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I have the following situation

I have an Ethernet only HP Printer which I need to connect to a parallel port PC.

Could I use an External JetDirect card to connect my Ethernet printer to a Parallel port PC?

--UPDATE-- There is an Ethernet port on the PC but it's being used to connect to the Domain. So I can't unplug the PC's ethernet. The room which has the PC has only 1 Ethernet port so we can't connect 2 devices to the network simulataneously.

The Printer has an Ethernet port only so I can't connect it via Parallel port cable.

But if I can bridge the Ethernet port to Parallel port that would solve my problem.

Cocoa Dev
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6 Answers6

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If the computer and the printer are on the same network, that's your answer; use Ethernet. I'm assuming the printer does not have a parallel port. You won't be able to use the Jetdirect "in reverse".

ewwhite
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If the PC doesn't have a network card, buy one. Really, that's the simplest solution and you don't want to dick around with trying to make some sort of parallel-to-ethernet bridge that no one will understand after you leave.

If you don't want the PC to be on the network in general, buy a switch in addition to the network card, and assign static IPs to the JetDirect and to the PC. Then they can live together alone on their on LAN and no one will bother them.

cjc
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Based on your update, a simple $15 hub should solve your problem. Cheaper than a jetdirect, too.

A $10 nic would also work, but it will be a lot harder to set up correctly.

Joel Coel
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Buy a cheap hub or switch - blammo, the room magically has more Ethernet ports.

mfinni
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  • cant buy equipemt. We are on a freeze. Thats why we're trying to figure out how to accomplish this (if possible). If we didn't have the freeze, we'd have a new port installed or buy a new printer. – Cocoa Dev Feb 08 '12 at 17:39
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    You can't *do anything* about this without buying *something.* If you can't drop $20 on a cheap hub, or scrounge one from the parts closet, or hack up a cable splitter (bad option, but might work), then you're truly up a creek sans paddle. – mfinni Feb 08 '12 at 17:42
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    Who the hell voted this down? :-) – mfinni Feb 08 '12 at 20:20
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If you can use the external you can use the Jet direct on the printer. You will need ethernet in either case. Can you explain the issue in more detail? Does the PC not have ethernet? Can it be added?

Can you provide the printer model?

Dave M
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Unless you require gigabit performance for your PC/Printer I'd recommend either splitting the cable at both ends to give you two jacks or purchasing a breakout cable for both ends. This way will give you two ports that will support 10/100 devices.

This is the breakout cable I mentioned.

ErnieTheGeek
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    OMG, why would the OP want to buy that for a total of $17 when a dinky switch will do what he wants? Maybe if he wants to run a phone line into there, too, but that's not what's described. – cjc Feb 08 '12 at 17:01
  • @cjc because no network admin would like to have unmanaged consumer-grade shit on his premises but rather connect all equipment to managed switch ports. Do a new cable run if possible or split cables (preferably [properly](http://www.ampnetconnect.az/neptun/neptun.php/oktopus/download/6760/)) if it's not. – the-wabbit Feb 08 '12 at 17:16
  • Not to flame or anything but I'm going to anyways...Recommending someone daisy chain CHEAP switches like that is seriously irresponsible. – ErnieTheGeek Feb 08 '12 at 17:47
  • What specifically is "seriously irresponsible" about using a cheap switch in this sort of edge case? – Chris S Feb 09 '12 at 17:04
  • Maybe thats a bit of an overstatement on my part, but I've seen more "dinky switches" bring down a network than most of the other common causes combined. – ErnieTheGeek Feb 09 '12 at 21:03
  • Ernie - sure, if someone makes a loop. Otherwise, it shouldn't introduce any problems. – mfinni Feb 10 '12 at 21:45