Cisco-Linksys WPS11 Wireless-B Print Server

by Cisco

Product Details

Product Manual [632kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005Y7DP
• Item model number: WPS11
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 25, 2002

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Linksys Instant Wireless PrintServer provides an easy solution for placing a printer on your wireless network. Don't waste valuable system and network resources or create printing bottlenecks by attaching a printer to one of the nodes on the network. Instead, place a printer anywhere in range of your wireless devices using this convenient device. You will save space and time, and increase your network performance as well.

Hook up a printer to the Instant Wireless PrintServer from anywhere in your workplace and you'll save processing time by freeing your dedicated PrintServer PC and controlling print jobs with its remote management utility. A 2 MB buffer memory handles your graphics jobs effortlessly, while an easy installation gets you printing in just minutes. Compatible with virtually all printers and major operating systems, your data-intensive print jobs will breeze through with maximized speed and reliability. Let the hybrid functionality of the Instant Wireless PrintServer customize your network's capabilities to meet your printing needs time and again.

Product Description

The WPS11 EtherFast Instant Wireless PrintServer makes it easy to add a printer to your wireless network. Preserve system resources and avoid the bottleneck headaches that are almost inevitable when you attach a printer to a network node. Instead, place a printer anywhere in range of your wireless devices using this compact, precision device. Runs with virtually all Parallel port printers Supports multiple simultaneous print jobs Integrates through both Ethernet and Wireless connections 256KB RAM buffer 512KB flash memory Free tech support - 24/7; North America only System Requirements - Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000, Parallel printer, Ethernet connection for configuration 1.18H x 5.91W x 8.66D Includes AC adapter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Printer Alert, November 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys WPS11 Wireless-B Print Server (Personal Computers)

Just to save many of you time, I found out via Linksys tech support that this product does not support multi task printers (fax, scan, printer, copier).

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor documentation, buggy software and firmware, July 28, 2002

By 

Leonardo Fuddy "amazon5815" (NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys WPS11 Wireless-B Print Server (Personal Computers)

Suddenly I had a need for a wireless print server. After having excellent out of the box experiences with Linksys products in the past they got my purchase. Reading this, keep in mind I'm a former network admin and have installed many real (HP, Lexmark, etc) network print servers in the past. It took me a bit more than three hours to finally get this one operating.

Most Linksys products have good to excellent documentation and a painless configuration - even if you need to change options or have a non-"Linksys" network. This is not a typical Linksys product.

The documentation doesn't properly describe the setup process and the factory configuration. The instructions were written so that if something went wrong the instructions were useless. In order to find out what the factory configuration was you need a non-Postscript printer. Chances are when you set this up, something will go wrong which makes the documentation less than useless.

What went wrong for me? First the configuration software did not see the print server either over the wireless connection or plugged into a network cable. It appears to have undocumented compatibility issues with Windows XP. In an effort to bypass configuration I tried to determine what the factory configuration was. I could not because I only had a PostScript printer. After taking it to another house with a non-PostScript printer I found the default IP address was 0.0.0.0 (which you can't connect to) and that it didn't obtain an IP address from my DHCP server.

Fortunately I also have a Windows 2000 computer. The software was able to see the print server from this computer and I managed to configure it to my liking, or so I thought. When I installed the print driver software I found that the name I had given the print server didn't matter - it still used the factory name when I "browsed" for it. The configuration software saw it as my given name and the driver software saw it as the factory name. The disconnect between these pieces of software is just another example of how immature the drivers and firmware are.

Another example is having to browse to a subdirectory on the CD to install the driver software. The configuration software installed by autoran from the CD. The installation is not integrated.

Once running it appears to do the job, if you like the name Linksys gave it!

Bottom line:
o Compatibility issues with WinXP and configuration tool
o Factory configuration is very difficult to work with
o Immature installation process of the configuration tool and drivers
o Driver and configuration tool don't "see" the same settings
o Non-PostScript printer highly recommented
o Documentation is exceptionally poor

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It could have been a 5, January 19, 2003

By 

Peter Saflund (Covington, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys WPS11 Wireless-B Print Server (Personal Computers)

I'm using the WPS 11 on a dual platform (XP and Apple OS X) wireless LAN connected to a cable modem via an Apple Airport set up as a DHCP router providing NAT to 5 workstations (2 XP, 1 W98, 2 Mac). Setting up the WPS 11 is every bit as daunting as many of the other reviews of this product claim. My biggest problem was getting Windows and Apple printing protocols to work together. The Win setup is fairly OK following the manual BUT ..... depending on the rest of your wireless network you could spend a lot of time chasing little problems. The WPS 11 defaults to channel 6. That's OK if you're using a Linksys router/access point. If not, you have to move the radio channel, or you'll think it's dead. Setting up via the ethernet port and then re-powering in order to scan the wireless LAN is another problem, but if you let it get a DHCP address from your router and you've got the right radio channel you should be able to access the box from the web admin or the "Biadmin" utility wirelessly. The easiest way to set up Apple printing is through IP printing. With the OS X /Unix drivers available from Gimp-Print you should be able to get almost any printer working. I started with on old Deskjet 560C just to make sure everything was working, before I ordered a new laser printer. Linksys could save their tech staff (which I didn't call) and their customers a LOT of grief if they'd put a few sample configurations in the manual and provided a few resource links. The paltry set of Apple utilities in the Linksys disk are in a folder called "unsupported" and mainly pertain to AppleTalk under OS 9. Don't bother. Go straight for IP printing. Linksys doesn't even tell you the default queue name ( "lp" worked) and it's all the little stuff like that which keeps this from being a 5. When you get it working, it's great and the price can't be beat, but it's really nowhere near up to the state of the plug and play art with either Windows or Apple products. On the plus side, you can adminster the server from an embedded web utility over wireless, so if you're all Apple, you actually can get it running. Just push the reset button while connected to a printer and the box will print it's diags, including current IP address. Point a browser there and you're in. Again, this is not well documented and if you're using a wireless machine, be sure to note the radio channel and reset your WiFi card to the same frequency. I can see why people just send them back though, and for any 'dead radio' issues, be sure all your wireless devices are on the same channel. Lastly, if this server is part of a wireless LAN and not used stand alone, you MUST set it as an infrastructure device, not ad-hoc. Again, poorly documented. I found this by reading the Help file in the Bi-admin utility and it's burried deep. As a rule, always get a diag printout using a short push of the reset button, and make sure the IP address and radio channels match up. This will solve a lot of problems. Linksys products are robust and reliable, and I'm sure now that it's working the WPS 11 will be too.