Left Behind
We've been using Apple's iOS for several years in our house on multiple iPhones and iPads. When AirPrint™ was included in iOS 4, I looked forward to printing to my HP Officejet J6480 printer. But alas, I'd bought my $299 All-in-One a little too early, apparently it was one iteration behind the crop of HP, Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, Fiery, Lenovo, Lexmark and Samsung printers supporting the technology. Otherwise, it's a perfectly fine device and I can't justify replacing it simply for the perk of printing from my iPhone & iPad.
Also along the way, Apple removed the ability from iOS to print to a shared printer queue on my Mac. So, I researched and found a capable utility to replace that function – but like before, it meant my MacBook Pro always needed to be running in order to act as a print server, should we want to do a little iOS printing around the house.
Simple Solution
Enter Lantronix, developers of the xPrintServer, a network device for printers that don't natively support AirPrint because of manufacturer, age or network topology. At MSRP $99 for the Home Edition (MSRP $149 for the Network Edition) it's a cheaper alternative to replacing my printer, allowing me to retain the existing functionality for our Mac & Windows systems while providing previously missing AirPrint function for my iOS devices.
The product has a clean minimalist aesthetic, from the packaging to the device to the included white Ethernet cable. The xPrintServer is small, a mere 4.5 x 2.37 x .87 inches, roughly the same footprint as an iPhone, with a glowing orange "X" shaped status light that shows when the device is in operation. Three international adapters are also included with the US power supply. The Home Edition sports a USB port and supports printing to two networked printers (for a total of 3 printers). The Network Edition, positioned toward small-to-medium businesses, lacks the USB port but supports printing to an unlimited number of network printers. Lantronix states that they support over 4,000 printer models from leading manufacturers including Canon, Epson, HP, Lexmark, Oki Data, Toshiba and Xerox. The Lantronix website also hosts an "Add My Printer" form to request new and legacy printers be added to the supported printers list.
Setting up the xPrintServer is simple – it took only 5 minutes from unboxing to printing. In a nutshell, the xPrintServer plugs in to your network (your router or a connected switch/hub) using an Ethernet cable. Once powered on, it obtains a DHCP address and then uses Bonjour (zeroconf) to discover any networked printers you may have. Once printers are discovered, the device functions as a print server, advertising itself via Bonjour, translating iOS print jobs into the appropriate page description language (PDL) for the printer. If your printer doesn't have networking built in, it can be attached via USB to the xPrintServer and then shared on the network, accepting iOS, Mac & Windows print jobs (for your Mac or PC, you'll need to add the USB printer as a network device).
Advanced Control
Features of the xPrintServer can be managed using a web browser - you can access a number of settings: Admin settings to update firmware, change the network name, assign a static IP address; Printer settings to discover printers, add by IP address or manually, change printer settings; Jobs for a history of current & completed prints; and Logs for all system messages related to the device. This is useful for activating specific settings associated with your printer, such as custom print sizes or two-sided printing.
The one and only glitch I experienced was with enabling my HP Officejet's double-sided printing. Whether I set Long-sided (Standard) or Short-sided (Flipped) printing, I received flipped printing in iOS, and two-sided printing options were absent when printing to the xPrintServer from my Mac. I suspect it's related to the xPrintServer driver for my printer model; since the xPrintServer's printer drivers are updated via firmware, it's possible that a fix could be provided in future updates after reporting to Lantronix's technical support.
The Lantronix website has useful support and resources sections featuring product documentation, networking tutorials, a knowledge-base and additional information about their other networking and IT management products – it's a very good place to find answers to your questions about the device.
Conclusion
The xPrintServer is an easy to use device that is fast and simple to setup, that will automatically detect and print to attached USB or network printers, and provides some deeper admin features for those who need them. Its small footprint allows it to be tucked away, and its clean design looks good when left sitting out on your desk. It provided the missing link in my printer's abilities, and it's letting my Mac finally get some well-deserved sleep.
Ken Kramar, posted 10/12/2012
For more information on the Lantronix xPrintServer Home visit: www.lantronix.com
For more information on the list of printers supported by the Lantronix xPrintServer visit: www.lantronix.com
