Quote:
Originally posted by poof
The firewall comment was just a <strike>silly </strike> <i>Distraction</i>. If configured properly, your network will understand all the computers and print servers and they are ahead of any firewall
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The configured properly part may be what's wrong. When I first installed a firewall (Zonealarm in my case) I didn't have a network at the time. When I did get a couple more comps and a router and set up my network, I couldn't see any of the other comps nor share any printers. After much advil and learning on my part, I realized that Zonealarm was blocking access to anything on my network. I fixed that and everything worked fine.
I'm not saying print servers or firewalls are bad. Firewalls are almost a necessity now and print servers are great. But some people really don't want to deal with or have the money to buy a print server and some people don't know that much about firewalls or how to configure them properly.
So, in closing, if you want to get a print server. Go for it. If you don't, then don't. Neither way is really better then the other for a small home network.