TRENDnet TE100-P21 10/100Mbps Multi-Port Print Server RJ45 LPT, USB 2.0

Pros: I have the TE100-P21 v1.0 server and it has been a solid performer under XP. Occasionally have to restart/reset the server/printer but not a big deal. Cheaper than buying 2x network printers (laser and photo attached now). It even worked with my old parallel Canon Bubblejet until that printer finally died.

Cons: The v1.0 does not support Win 7. The v2.0 should with downloaded drivers but it's a bit of a kludge. Also, go to the TrendNet site and do your homework on supported printers.

Other Thoughts: TrendNet now sells a TE100-P21 v3.0R in a white case that shows current and native drivers for Win 7. Does anyone who's recently ordered this from NE know if it's now the v3.0R and the Manufacturer link is just outdated?

Pros: According to TRENDnet's website they have discontinued this model, which is too bad because it is a great value at this price. I can't say anything about reliablity yet, but it is working with three HP printers connected. The working printers are DJ600, DJ940c, and PhotoSmart C5250. Once this model is gone good luck finding something similar at this price, get it while you can!

Cons: Setup is not hard, but as others have posted you should have some experience with setting these things up. It is not plug and play, you have been warned.

Pros: Simple, effective, cheap, easy enough to set up with install disk. Seems to work great if you printer has a "real" control panel for paper jams, paper out, low ink, etc (e.g. Canon ImageClass)

Cons: Couldn't be used with a newer Epson Workforce, since it couldn't pass Status Monitor information through and it's nearly impossible to change ink cartridges/reload paper mid-print job with only the three (mostly decorative) buttons on top

Other Thoughts: Can't emphasize this tip from a 2007 review enough!
"[in XP, at least] use the Printer Setup Wizard option "Connect to a printer on the internet or on a home or office network" and use the URL http://[print server's IP]/[port name]." Don't try to be a slick computer janitor like me and grab your printer(s) from Windows Explorer- you'll get delays of *10-30 seconds*.

Pros: Promised to clean up messy cabling and ease printing from multiple computers.

Cons: Only worked on one of my printers. I tried 5 different printers and only 1 old HP Officejet with a parallel interface would work. None of my USB printers would work. I called Trendnet tech support. They said it was not compatable with any of my printers. I think that both USB ports were dead.

Other Thoughts: Trendnet tech support said it is not compatable with any multi-function printer, even just for printing.

Manufacturer Response:

Valued Customer,

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please note that TE100-P21 won’t support host-based printers as described in our specification. Please contact us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "New Egg product review" and someone will contact you immediately to help. We look forward to working with you directly and restoring your faith in TRENDnet products.

Warmest regards,

TRENDnet Sales Team

Pros: Straight forward and easy to use. Great value for the price. The documentation is reasonably good.
Once set up and running it is one of those devices that will do it's job in the background and you can forget about it.

Cons: Setup program on the CD is not compatible with Win7 64BIT (the correct setup version is downloadable from Trendnet.

Other Thoughts: Since this is my first time setting up a print server, I did not realize that the print software needed to be installed on each computer that is accessing the print server.

Once I realized that the device only routes jobs and does not do any print pre-procesing, the connecting to each PC went very smoothly.

1: configure the device using PSutilitySetup.exe and it seems to me to be the best approach to give the PrintServer a fixed IP address.

2: Install the printer software for all printers in your network on all your PCs. (this step is really missing in the instruction booklet)

3: Use the Wizard on the CD to identify the local printers you just installed to ports 1-3 on the PrintServer

Pros: I originally avoided this print server based on an earlier review that said it was incompatible with the Zebra TLP-2844z on a USB port.

Can't speak to the USB connection, but I have an older LP-2844 hooked up to the parallel port with no problems.

Cons: None. I wish it had a built-in ethernet switch.

Other Thoughts: Nice features and price. Windows 7 compatible. There are updated Win 7 64-bit configuration utilities available on Trendnet's product page.

Pros: This Trendnet print server was actually easy to set up and has run smooth as silk for nearly a year.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Our experience with this print server has been the exact opposite of our experience with the Hawking print servers we've used in the past. Those were always difficult to set up and both broke down within 3 years. While I certainly cannot yet attest to the longevity of the Trendnet print server, I can confirm that set up is relatively easy.

Pros: worked great

Cons: dead within 3 months

Pros: Works like a charm -- a massive improvement over the Hawking print servers that kept breaking down and were hard to set up. Thanks to the advice offered by some of the posters here, set up took little time. Pay attention to that advice.

Cons: A manual that was less than perfectly clear. Needing to rely on the advice of folks here to set it up correctly. When are these manufacturers going to realize that a good manual written in plain English without a lot of technical jargon avoids calls to tech support and results in happier customers who will recommend their products?

Other Thoughts: The advice posted here that was so helpful was: "MUST be configured differently from quick start setup instructions. DON'T USE them or it will result in extremely slow network device recognition and slow printing. When adding a printer from a workstation DO NOT use the friendly network name such as PS-70AC43 or PRINT_SERVER as it appears in network neighborhood or network places. Use the IP address instead, such as http://192.168.0.5/HP3380."

Pros: Somewhat easy to set up using the cd but you have to have the printer drives in every computer that you want to set up

Cons: The dinamic ip adress is crazy if you reset your router i no longer will work you have to do it all over again after you set it once make the ip adress manual and it will work perfect

Other Thoughts: The website don"t mention my printer to being supported but it work well some what slow on my wireless network 150mb