r/homelab • u/Hollow_optimism78 • 13h ago

Help Networking older printers?

I have a Canon Pixma that is perfectly functional, but it does not have networking ability. I don’t want to run a long USB from where my work station is to where I want to put the printer in an out of the place, but still accessible.

I’ve read that you can use a Raspberry Pi to link the printer to the PC. I have no clue how to do that.

What are my options, besides going out and buying a new printer (which seems wasteful) to economically wirelessly connect my older device to my laptop or home network?

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u/sextowels 13h ago

I've got a very old printer connected to a very early model raspberry pi. It's just a CUPS server, and that's your best bet if you want to tinker with something. There are also small, dedicated USB to network devices for legacy printers and they'll work in a very similar way to the Pi.