How do I setup a WI-FI printer?

Question

I have a Samsung ML-2168W printer with WI-FI support. Currently it is connected to my computer with a USB cable. However, I have no clue of how to connect it to the network through WI-FI (with WPA). Any ideas?

Edit 2021-02-24: The question is about using the printer on Linux (as indicated by the tag), and with a modem which has no WPS button ( WiFi Protected Setup) which connects wireless devices to the modem.

Answer 1

If you have a WPS Router, you just push the WPS button on both the WPS router and the printer. You are on ServerFault, so I'm assuming you are running some sort of Linux OS. Smsung has a CUPS Universal Printer driver, so in the print dialog of your OS (are you using a an X desktop? You didn't say), it will find your printer once you have it connected to your network. You really didn't give enough detail to know. Ypou can find the Linux Setup utility for your printer by going to samsung.com, support, and enter your printer model, then select the downloads/drivers tab, and you will find a Linux printer utility that will allow you to conect to it to connect it to your network, and set it up in Linux

Answer 2

I just wrote a case study where I printed to my Canon WiFi printer from Fedora 17. My method is extremely easy. It uses the open LPR protocol. The tutorial is here: http://beginlinux.com/blog/2012/12/tlwir-50-a-case-study-on-line-printing-from-gnulinux-to-a-wifi-printer/

The basic steps:

1. Reserve an IP address for your printer in your router.
2. Enable the LPR protocol on your printer's configuration web page.
3. Add your printer as an LPR printer in Linux (You'll need to enter the printer's ip address and network name).
4. Print a test page.
5. You're done.

Since you printer will always be at the same IP address, the system will never get confused. LPR is an old (1990) and open source protocol, so it will ALWAYS work with Linux. Microsoft or any other company can never try to break it because it is a standard. I have printed hundreds of pages from my Fedora 17 laptop to my Canon MP560 wireless printer with no problems at all. In theory, if I had 10 Linux computers in my house, I could print to my Canon printer from all of them wirelessly. I would just have to point them to the wireless printer at the printer's IP address (I use 192.168.1.3), and have the computers print to the printer using the LPR protocol.

I tried Samba before, but I found it to be less reliable. Some days it would print, others days not. Using LPR has worked every time. Even though I summarized the steps here, please take a look at my article in the link above. It has more detailed info and pictures that you may find helpful. Cheers and good luck!

Answer 3

For HP Printers:

1. Connect with wifi-direct, (meaning you are joining a VPN of the printer).
2. Navigate to 192.169.223.1 (This is the ui)
3. Navigate to networks and connect to your wifi network.
4. Change wifi to your wifi network.
5. Search for printer. It will appear :)

Answer 4

Depending on your Samsung printer, it may or may not have a built-in HTTP server (SyncThru Web Service) to configure it. This seems badly documented, especially how to connect trough WiFi Direct for the setup, but scouring the internet I was able to find a solution. This works for M2070W (and possibly others). No need to use insecure WPS solutions or the atrocious Android app which works once in a blue moon (maybe)!

Steps:

1. Enable WiFi Direct on the printer (trough it's menu / physical buttons)
2. Print network information from the printer. On my model it's in the main Network submenu, a bit oddly named Network conf., but this entry sole purpose is to print it! Supposedly, some models might print the information by holding down WPS for 8+ seconds.
3. Note the WiFi Direct AP name and PIN number (8 digits) - which is actually under WPS Information! The AP should be named something along the lines DIRECT-??[~your printer model] Series.
4. Connect to your printers WiFi with a computer with a web browser (could work with tablets, even phones - haven't tested). With the information you got in the previous step. Sometimes the AP may be missing (especially if you've tried WPS recently) - wait a few - up to 10 minutes - and try again!
5. Optional: Check your network configuration on the computer (Linux: ip addr show) in a terminal. You should be in the same subnet as the Network Configuration your printer printed in step 2., which should also show the printers IP address; it's probably XXX.XXX.X.1 per default. This is strictly not needed but you can check this way if everything is in order.
6. Connect to the IP address of your printer with a web browser.
7. Login (the right upper corner) with "admin" and "sec00000".
8. Optional: Change admin password!
9. Go to Settings -> WiFi -> start the Wizard. Give it your AP and password!
10. Optional: disable WiFi Direct and other unneeded features! Disable those you do not need / deem insecure (you can also do this later).

Some notes:

• There may be different versions of SyncThru on different models, so the UI might vary a bit.
• You can connect to SyncThru later trough your LAN (reprint the Network Configuration or look at your router to find the IP address)
• IMHO The WiFi Direct seems a bit insecure with such an easy PIN (WPA1 password) per default, so the optional step is highly recommended.
• If some step fails, I'd try to reset your printer network settings. Someone may have changed them previously (or hacked by someone, because WiFi Direct is insecure?).

Answer 5

The WI-FI setup software is only available for Windows and OS X (can be downloaded from samsung.com). During the setup, select manual configuration and choose your network and specify the password for the wireless connection.

Answer 6

Another way to install a SAMSUNG Wifi printer involving a Ethernet cable connection is described here http://www.monperrus.net/martin/installing-printer-samsung-ml-2525w-cups .

1. Connect the printer via Ethernet cable
2. Find out IP and connect via a browser to this address
3. Use web interface for setting up wireless. In my case (M2835DW) default user/pw was admin/sec00000 for login.
4. Download drivers from Samsung website. Installation routine (install.sh) worked for me on Gentoo Linux.
5. Set up in cups or similar.

Answer 7

A process similar to that described by cass worked for me at home (OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Printer: Samsung Xpress M2835DW).

Here's what I did:

1. connected printer to computer via USB
2. installed wired printer through ubuntu's GUI with generic drivers recommended by the system
3. pressed WPS button on the printer
4. pressed WPS button on the wireless router (after connecting, printer printed a "Network Configuration" page)
5. pointed browser to CUPS at http://localhost:631/
6. in CUPS: selected the wired printer, then "Modify Printer", then chose the "Discovered Network Printer" with the same ID as listed under "Host Name" on the "Network Configuration" page, then finished installation with generic drivers recommended by the system.
7. unplugged USB cable and printed a test page wirelessly

I might add that the printer has a set-up utility one can access by pointing a browser to the IP Address listed on the printer's "Network Configuration" page under "TCP/IPv4 Information." The user/password were same for me as those listed by cass: admin/sec00000. However, I did not use the utility to configure the wireless connection.

Answer 8

Follow below steps for Setup a Wi-Fi Printer

1. First of all, click the ‘Start’ menu, followed by the ‘Devices and Printers.’

2. Click on the ‘’Add a Printer’ button near to the top of the screen. A new window will appear.

3. Select the option labeled as ‘Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer.’ Your PC will start to look for the existing printers to add.

4. Click the printer name you want to add in the result list. Click the ‘Next.’

5. If prompted, click the ‘Install driver’ button for installing driver software.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions wizard and click the ‘Finish’ button when completed.

Answer 9

I've published the detailed instructions.