mifi with wireless router

Question

I wish to set up a wireless network for printer sharing. I purchased a Fry's wireless router, draft n type with an ethernet port for DSL. The directions and setup software assume I've got DSL internet via ethernet. All the computers are connected to the internet via Verizon's Mifi device, which works fine.

Can I set up the network just for printer sharing with my wifi enabled printer or do I need to incorporate the internet into the router? If so, then how do I set up the router given that it hangs up in the setup program waiting for an internet signal via ethernet right now? If I need to run the internet through the router, then do they make routers that can pick up the Mifi signal, or alternatatively use an older USB Verizon aircard device?

Answer 1

Ok, so the first thing you did wrong was buy a router ;)

The MiFi device is itself a wireless router, so you should be able to attach your WiFi enabled printer direct to it.

If you wanted to set up a dedicated wireless network (say with different security settings) you could use a Wireless Access Point which is just the wireless part of a router without the router. This would create it's own dedicated network for printer sharing. Note, however, that your computer would be able to connect either to the internet WiFI or the print sharing WiFi but not both at once unless you have two wireless cards in your computer.

Answer 2

Wireless routers do not need an internet connection for devices attached to be able to communicate with each other.

You will need to set it up without the use of the setup wizard. Most soho routers are accessible via HTTP on either 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1. You will just need to visit the wireless settings, change the SSID, add security and for printers you should set them up with a static address (on standard soho routers, this usually involves entering in the MAC address and specifying an IP within the router). Where the problem occurs in this whole setup is that for a computer to access the internet on one network and a printer on another, it requires a more complicated configuration, and the steps for this are different depending on the operating system of the computer and available network adapters.

Is the printer that you have attached to a computer? does it have an ethernet port? does it have a wireless card? There are many alternative options depending on what the answers to these questions are.