinet but cannot run a usb cable from the desk to the cabinet.
 
Right, in that case I'd buy one of those Belkin devices from Amazon or something, give it a try, and if it does not work, send it back. If the owner has a Mac, check for compatibility of course.
 
I'd grab a wheeled cart to put the scanner on. Having to walk across the room each time you need to change a negative or picture would get old very fast in my opinion. Scanning is too hands-on and finicky to be that far from the workstation.
 
There is no way to connect a USB only device to a network. Also there is no way to get USBs working with a cable over 5m long. An option would be to use a cheap computer there and connect the scanner to it. Then connect the computer to your LAN and place the scans in a shared folder you can access from elsewhere.
 
Nikos72 said:
There is no way to connect a USB only device to a network. Also there is no way to get USBs working with a cable over 5m long. An option would be to use a cheap computer there and connect the scanner to it. Then connect the computer to your LAN and place the scans in a shared folder you can access from elsewhere.
Click to expand...

+1 the cheap PC wouldn't even need a monitor attached. Once it was setup just VNC or use Teamviewer to connect to it over the LAN.
 
You can extend USB cables beyond 5 meters with a repeater cable! Most electronic shops have them.

Some scanners can be shared like a printer if you are on a Windows machine (havn´t tried it with a V700 though). Find the scanner in Control Panel, right click and choose share.
Install the driver on the other machine (the one the scanner is not installed on), install drivers and do a search for the scanner. Both PCs have to be on the same workgroup (they usually are by default - if not you´ll have to google that, I can´t remember it without looking it up).
 
blue4130 said:
http://www.iogear.com/product/GUWH104KIT/

Wireless USB. It's a legacy product, not sure why. Maybe USB via wireless was crap.
Click to expand...

It worked, but was single-point (i.e. it did not allow for scanner sharing without extra hard- or software), which would be fine for the purposes of the original poster, but proved to be a sales handicap. It was superseded by the more versatile WiFi print/scan servers. By now Wifi USB servers are much cheaper than WUSB adapters ever were, and are integrated into many cheap SoHo routers.
 
Yeah no wireless for me until its the last option.
Thats why we rip open walls and run ethernet for reliable connections.
However due to the office layout cables first have to go down 2 floors to the basement where the switch it located before coming back up to the location 15 feet across from the desk.
Running USB that way is not an option.

Ultimately I could install a Mac Mini and enable the printer / scanner sharing on the network. But if I can do this with a device that turns a USB port into a IP address on a wired network it would be a better solution.
 
Thanks, this looks exactly what I was looking for :):):)
All I need to find out if it works trough a switch.
 
Rogier said:
Thanks, this looks exactly what I was looking for :):):)
All I need to find out if it works trough a switch.
Click to expand...

Nope. These extenders use "brown" (i.e. unused) CAT5 cabling, not Ethernet. There also used to be solutions that can piggyback USB over Ethernet, but I haven't seen any of them since USB 1.1/100bT days - you'd need a 2.0/1000bT one to match the scan speed.
 
They will not work through a switch, they are straight cat 5 from the transmit to the receive.. They are compatible for usb2, we use them for Wacom tablets/touch screens, PC's live two floors down..
 
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