Customer Reviews

NETGEAR PS121 USB 2.0 Mini Print Server

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

The installation is a little challenging. However, after reading the "troubleshooting" section of the little instruction manual, it worked. Not sure about long-term reliability, as the unit seems to get very hot. Size-wise, perfect! No perceptible delay in spooling the printer. It does not make economic sense to buy a wireless print server, if the router and the printer remain stationary. This print server is great for my use, i.e. wireless Internet in one room, with remote printing in another. Will report back if any problems develop. Remember, be patient and keep trying all of the options during the installation.


FOLLOW-UP: Worked fine for two months until my old Canon BJC-2100 printer died (of natural causes that I believe are unrelated to the print server). Upon trying to re-install the print server with a new Canon Pixma IP3000 printer, I once gain ran into installation challenges. This time the print server did not recognize the printer nor the network connection. The written instructions did nothing. However, after visiting Netgear's website, I followed the recommendation to disable my software firewall (PC Cillin 2005 in my case). Low and behold, everything is now working, and I am once again a satisfied Netgear user. Does exactly what it is supposed to do (allow remote prining or printer sharing), with minimal, if any delay in spooling. Bottom line: Good product, lousy instructions!

FURTHER UPDATE (September 15, 2007): Two years after purchase, the original PS121 (which I reviewed) started to act up, i.e. was periodically NOT recognizing my printer. After re-installing from the Netgear disc several times, I got tired and decided to "upgrade" to a PS121 with "version 2" software. Before doing this I had trouble finding another brand that would work. No go on D-Link (not compatible per website) and Air-Link (compatible but did not work for me!) Again, the Netgear install was a bit tricky, foiled initially by "Norton Antibot" program. Be sure to disable any and all antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall programs!!! The newer PS121 version runs a PS121v2 indicator in the system tray, which gives a "positive assurance" that the printer is recognized. The only time I get a red light (not connected) is when the printer is powered off. After two months, everything is working fine. I would still recommend this item, however, make sure you have the Version 2 (v2) model. CAUTION to all: Make sure you visit Netgear's website prior to purchase, to ensure compatibility with your operating system and specific printer. I can't understand why the printer manufacturers can't market their own print servers. This would certainly help with the "compatibility" issue. I don't think this works with VISTA OS. Another reviewer mentioned downloading drivers from Netgear's website. I have XP, so no issue here. If problems do develop, I will report back.

First off, let me say that I am a Netgear fan. I've been using their products for years, and I've always had good things to say about them. However, the PS121 has been a disappointment. When I bought the item, I was under the impression that it worked with most, if not all USB printers. My mistake!!! Be sure to check out the compatible printers list on Netgear's website for the PS121. You'll find that suprisingly few USB printers actually work with this unit. Recommendation: If you have an HP printer that you want to network -- Get an HP JetDirect server -- I've gone with the 175X. Even then, you won't get everything that you want on a multifunction unit such as the OfficeJet G85 (i.e., print, scan, copy, fax) from a network. But, at least the thing will actually function with the print command. Otherwise, unless you have a printer on Netgear's verified compatibility list, pass this one by -- NOTE: I cannot verify that those printers on Netgear's compatibility list will do everything that the printer is capapble of doing while on a network. If I knew of such a device that would network all of these functions, I would recommend it. In most cases, don't expect more than simple printer communication -- forget the scan and fax functions. For me, however, the PS-121 is nothing more than a paperweight. The HP JetDirect 175X, as did my JetDirect 170 for print functions, works fine.

DJR

Works great right out of the box. It can be set up in minutes by following the simple instructions. I wanted to get my HP PSC 2200 printer on my wireless network using Netgear's WGR614 router. The printer's USB cable goes in one end of the Netgear PS121 print server, Ethernet cable comes out the other end and into the router. Now I can print wirelessly using my IBM laptop and Netgear's WG511 wireless card. A fraction of the cost of wireless print servers. If you want to network your USB printer, this product's for you!

I purchased this print server only to end up returning it because it was too much of a hassle to make it work on my all-Macintosh network. Although technically it *is* Mac compatible, it requires the use of a Windows computer for the initial setup, which in my book might as well be Mac incompatible. I replaced this with the similar USB 2.0 print server from Buffalo Technologies and I was up and running (using OS X Tiger, Rendezvous and AppleTalk) within 15 minutes of receiving the Amazon package at my front door. PS: Netgear elects NOT to include an Ethernet cable in the box whereas Buffalo not only includes one, but it's a super-slick, long and ultra flat Ethernet cable, all for about the same price as the Netgear.

I purchased a mini print server because I wanted to use my laptop in one room and print from another, and I chose this particular model because I have a Netgear router and the manual for that router suggested the Netgear USB Mini Print Server (PS121). I consider myself moderately computer-savvy. The directions were clear, and I was able to install the software with no trouble. However, the print server did not work--- no test page would print. After much research on the Internet, using Google to find various forums, including a Netgear forum, I discovered that the Netgear USB Mini Print Server (PS121) is not compatible with all-in-one printers. A moderator on the Netgear forum stated that a person could use the Netgear USB Mini Print Server (PS121) with all-in-one printers by downloading printer-only drivers. It boiled down to (I guess) 1) choosing to use all three functions of my printer (printer, copier, scanner), but having to carry my laptop into the room with the printer, 2) only using the print function and being able to print from another room, or 3) buying a new printer that was compatible with the Netgear USB Mini Print Server (PS121). I chose to return the Netgear USB Mini Print Server (PS121). I rated this item only one star because I could not use it and because it was not obvious before purchase that many printers are not compatible (not merely the all-in-ones, as I found out through my research). I am very happy with my Netgear router, but not with the Netgear USB Mini Print Server (PS121). I highly recommend that a potential buyer visit the compatibility list on the Netgear website to make sure that their printer is compatible before purchase of the Netgear USB Mini Print Server (PS121).

After using this product for more than two months two major complaints have discontinued my use of this product:

1) INCONSISTENT PERFORMANCE
The Print Server did not work out-of-box. Two calls into Technical Support helped me get product working (by installing extra "administrative level" software). While annoying I thought this was a just a little hiccup.

But then my Print Server would stop working every two to three weeks, resulting in more calls to Technical Support for assistance. After the third failure I knew the help-script very well and was able to diagnose the problems and restart the Print Server myself.

But why should a use have to tweak a product like this every few weeks?

SLOW PERFORMANCE
Printing graphics files or PowerPoint presentations that are just 3MB or bigger through this Print Server is very slow. What prints in 1-2 minutes with a direct USB connection takes more than 10 minutes with this Print Server.

CONCLUSION
Iffy reliability is a deal breaker for me. If you have more luck with the connection be aware of the slow printing speeds, which are unacceptable for printing large files, but may be acceptable for basic documents and spreadsheets.

I read all of the reviews and decided to give this a try anyway and had some of the same problems as others who reviewed this product (install issues, firewall issues etc). At first I kept getting install failures and couldnt figure out why until I remembered something that I read on the internet about the firewalls interfering with installation and as soon as I disabled my firewall the install went through without a problem. The only thing I had to figure out after that was how to reactivate my firewall and still be able to use the server. I have Zone Alarm and had to add an expert rule to the firewall to allow it to work. I would assume that it would be the same with other firewalls. To be fair, the Netgear website did say that you may have to disable the firewall but their instructions were very vague and their suggestion to use Windows firewall was pretty lame. Otherwise the server works exactly as advertised and I have had no problems with it. Overall it took me about 2 hours to get everything up and running.

You must setup the print server first via the setup wizard. Download the latest Firmware update and Set wizard first before starting.


1. IMPORTANT: Disable any firewalls you may have before using the setup wizard, i noticed my blackice was blocking the ports to scan for the device.
2. Update latest firmware before starting
3. IMPORTANT: Use the setup wizard to assign a static IP to the device.
4. Now have your device drivers unzipped somewhere and ready.
5. Use the addport.exe utility. It will ask which printer to use, if windows does not have built in printer, use the "Have Disk" option and point to the driver location on cdrom or local computer. Your printer drivers should now install normally. Make sure you choose that the printer is installed "LOCALLY" if asked by the drivers. The printer port added by netgear looks local to the computer.
6. That's it.

Works flawlessly.

I had some slight issues setting this up with my HP officejet 5510(all-in-one) I had to physically plug each pc/laptop to the printer first(to install drivers) but after that it was a cinch setting up the ps121 and it works like a dream so far .....

Update 10/11/2005
Been using this PS for a few months now and have some major gripes with it;
1)Files larger than 3MB take forever to spool and print (>4mins) this is unacceptable.
2) Lose the connection(have to reboot/unplug for my network to see it.
Final rating is 2 stars **
So now I'm back in the market for a print server (looking at the d-link DP300u).

Works great, easy to install and configure.
However, if you have a printer/scanner combo scanning functions doesn't work trough this server - you will need to connect scanner directly to pc/notebook.