USB to parallel printer cable. How to share a printer between two computers

Computers have various types of ports to connect peripherals, one of the oldest being a parallel port. Popularly known as Parallel Printer Adapter, it was mostly used for operating printers.

Today, as the technologies advance, this type of port has become almost obsolete. Most computers would have a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, and it is rare to find a computer equipped with a parallel port. However parallel port printers are still in use, these are usually printers that can do wide sheet or continuous roll printing. To connect such a printer to your computer you would need a parallel printer cable, i.e. USB adapter. It works as a parallel port-USB port converter and allows connecting up to 127 parallel port printers to your computer. This printer cable Windows only.

Share a printer between two computers with USB Network Gate

Another issue you might face is sharing a single printer between multiple computers. Here a USB printer cable or any other hardware is not really a solution – what if your computers are located at a distance from each other? Or you just can’t stand cable clutter at your desk? How to share a printer between two computers?

A software tool seems to be a much better option in these circumstances – USB over Ethernet allows you to share USB printer over network (LAN/ WAN/ Ethernet/ Internet). No matter how far you are from the printer, its functionality will be available to you as if it were inserted directly into your machine.

Step-by-step guide on how to share a USB printer:

1. Download and install the app on both computers – the server, i.e. the computer to which your printer is connected, and the client, i.e. the computer that needs to access the printer.
   
   
2. Go to the server and open the app, in the list of available devices displayed find the printer and click ‘Share’. Now it should be visible on the client side.
   
   
3. Launch the app on the client computer, locate the printer and click ‘Connect’. That’s it – now you can remotely send documents for a printout.

The good thing about USB Network Gate is that it helps you share a USB printer across platforms. The app is compatible with all popular operating systems – MacOS, Linux and Windows.