Printer sharing

I have installed a new wireless printer on my network and have formed a Homegroup which my other Windows 7 computer has joined. The trouble is that the remote computer can't see the new printer, but it can see the old one which I haven't uninstalled yet. The new printer works perfectly via wireless from the host computer so it's set up correctly. What else do I need to do? I've enabled printer sharing on both computers.

If it's a proper wireless printer then you don't need printer sharing at all.

The printer should get it's own IP address from your router. You should then be able to follow the printer instructions to be able to connect to it from each computer. The computers talk direct to the printer (and the computers themselves can be wired or wireless as they just connect over the network). Sounds like you are trying to make one PC the print server which is unnecessary as the printer itself acts as the print server.

I agree with your comments, but feel I can add a bit extra detail.
Recently I had to install a Brother wireless printer, and couldn't work out from the documentation initially provided whether the printer really would act as its own printserver. I finally convinced myself that it could, so installed it without doing any printer sharing, and it works perfectly well both from Windows XP/7 machines and from Ubuntu Machines.

When networking Win7 PCs I came to the conclusion that the Homegroup was one of these M'soft inventions designed to make things worse, as it is specifically designed not to include any other OS versions - much better to stick to Workgroups or Network Domains.

Luckily the computers are all Win 7. I created a Homegroup on the laptop with the printer drivers and then set the other one to join it. All computers can now print and I'm happy. But the big disadvantage is that the host computer must be on when remote printing happens - please talk me through how I can set up the printer as a print server to avoid this. It's an Epson Stylus SX535WD. The documentation is really poor - there's a guide on the internet too of course which isn't much help. Initial setup with the CD was easy though and it installed perfectly.

Generally all you do is run the install disc on each PC which is required to print to it.

The drivers etc should then connect directly to the printer using the network name rather than its IP address and it "should just work".

The printer on the one machine you have set it up on does not need to be shared but it should not do any harm.

Nothing should be functioning as a print server, it is a network printer and doesnt need a server.

Thanks. I'll give it a go. The remote laptop doesn't have a CD drive for the drivers' installation but I've found them on the Epson website. So if I do that would I still need to use the Homegroup or should I disable it? No harm in trying the various options. This is the first time I've got involved in wireless printing. If I understand my setup so far ...the drivers are on my host computer and I can print from there directly over my network. The remote one is connecting to the printer through my computer's Homegroup settings which have printer sharing enabled. That's why it has to be on for everything to work. If I put the drivers onto the remote computer it will behave in a similar way to the host, connecting directly to the printer over the network.

Nope. With a wireless printer each computer can connect directly to the printer, it doesn't need to be concerned with other clients (computers) on the network. Homegroup has nothing to do with it.

You could, of course, do it the way you mentioned but it would make no logical sense to do so on a home setup (because the specified PC must always be on, you have to fiddle with "additional drivers" on the server PC is the other clients use a different OS, etc, etc).

Thanks for all the helpful comments. My three Win7 computers can now print independently and I've disabled the Homegroup. Interestingly I was never asked for my network key during the installation. Is this not a bit insecure, as anyone within range of my network who knew the model of my printer could download the drivers and join my system. I can just imagine anonymous printoffs appearing suddenly from the geeky schoolboy next door - only joking, but it makes you think!

As all the PCs are either ethernet connected to the wireless router or wireless connected already, to be able to access the internet, the ethernet ones don't need to know the network key, and the wireless ones already know it.

Yes, of course...I thought there must be a simple answer. The only way my scenario could happen would be if my network were unsecured (which it isn't).