Windows 7: How to Set Up a Network Printer for 4 PC without Internet Connection?

Hi guys, I hope you could help me for setting up a Network Printer for my small office with four (4) PC/Computers with the following details:

1. I dont have an Internet connection.
2. I have a printer with LAN capable

I wonder if I can use a switch, hub or routers but there are plenty of a kind, I don't know what to use and how to use.

Thank you guys for reading my thread, Im looking forward to hear from you guys.

Hubs are obsolete technology.

You can use either a switch or a router. A router will be easier to set up but a switch will be cheaper. You'll need a switch or router with at least five ports--one port for each computer and one for the printer.

If you buy a switch you'll need to manually assign an IP address to each PC within one of the non-routable netblocks (192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x). You'll need to pick an address to use as a default gateway so Windows 7 will recognize the network and allow you to use printer sharing.

If you buy a router, it will assign addresses and a default gateway to your PCs automatically through DHCP.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions to set up the printer, assign it an IP address within the same netblock as your PCs, and install printer drivers on each PC.

Welcome to the windows 7 forums fhranzis067

First I would get a router to provide IP's to your computers and then connect them all to the router. No internet is necessary. routers are default setup to provide IP address's to any computer that asks for an IP. It is called DHCP which just means that it responds to requests for a IP address. Of course it helps if your computers are setup to request an IP via DHCP.

Once all the computers are connected to the router via cables. You can then connect your printer to the same network. Good idea to turn off the power auto-off settings on your computers so that the ethernet card does not go to sleep and prevent printing.

If you don't have enough ports on your router, a cheap switch will increase the number of connections.

Connecting your printer, if it is dhcp capable will pick up an IP number from the router and then all you have to do is to run the disk that came with your printer and it should find your printer and set it up.

running the cd on the other computers will then allow them to print to the same printer.

Rich

While a switch is cheaper, a router will make setup a lot easier, especially if you don't have any networking experience. The router is basically a plug and play device while the switch is not. You will have to do a lot of manual setup on each PC and the printer if you only buy a switch. If any of your PC's have wireless cards in them you might want to consider getting a Wireless capable Router. It will save you from having to run a network cable to that PC or PC's and free up some of the ports. That may save you from having to buy a switch because you ran out of ports. If you do go with a wireless setup don't forget to secure your WIFI network with encryption/password.