We've had a home network setup with a Linksys router and Linksys,2-port printserver for almost 2 years but have always had problems with printing. We have had to turn the print server off and back on before the computers can find the server to print. When we only had 2 computers and 2 printers, it wasn't a problem. We now have 2 additional computers and an X-Box connected to the network. Needless to say, many a game/download have been screwed up by dear old mom recycling the printserver! Here's the scoop: 1: XP Home /P3 866 notebook/256 MB Ram - could be considered the main computer (Mom's)- Microtek 4900 scanner connected directly to it. Is usually on all day. 2: XP Home/AMD 2000+/ 512 MB RAM - Heavily used for surfing/IMing/downloading/(occasionally homework) etc... Shares a folder with #1 to move scanned docs. Tends to be on 24 hours. 3: Win98SE/AMD 1900+/512 MB RAM - Mainly used for gaming, some internet surfing. Usually on during the evenings. 4: XP Pro/P3 ? Notebook/256 MB RAM - Husband's work laptop. Mainly uses internet access and occasional printing in the evening. 5: X-Box gaming console with X-Box Live. On more than I'd like. 6:LynkSys Cable/DSL Router 4-port Switch 7:LinkSys 2-Port PrintServer with 4-Port Switch 8: Samsung ML-1440 Laser printer 9: Canon i860 Photo Printer 10: Toshiba Cable Modem Extra Info: Computers are normally turned off overnight. Router, Modem, and Printerserver are on 24/7. For most of the the 2 years we've had the printers setup via the printserver ports and have always had to recycle the printserver as each computer was turned on/connected. Most recently we've tried connecting the printers via IPP addresses. It worked for a day or so. Then the computers couldn't find the server - It appears the IP address changed. Any suggestions as to how this should all be configured properly would be greatly appreciated.

I think it is to do with the way your router is configured. If it is set up as a DHCP server then the IP of your client machines is changing each time they are rebooted. The printserver doesn't recognize the "new" connection unless it is recycled to detect the connections for itself. Check your router documentation. It may be possible to configure your lan so that each machine has a static internal ip. Let us know if this helps. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for life.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out and update if that doesn't solve the problem.

OK. I had to reset the router back to its factory default settings in order to get access to the info. Looks like the DHCP is enabled by default. I doubt my husband would have altered it at any point or he would have written it down in the manual. One thing, when I click on the "DHCP Clients Table", nothing shows up. Is that what it's supposed to do? Or should I be seeing the list of PCs connected? The User Guide states that "Unless you already have one, it is highly recommended that you leave your router enabled as a DHCP server." But, your suggestion would be to disable it anyway; then set a static IP address for every pc and printer, correct? What about the X-Box? (My husband set it up originally too. He thinks he just plugged it in and it found the IP address automatically as well). Or, are you merely saying that we shouldn't shut down the pcs? Will that work given the IP address is only good for 24 hours or so? Thanks again!

Looks like I might have your same setup with the print server and router. First to your questions: On DHCP clients table you should see all computers where addresses have been assigned. I?d leave the router on DHCP. It doesn?t mean you can?t have static IP addresses as well. You should be able to shut down your PC?s whenever you feel like it. My view is that you should have your print server on a fixed IP address. You can do this through the Linksys Print Server Driver which you loaded on one of your computers when you bought it. Give the print server an IP address out of DHCP range on your router. Now, I have a question of my own. I?m about to buy an i860 printer, but expected that the bidirectional driver would not operate over my home network. You have apparently proven that the printer will work. I assume that you have the i860 attached to the print server by parallel port. So, I have just two questions. What driver did you load on each PC to allow each to use the printer over the network? Did you do anything else special to your computers to make the i860 work over the network? Thanks.

Thanks! I'll give that a try. I didn't do anything special for the Canon i860 installation. I just used the cd on each computer. The <Enable Bidirectional Support> checkbox was automatically selected in the <Ports> tab in Properties menu on the XP computers. Win98SE doesn't have the same tabs but it works just fine.

I have the same problem with a Linksys EPSX3, three port print server. I have a Warp Server for E-business, a Thinkpad with Win 98 SE, another Win 98, and a Mac notebook. My SMC Barricade is set with an IP range, and all computers are assigned an IP address, as is the print server. If I reboot the server, it can be found, although it can't print to the Minolta 1250E. The Epson inkjet prints just fine. It sounds like all Linksys print servers need continual rebooting. My computers are never turned off.