NAS share that sends to a printer

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MarkM536

309 posts

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#289719 24-Sep-2021 19:51

I am looking at getting a NAS.

One question I cannot seem to find the answer is setting up a network drive that users can drop a file into and the NAS will send to a printer.

Seems like it should be easy for a NAS to see a new file, send to the printer then delete the file (or achieve it in a 'printed' folder).

Any input on this?

Ideally it would be a NAS that also supports synchronising to a cloud service (Google drive/Dropbox).

raytaylor

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#2784563 26-Sep-2021 15:22

Sounds too complicated.
The nas would need printer drivers etc loaded on and software to read the various files.

Why not just have the printer connected to the network and print directly from the computer?

Ray Taylor

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MarkM536

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2784624 26-Sep-2021 17:33

raytaylor:

Sounds too complicated.

Why not just have the printer connected to the network and print directly from the computer?

Main reason is the 2 work computers. They do not allow software or driver installation.

However, network drives are allowed (Windows file explorer mapped drive).

It made a difference in the house when our new HP printer could support email-to-print. But I'd like to see if a NAS of sorts can support it, ideally if Synology has it.

I've tried with their work places IT but they don't care.

Second part is that I cannot always trust family members connecting to home wireless that they will allow network discovery.

That pesky popup Windows brings to the side when connecting to a new network. They always click no.

Printers are setup on their devices, but without network discovery on it will just say the device is offline. You can still ping the printer though.

(Image from online, not exact wording to current Win10.)

CYaBro

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#2784690 26-Sep-2021 21:26

What about something like this?
https://www.papercut.com/products/free-software/mobility-print/

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

sampler

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#2784714 27-Sep-2021 06:28

Depending on the printer model.. Maybe set it up to poll an Email address for pdf attachments?

MarkM536

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2785336 27-Sep-2021 21:37

CYaBro: What about something like this?
https://www.papercut.com/products/free-software/mobility-print/

My high school uses this already, great piece of software.

But this still requires an installation on the end users device.

For what it would do with a single printer, I might as well set the printers own drivers on each computer 🙂. It would solve the network sharing problem on personal devices though.

sampler:

Depending on the printer model.. Maybe set it up to poll an Email address for pdf attachments?

Currently I have the email service on the printer in use, ideally I'd move away from this.

Last year I played around with a Raspberry Pi as a NAS.

It made a world of a difference having the printer scan to a NAS share (instead of emailing), so this is why I'd like the same for printing.

The family also liked having a central place to store files 😃.

Rickles

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#2786115 29-Sep-2021 10:44

One would hope that a decent NAS can do this?

My home-based D-Link ShareCenter NAS has printer support via its USB port ... simply plug printer into NAS and the printer is seen on the network. Shares etc can easily then be allocated. Only printing can take place, not copy or scan, unless the appropriate software is on the/any computer.

sampler

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#2786119 29-Sep-2021 10:51

MarkM536:

sampler:

Depending on the printer model.. Maybe set it up to poll an Email address for pdf attachments?

Currently I have the email service on the printer in use, ideally I'd move away from this.

Sorry you have not said was NAS device your using, but my idea would be to create the share, then have a small script on the nas pickup a file on the share, email to the printers email address then delete the file on the nas share ?

As others have said unless you can load drivers at a laptop level they will not be able to "talk" to the printer directly.

Maybe there is a place for a NAS plugin todo what your wanting, but at the moment all I can see if a "work around" as described above.