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I have connected my Epson printer to my router to wirelessly print from a PC. The router acts as a print server, I can see a samba folder with my printer in it and it works for most of the time. But here's the problem, the router does not cache the job sent to it, it just receives it and sends it directly to the printer. The printer only has 8 MB memory(I think). So whenever I try to print something bugger than 8MB, the router sends it all at once to the printer and it errors out.

By contrast, when I connect wired through USB directly to my PC, all things work as expected. I can see in the print queue a fraction with the amount sent to printer vs the total size of the file.

My guess is that when the printer is connected with a wire, it can tell the PC that it has a memory limit, so the PC sends the print job in parts. Whereas in the router case, it just dumps the full thing at once and the printer runs out of memory.

So, is there a way to tell the PC to send the print job in parts or in a slow fashion like it does in the wired version so that the printer can keep up?

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  • Wired and Wireless are the same, just packets going both ways, so that's probably not the problem. I would guess that the problem is with the wireless implementation of the router or the printer, where the printer is more likely. Which models are the router and printer? Have you checked for firmware updates?
    – harrymc
    Commented Jul 30, 2021 at 20:46
  • It is EPSON L130. More details here: superuser.com/questions/1660276/… . I don't think that the connection is two way. The printer doesn't seem to send any data back, since the Epson software says 'printer not detected'. The router seems to be a basic print server with just one way connection.
    – SameMan2
    Commented Jul 31, 2021 at 8:02
  • I would rather believe that the desktop driver for the printer does a better job than the one of the router. You could check for a firmware update to the router. I may be able to help.
    – harrymc
    Commented Jul 31, 2021 at 14:06
  • There are no firmware updates that I could find.
    – SameMan2
    Commented Jul 31, 2021 at 18:13
  • If there are no firmware updates to the router, then you will need to continue using the USB cable.
    – harrymc
    Commented Jul 31, 2021 at 18:29

1 Answer 1

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Your printer does not have any built-in network connection (wired or WiFi), so it must be connected via USB. Like most low-cost printers, it is also a "GDI" printer, which have very little intelligence and require the host PC's graphics system to convert the page into dots on the paper.

As the printer supports only USB, there are 2 ways to network it: direct to a PC, or via a "printserver", a USB-to-network adapter. This can be a separate unit, but in your case you are most likely using a USB port on the router.

Networking GDI printers is fraught with difficulties. The simplest way is to connect it to a PC via USB, and then share the printer from the PC.

The other possible way is with a compatible printserver. Most reputable printserver manufacturers publish a list of supported printers. If your printer is not on the list, you must assume it will not work.

Without knowing the model of your printserver, we cannot tell you whether it can be made to work. If you tell us, someone will be able to check compatibility.

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  • I don't print enough to justify buying special hardware just for wireless printing. I may look into a RasPi I have to make it a print server. Thanks for your help.
    – SameMan2
    Commented Aug 1, 2021 at 12:44
  • I assume that means the printer is USB connected to your router. In that case, check if the router has a compatibility list. However, it most likely doesn't, so it will only work with printers that support a language like PCL5/6 or PostScript.
    – hdhondt
    Commented Aug 1, 2021 at 23:32
  • Thanks for the explanation. On a slightly unrelated note, is 8 MB memory normal for printers, or is it on the low end? Is there any way I can verify it does have 8 MB, since I couldn't find any mention of it in the specsheet. Also,I have heard some printers have user upgrade-able RAM, can my printer have that too?
    – SameMan2
    Commented Aug 2, 2021 at 4:01
  • Yes it is enough. Inkjets really only need enough memory to store 1 sweep of the printhead (plus some overhead for input buffer, etc). Lasers need at least 1 page, which is why they have more than 8MB. Also, the printer is always able to interrupt the transmission of data when its buffer is full, regardless of the interface used. Lasers can use extra RAM for things like duplexing, collating, etc. Your printer does not do any of those, and its memory cannot be upgraded.
    – hdhondt
    Commented Aug 2, 2021 at 10:10

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