Printing on a shared printer over wireless network?

Q: We have two computers in our home office. One is my Windows Vista Home desktop. It is hardwire-connected to a Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway modem/router. The other is my wife's work laptop running Windows XP. I granted her laptop access to our wireless network via the Linksys browser-based admin console using her laptop's MAC address (via the wireless network access list). We both can surf the web fine but our computers are not networked. Because of the physical layout of the office, our Canon i550 inkjet printer is attached to her laptop via USB. I would like to use the printer from my desktop but I cannot figure out how to access it. Because her laptop is for work, her computer is setup to use her company's domain for which my desktop is obviously not credentialed. I googled this and no one seems to have the exact same setup I do so all advice was not quite helpful. How do I access the printer on her XP laptop from my Vista desktop?

A: If at all possible, you're better off connecting the printer to your computer, if it's a desktop, and then sharing it for her to use. Due to restrictions in her computer, you won't be able to connect to the printer at all. Another option: USB Print server. Attaches the printer to the network itself rather than any individual computer, and allows anyone on the network to print to it and does not need a computer to be on and connected to it.

Related items