TG582n as a USB Printer Server?

[R. Kennedy McEwen]

I recently upgraded to Business Broadband Unlimited which, apart from
the update being delayed by a day, went pretty smoothly. From a best
down speed of 5Mbps on Broadband 8000, I now get >16Mbps at quiet times,
although during the busiest times it does drop to 3-5Mbps. I am about
400m from what is obviously a very contended exchange.

Anyway, after getting ADLS2+ working I noticed that the TG582n has a USB
port which the Quickstart guide doesn't mention. So I wondered if I
could connect my HP Laserprinter to the USB port and get it wirelessly
networked rather than shared from my main tower PC (so that it would be
available to other laptops without having to power up the main PC).

A lot of info on the net claims this can't be done without an additional
wireless Printer Server. Indeed a few pages, including Technicolor's
own website, suggests this USB port is only for 3G connectivity and file
sharing on memory sticks, which seemed a bit limited. However a few
retailers indicate the USB port can be used to share printers.

I also found this page which explains how to setup the USB port on the
TG582n for printer sharing:
http://beusergroup.co.uk/technotes/index.php?title=Printer_sharing_TG582n

I followed the instructions almost to the letter, just amending the
Hostname IP address range from the Technicolor default of 192.168.1.x to
Demon customised 192.168.254.x, but had no joy. Then, almost by
accident, I noticed that when the FTP Server was enabled it is assigned
to IP address 192.168.254.199. I then repeated the method on the page
above but set the printer to use this address and achieved success - the
printer is now wirelessly accessible from every computer on the network,
even with the main PC switched off.

I freely admit I know precious little about port forwarding or setting
up routers etc. for different applications, but I am a bit surprised
that this worked since an FTP server uses different ports from a Print
Server and the FTP Server was disabled by default on the TG582n in any
case. Moreover, since I don't understand it, I'm also a bit concerned
that this may not be a stable solution and might stop working in a day
or so, although I have power cycled everything and it seems stable at
the moment.

Can someone explain to me:
a) why setting the printer to use IP address 192.168.254.199 worked in
this situation
b) why it doesn't work on 192.168.254.253 as suggested on the web page
above or, apparently any other address?
c) Any problems likely to occur if I leave the seemingly working
solution as it is?
d) How, with a suitable USB hub, would I configure other printers on
this USB port? ie. What IP address would they occur on?

Its probably not the right group for this question, but I figure that a
few people will have tried this since Demon started shipping these
wireless routers. Thanks.
--
Kennedy

[Denis McMahon]

On Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:05:00 +0100, R. Kennedy McEwen wrote:

> Can someone explain to me:
> a) why setting the printer to use IP address 192.168.254.199 worked in
> this situation b) why it doesn't work on 192.168.254.253 as suggested on
> the web page above or, apparently any other address?

Best guess - 192.168.254.199 is the ip address that the router is
associating with the usb subsystem.

> c) Any problems likely to occur if I leave the seemingly working
> solution as it is?

Only that your printer might be accessible from the public side of the
router depending on what ports are open for incoming connections and how
they're set up. This shouldn't happen, but it could.

> d) How, with a suitable USB hub, would I configure other printers on
> this USB port? ie. What IP address would they occur on?

It's possible that everything connected to that usb port will appear on
the same ip. How much control you'll be able to exert over individual
items may depend on how smart the firmware in the router is, and whether
the device you're connecting is a "known" type of device.

--
Denis McMahon, denismf...@gmail.com