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Printer sharing

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:28 pm
by drepouille
Now that LDSAccess allows us to connect our laptops to the meetinghouse network, is it possible to set the administrative computer to share its printer?

We had that working before Sophos, but I fear the Sophos firewall blocks peer connections, and there is no way for us to open those ports.

When I need to print agendas, I bring my laptop into the clerk's office, and plug the USB cable from the printer into my laptop. I wish I could do that via a peer connection.

Dana
Council Bluffs

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:35 pm
by aebrown
Dana.Repouille wrote:Now that LDSAccess allows us to connect our laptops to the meetinghouse network, is it possible to set the administrative computer to share its printer?

We had that working before Sophos, but I fear the Sophos firewall blocks peer connections, and there is no way for us to open those ports.
In our stake office, we have a multi-function copier/printer (an HP MFP 3027x) that has an Ethernet interface. That was trivial to set up for access by anyone on the meetinghouse network. That's the one we use for remote access, and it works great.

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:44 pm
by drepouille
Our stake computer has a wireless adapter. There is no Ethernet port available for the printer.

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:02 pm
by russellhltn
Dana.Repouille wrote:is it possible to set the administrative computer to share its printer?
Even if it were possible, I would not recommend it for security reasons. By setting up the printer share, it would open up the computer to be accessed by others on the network.

In your situation, I'd suggest a print share device. A bit of an expense, but much more secure.

Printer Sharing

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 11:39 am
by crislapi
Our stake office has a network set up between 3 computers. We use a print server in the stake office to share a printer between all the computers. It worked great under the symantec firewall. However, it was blocked by Sophos.

We also have a color printer/fax shared on one of the computers. That was much easier to set up and the firewall did not complain at all, allowing all 3 computers to print to it.

The plus to using the print server is that no one computer has to be on in order for the other computers to print to it. When you share a printer, the computer it is hardwired to must be turned on for the other printers to connect to it. Not a huge deal.

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:49 pm
by crislapi
RussellHltn wrote:In your situation, I'd suggest a print share device. A bit of an expense, but much more secure.
Actually, don't bother with this route if you have updated your computer security to Sophos. The firewall blocks things like print servers. However, it does not block shared printers. So if we are going to assume the church security blocks undesirable actions and allows desirable ones, just share your printer. It's easier to set up anyway.

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:36 pm
by russellhltn
crislapi wrote:Actually, don't bother with this route if you have updated your computer security to Sophos. The firewall blocks things like print servers. However, it does not block shared printers.
Huh? You mean that the firewall will block an outgoing connection to a printer sharing device? Perhaps it depends on how (what port) it communicates. I know some printers that that the church supplied have their own Ethernet connection. So, I'd be surprised if it blocked those.

One thing I have against sharing a connected printer is that on the OS end you also end up exposing the "administrative share". If not blocked by the firewall, anyone who knows the the clerk login can connect to the hard drive remotely.

Which brings up another point - is it possible to share the printer without using some kind of login credentials?

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:27 am
by crislapi
If it is on a printer server it is blocked. The Sophos firewall blocks inbound and outbound.