Router Somehow Blocking Visibility of Printer from Machines

June 3, 2004 10:35 AM

StupidRouterFilter: Suppose you have a DSL modem with a computer running XP coming out of it, with a printer attached. Two other machines coming out of the DSL modem can of course see the printer just fine. However, there is also a router coming out of the modem (don't ask), and none of the machines coming out of the router can see the printer. Is there any way to make them able to use that printer?
posted by GriffX to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Your modem has more than one outlet in it? Is it a built-in hub or something? Youre best bet, if possible, would probably be putting everything behind the router (or hub, but not both). I'm not a l33t network admin, so please, someone else correct me if I'm wrong.

Example...

[internet] --- [modem] --- [router] < all your stuff

If you have too many devices, you could then connect a hub from your router and be good to go. For some reason or another, I seem to remember reading that you can't split the network connection to both a hub and a router and expect them to talk to each other. Placing everything behind one or the other, however, would effectively tie everything together. (Again, I'm not 100% about that.)
posted by Hankins at 10:52 AM on June 3, 2004

Yes, the modem has four ports, one of which is leading to the router, which has another four. Splitting the network between the modem/hub and the router is exactly the way it was done. I'm hoping there's a way to get one to talk to the other.
posted by GriffX at 10:57 AM on June 3, 2004

What I would do if I were you, is to replace the router with a hub. This will give you additional ports and be the easiest way to get things to talk to each other. Routers map addresses and assign addresses and such while a hub is generally a lot more dumb. A hub will basically repeat packets. This is such an overgeneralization but the details are not important. Just remember that the only way to do what you're doing in a non-IPSec/VPN/IP Tunnelling/More than you can do way is to just get a hub which should cost ~ $30. Then flip the router on ebay or keep it for a friend.
posted by geoff. at 11:01 AM on June 3, 2004

The router probably isn't forwarding WINS broadcasts, so the computers behind it can't do the Windows networking stuff.

The easiest solution is to just forward WINS packets.
posted by cmonkey at 11:03 AM on June 3, 2004

Or replace it with a hub or a switch, like geoff said.
posted by cmonkey at 11:04 AM on June 3, 2004

The best solution is still to put *everything* behind the router. (That has the side benefit of mostly protecting your internal computers against outside attacks...) The router's firewall/NAT is what's keeping you from being able to share with things that are behind it.

On the bright side, if you don't have firewalling enabled on your WinXP box, depending on the configuration and type of modem you have, people from outside of your home network could probably print on your printer! I know that's the way it was when cable 'net first came out...
posted by SpecialK at 1:18 PM on June 3, 2004

The connection should go from the wall to the modem to the router to the computers and printer. If the router doesn't have enough interfaces, you get a switch. Switches prevent collisions between different devices that are trying to access the network at the same time. Hubs do not. That means that, unless you are only going to have one computer online at a time, using a hub is going to make everything slower.
posted by bingo at 4:03 PM on June 3, 2004