Hello everyone!
I’m currently encountering a situation where I need to access a printer remotely, which is connected to another computer. After some research, I stumbled upon the concept of USB over IP which seems like a potential solution to my problem.
Could anyone kindly suggest reliable tools or software for USB over IP? I’m particularly interested in ones that offer seamless connectivity and easy setup, as I’m not too experienced in networking intricacies.
Any recommendations or insights based on personal experience would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
Sounds like your problem could be solved with TeamViewer or another remote solution
However USB over IP intrigues me, anyone else know anything about it
There are USB over CAT6 IIRC? Can those fulfill the need?
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This kind of thing does work, how complex it is depends what you mean by remotely (e.g. do you mean from within the same LAN, or through a router), and how abstract you can take your readme docs.
https://usbip.sourceforge.net/
There are “easy” applications that exist, the ones I’ve seen required a payment card or even an account, at that point the note above about teamviewer or something like it is well made, while also a more general solution.
There is also ’
Usb over ethernet extenders
Usb print servers
And you could probably just get a network printer for not much more than trying to coble together a shared printer.
Also if there is a pc next to the printer already, you could do a software shared printer.
Last but my best recommendation, stop printing.
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Using some kind of print server whether it’s on the PC that’s connected to the printer or some other hardware or printer that already has network printing built in is the best solution for this application. But I am interested in what options there are for USB over IP.
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As a point to search, usb over ip, and usb over ethernet, are 2 different things.
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Share the printer from the computer it is attached to, is the easiest way, as you have all tge stuff plugged in already.
Requires the computer to be on/tho…
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Is there some reason CUPS won’t work? You can also share the printer via SMB.
This USB over IP thing is interesting but frankly probably not the correct tool for the job.
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https://www.virtualhere.com/usb_server_software
This has a free version and paid. It allows you to basically attach a USB device to a small server device (think Rpi or other SBC) and then the client software that allows you to mount that device to a host on your network as if it’s attached directly to that machine. Is this the best solution for your problem? Maybe not. However, it can be expanded to allow for other USB devices to be shared. Thumbdrives, wifi adapters, cellphones, external hard drives, RGB strips pretty much anything USB can be shared over your network.
Probably the best use case I can think of is that this can be used to share physical hardware with VMs on your network. Ever wanted to plug in a thumbdrive to your VM or give it wifi as opposed to just virtual wired ethernet? You could with this.
what about installing a Pi or other SBC and turning it into a print server?
Probably more reliable than an USB conversion and similar in cost.
A USB print server will cost you $25-50 (or $16+ used).
Or as little as $30 you can get a LE Potato (maybe even cheaper used) and run Linux and CUPS for use as a print server, as well as having it available for any other purposes you could want…
USB network gate allow to access USB device over the network. It offer simple network interface and compatibility with Windows, Linux and MacOS.
There are many options available.
To make your decision, check this out Best 6 USB over IP tools | Share USB over IP | USB device over IP There are descriptions and comparisons of various applications that can help you.