[sue.words]

In March I bought a Samsung M2835DW B&W laser printer, which connects with my iMac by wifi.

 

This works well once set up (though I seem to remember the setting up took some doing).

 

We have rather unreliable wifi and it's annoying that because we have opted for the convenience of wifi when the internet is down we can't print.

 

I know there is an option to connect the computer and the printer by USB and today I asked a Samsung helpline person whether it was easy to temporarily switch to USB (and then back again easily). He said yes, and referred me to the online manual.

 

http://downloadcente...glish_v9.10.pdf

 

I have now downloaded it, but I don't find any of it easy to follow - I think the problem is that there are so many variables. 

 

Could anyone please be very kind and either

tell me in ordinary English how to switch to USB for temporary use and then back to wifi again

or

refer me to the exact page or pages in the manual that explain the procedure.

 

(If you can tell me authoritatively that there really is NO easy way of doing this and I should not go there, please don't hesitate to do so!) 

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I think that the easy way is to install it as two printers, one which is wifi, the other which is USB connected. When the wifi is down, then you can select the USB version, just make sure that the USB cable is connected. It appears that the printer could also be connected by hardwire ethernet, which is your Mac is connected that way, it might be best to just do that all the time. It is not really a matter of switching between the two, but having two options to access the printer.

 

Please see:

 

http://downloadcente...isTocLink=fixed

[Kemasa]

I think that the easy way is to install it as two printers, one which is wifi, the other which is USB connected. When the wifi is down, then you can select the USB version, just make sure that the USB cable is connected. It appears that the printer could also be connected by hardwire ethernet, which is your Mac is connected that way, it might be best to just do that all the time. It is not really a matter of switching between the two, but having two options to access the printer.

 

Please see:

 

http://downloadcente...isTocLink=fixed

[sue.words]

Thank you for a very promising reply - and very quick too. (I say promising because I'm going out and haven't time even to read what you've posted properly, let alone follow the instructions.)

 

I didn't mention it, but we did buy two printers when we bought the one I mentioned, both with the option to run via wifi. The Samsung is laser and B&W only, so cheap and quick, the other one is a multi-function Canon, which we use for the scanner and its colour-printing feature. It has never occurred to me to do what you say in your first sentence, but, now I think about it, it might be the easiest way forward to use the Canon hard wired and so available so long as the electricity is there(!) and to leave the Samsung permanently on wifi.

 

I might even go with that suggestion without pursuing what I originally asked about. I'll let you know what happens.

 

Thank you again so much. 

[Kemasa]

You should be able to have the Samsung connected by means of wifi, USB and hardwire ethernet. It would just have a separate print queue for each access means. That is what I meant with my first sentence above.

 

In my opinion, there is little reason to have the printer connected by means of wifi if you can hardwire connect it to the router, which then means you can still access it by means of wifi, but through the wifi router that the computer is using to access the Internet. There can sometimes be wiring aspects which might change that though.