Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
James Hardin photo
Nigeria, Abuja
1 Level
744 Review
91 Karma

Review on TRENDnet Wireless N Print πŸ–¨οΈ Server TEW-MFP1: Enhance Your Printing Efficiency by James Hardin

Revainrating 2 out of 5

Sharing via USB, no network printing. Be prepared for some installation issues. Does not work with Mac OS X 10, no update planned.

I purchased this product because I needed to move my router to a location where I could not establish a wired Ethernet connection to my HP LaserJet printer. The LJ has built-in Ethernet and easily connects to my PC and Mac for network printing. What I didn't expect from the TRENDnet device is that it's not a network print server. Instead, it simulates unplugging and plugging the USB cable from different computers to the printer. IOW, only one computer can connect to the printer at a time. TRENDnet requires that you install a software control panel on every computer that uses wireless USB. It looks like the control panel should automatically force the wireless USB box to switch connections when a job is sent to the printer, but I've found that this feature doesn't always work and is sometimes the only way to receive a print job from computer A to manually disconnect computer B from the TRENDnet device using the control panel on computer B. I don't print much at home so I can live with that, but I understand how annoying it can be in an office with half an hour a dozen people. The Control Panel software version that came on the CD that came with my unit did not install properly on my MacBook Air, but downloading the latest version from TRENDnet worked WELL. I recommend skipping the software on the CD and going straight to the TRENDnet website (google the product name). If you are installing the software on a Windows PC, do not try to create a virtual port to dedicate to Wireless USB as the instructions suggest. The control panel software actually does this for you if you set it to "connect automatically": the printer. If you create a port yourself, after setting up the automatic connection to the control panel, you will have two ports. You cannot delete the one you create until you uninstall the control panel software. Update: I recently allowed my MacBook Air to update to OS X 10 and then found that TRENDnet software does not work with any OS X above 9. A TRENDnet representative told me that a compatibility update is not planned.

Pros
  • Availability
Cons
  • Out of fashion