Web-enabled printers connect directly to the internet, allowing for easy printing from web and mobile sources. They have built-in print servers, enabling any connected user to print remotely via email attachments or integrated access.
A web-enabled printer is a type of printer that connects directly to the Internet. This direct connection bypasses the need for a physical connection to the computer. These printers differ from standard network printers in how they handle Internet-based business. Originally, a web-enabled printer simply connected directly to the internet, allowing for easier printing from web and mobile sources. Newer types include touchscreens and downloadable applications that allow users to connect to common sites and print news and articles directly to the printer.
In the beginning, a standard printer connected to a computer and allowed printing only from that machine. This single machine and printer mentality started to lose ground in the business world with the advent of network printers. These printers originally connected to a print server, a special machine that handles printing for a certain part of the office. Later, the print server was integrated into the printer, allowing anyone on the network to talk to that printer.
This same idea has also influenced home printers. While most home networks didn’t have a dedicated network printer, printer sharing has become a very common practice. A printer connected to a computer, and as long as that computer was on, anyone on the network could print to it. Later, print server systems became simple enough for many home routers to have one installed, allowing a printer to connect to the router instead of a computer. With this advance, any user on the network could always print as if they were in an office.
Web-enabled printer is the next step to unplugging the printer from a computer system. These printers connect to the Internet, just as if they were another computer. These machines have built-in print servers, allowing any connected user to print. The real difference between a standard network printer and a web-enabled printer is how they interact with devices that aren’t on the network.
While it is possible to print remotely to a network printer, the process is difficult for many users. If a home or corporate system is set up to allow it, users can access their printer remotely, usually through an Internet browser or third-party application. With web-enabled printers, allowing easy access from the outside is one of the cornerstones of their design.
A web-enabled printer allows for two basic methods of remote access. The first is similar to that of a properly configured network printer. The main difference is ease; access will be integrated into the internal print server, enabling connectivity with much less user involvement. The other is via email attachments; a user can attach a file to an email and send it to the printer. The printer will then open the mail and print the document automatically. This allows any web-enabled device, such as phones and tablets, to print just like a standard computer.
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