SMC EZ Connect Wireless Print Server review

Go wireless, and you'll never look back.

A wireless network will let two or more PCs share files, an Internet connection and even a printer - without cluttering up the house with messy cables. The only problem with sharing a printer is that the PC it's plugged into must be switched on in order for the other computers to use it - a pain if you're lounging on the sofa with your laptop and the PC is upstairs.

If this sounds familiar, you need a wireless print server. This is a device that you plug into your printer and which handles print jobs from all of the computers on the network. Because the server consumes much less power than a PC, it doesn't need any fans, so it's silent. This means you can leave it on all the time. When you want to print a document, you send it from the machine you're working from, via the print server, to the printer.

SMC's EZ Connect print server is smaller than an old VHS tape. It can talk to 802.11g wireless networks that work at 54 megabits per second (Mbit/s), as well as older 802.11b equipment that works at 11Mbit/s. Configuration should be easy. You just plug the device either directly into your PC or into your network's wireless router using a normal Ethernet cable (not supplied). You then run the software supplied by SMC, unplug the Ethernet cable and get on with some wireless printing.

If only it were that simple. In our tests, SMC's management software couldn't find the print server on the wired network, let alone the wireless. Eventually, we worked out this was because Windows' firewall was interfering with the setup. It would have saved a lot of hassle if the setup instructions had included this tip.

Once this obstacle had been overcome, everything went very smoothly. We told the print server which wireless network to talk to, restarted both print server and the wireless router, and hey presto - everything worked. To test the device's range, we printed once from a PC in the same room, and once from 30 feet away, through a wall. The prints were perfect and instantaneous both times.

We do, however, have two major reservations. Firstly, the EZ Connect only has a parallel port, so you can't use it to network your USB printer. Secondly, it doesn't support the new WPA encryption standard, so if you use this to secure your network, the server is no use to you. This second point in particular prevents the server from picking up an award.