Wireless Printing

Tired of having wires snaked through the office, from computers to your printer? Even in a small office, you can set up wireless printing capability.

* Get a printer server. Any printer can be used on a wireless network. It just needs to be hooked up to a printer server. A printer server is a small appliance with an antenna that acts as the wireless go-between among all the printers and users. Printer servers sell for as little as $50. An even cheaper option is to convert an older desktop into a server, by simply adding a wireless card.

* Multiple access points. Remember the signal has to make it to the server’s antenna. This may require any number of antennas set up around the office relaying the signal from one location to the next. Think through the physical office space and location of both all the users and printers during the planning stage.

* Check your walls. The good news is, yes, the signal does go through walls. The bad news: it doesn’t go through every kind of wall. “Metal within walls will diminish the signal,” says Carter. “Concrete walls are problematic, too.”

* Set it up first. Then do security. Obviously, you want as little of a lag between the two as possible. However, set up is a lot easier without configuring security at the same time, Carter says. Make it work, then quickly work to make it safe.