iPad Pro Printing with a USB-C to Ethernet dock?

[hollowsocket]

Anyone have experience printing from an iPad to a non-airprint printer using the ethernet connection over a USB-C dock? If you were able to make this work, what dock did you use?

I have a 2020 iPad Pro but cannot print at work because my institution does not have airprint enabled printers. Other folks with Macs can print over ethernet or wireless to the printer.

*sigh* iPadOS limitations....

 

[Davidalan]

You can also print wirelessly without AirPrint by downloading your printer's app on an iPhone or iPad, or by connecting your devices with a USB cable and adapter.Apr 6, 2021

https://www.businessinsider.com › h...

How to Print From iPhone: Add Printer With or Without AirPrint​

There is no way to directly connect an iPad to a hard wired printer though. Nor is a cellular LTE connection going to help unless those printers are also LTE connected and can be seen by some App in the App store to handle printing to them. To be more specific, AirPrint is a LAN protocol, not exclusively Wi-Fi.Aug 23, 2016

https://discussions.apple.com › thread

Q: How to print from an iPad Pro to a wired network printer? - Apple Support Communities​

 

[hollowsocket]

Thanks, man! I will try the mobile app for the printer brand tomorrow and the USB cable idea. Even so, I would like to avoid having to carry something to the printer when perhaps there is a way to print from my iPad over the network. But out of necessity and barring any other solution, if those work, I'm in business.

About the original question: can I print from the app I'm working from (Word, Acrobat, Mail, whatever) over ethernet to the printer using a USB-C app? If you don't know, that's ok, but I'm asking if anyone has done it. Not sure if you intended to answer this with your "no way to directly connect" comment, but that isn't clear to me (especially since you just said I could directly connect with a USB cable).

Anybody else?

 

[jadenmath]

Would recommend just buying a used Airport Express and hook it up to the printer via USB. AirPrint tends to be extremely convenient

 

[titoaida2078]

Anyone have experience printing from an iPad to a non-airprint printer using the ethernet connection over a USB-C dock? If you were able to make this work, what dock did you use?

I have a 2020 iPad Pro but cannot print at work because my institution does not have airprint enabled printers. Other folks with Macs can print over ethernet or wireless to the printer.

*sigh* iPadOS limitations....

But why choose a physical connection when a wireless connection is much more ideal?

 

[mikiee]

Anyone have experience printing from an iPad to a non-airprint printer using the ethernet connection over a USB-C dock? If you were able to make this work, what dock did you use?

I have a 2020 iPad Pro but cannot print at work because my institution does not have airprint enabled printers. Other folks with Macs can print over ethernet or wireless to the printer.

*sigh* iPadOS limitations....

This may not apply to your situation................I have T-mobile Home Internet. My Lexmark laser printer is plugged into the modem/router combo by ethernet. My iPad 8 recognized the printer instantly and I print whatever's on my iPad.

 

[titoaida2078]

This may not apply to your situation................I have T-mobile Home Internet. My Lexmark laser printer is plugged into the modem/router combo by ethernet. My iPad 8 recognized the printer instantly and I print whatever's on my iPad.

Through an app or what?

 

[mikiee]

Through an app or what?

No app. I just plugged my Lexmark printer into the T-Mobile gateway. I went to a doc on my iPad that I wanted to print. Chose "send a copy"/print/choose printer/print.

 

[hollowsocket]

But why choose a physical connection when a wireless connection is much more ideal?

Well, because I tried a wireless connection through the network and AFAICT the iPP is not able to recognize any printer that is not airprint-enabled. I have helped friends with MBAs set up printing over the same network (command-K and all that), but there no way to figure this out with iPP. IT is not interested in helping me because we are officially a PC institution.

I'll try the printer company's app later today, but a wired connection is the only option I have left.

 

[Slartibart]

Well, because I tried a wireless connection through the network and AFAICT the iPP is not able to recognize any printer that is not airprint-enabled. I have helped friends with MBAs set up printing over the same network (command-K and all that), but there no way to figure this out with iPP. IT is not interested in helping me because we are officially a PC institution.

I'll try the printer company's app later today, but a wired connection is the only option I have left.

At least the apps from HP and Ricoh allow adding a printer with its IP - connecting the iPad via ethernet to print should work.
Depending on the network structure (that is how printer IPs are assigned within) you might be even able to print to such a printer while connected to a WLAN inside the same network structure.

 

[hollowsocket]

You can also print wirelessly without AirPrint by downloading your printer's app on an iPhone or iPad, or by connecting your devices with a USB cable and adapter.

David, thanks for the tip. Printing documents worked today using the Kyocera app. While one has to print through the app and is restricted to the app's settings, I can get most of what I need done with this (e.g., two-sided printing, multiple pages per side). Unfortunately, this adds steps on top of printing through an app in which one composes a document.

I cannot, however, figure out how to print emails, which the Mail app seems set up to do only with an airprint-enabled printer. Nor does the Mail app have an option to export an email as a .pdf which one can then print out of the Kyocera app. For this reason, I'm still stuck looking for more complete solution. The USB cord idea did not work with this printer.

 

[titoaida2078]

David, thanks for the tip. Printing documents worked today using the Kyocera app. While one has to print through the app and is restricted to the app's settings, I can get most of what I need done with this (e.g., two-sided printing, multiple pages per side). Unfortunately, this adds steps on top of printing through an app in which one composes a document.

I cannot, however, figure out how to print emails, which the Mail app seems set up to do only with an airprint-enabled printer. Nor does the Mail app have an option to export an email as a .pdf which one can then print out of the Kyocera app. For this reason, I'm still stuck looking for more complete solution. The USB cord idea did not work with this printer.

Are you not allowed to buy your own printer?

 

[hollowsocket]

Thanks for the suggestion! I could buy my own printer and ink to print hundreds of pages per semester, but that would be more expensive than buying a usb-c hub/dock with an ethernet port that would allow me to print on the institution's ink. (I am assuming I could use the same paper either way, so that doesn't affect cost.) Hence my original question!

 

[hollowsocket]

I'm disappointed. The Kyocera app produces blurry print compared to printing off the iMac to the printer...