I've recently bought a TP-LINK TL-SG105 switch.

Connected to the switch is

• a TP-LINK AV600 powerline adaptor
• a Sitecom LN-300 print server connected to a HP2300 Duplex printer (ethernet to parallel port)
• a StarTech PM1115U2 print server connected to a HP Photosmart C4580 (ethernet to usb)

With this network combination for printing I find that -

• The HP 4580 always connects to the network and a test print gets printed in a timely manner.
  
• The HP 2300 has difficulty connecting to the network and if a test print gets printed it takes it's time.

My previous "network" for printing was to -

• connect the Sitecom LN-300 print server directly to the TP-LINK AV600 powerline adaptor. In this combination the HP 2300 printer always connects to the network and a test print prints in a timely manner.
  
• connect a 5m USB cable directly from my main PC to the HP 4580 printer. In this combination the HP 4580 printer always connects to the network and a test print prints in a timely manner.

What I don't understand is why the switch -

1. finds it difficult to send packets to a SiteCom LN-300 print server
   
2. has no problem sending packets to a StarTech PM1115U2 print server

.

Bit more information -

In the combination AV600 connected directly to Switch SG105

Switch to LN-300 (192.168.1.60) to HP2300
Switch to PM1115U2 (192.168.1.129)
WIFI to HP4580 (192.168.1.109)

Which is the combination that's giving me problems. If I then test the network using

I get

The nmap command never completes.


It is the printer on 192.168.1.60 that has difficulty connecting and if it does the test print doesn't print in a timely manner.

Without being familiar (or wanting to research) your particular switch and print server hardware, you might find that it is due to buffer size perhaps. That can cause issues with TCP performance, packets being dropped etc.

For example...
https://fasterdata.es.net/network-tu...uffer-testing/

The switch is your typical desktop plug and play 10/100/1000 Mbps device. It does have automatic power saving modes that on an odd chance might mess with the print server.

Somewhat painless troubleshooting steps could be switching ports or swapping the switch with a different model if possible.

Well I connected Firefox to the print server and had a look around.

At the time I thought it was a good idea to disable Appletalk, IPX/SPX and Netbui.

Now, when I connect a live Ethernet cable to the Switch the Switch powers down. Ouch!

I then discover that though the 100-odd page manual refers to a Reset Button this only applies to the LN-301 3 port Print Server, not the LN-300 1 port Print Server!

The manual for the Print Server was published in October 2000, which does seem an awfully long time ago. I must have bought the HP2300 back in 2001/2002. So probably time to move on. I wonder how many 18 year old laser printers are still in use?

Had a look inside the LN-300 nothing looked like a stub to connect a factory reset button to.

I then remembered that the HP2300 Printer has a USB port. Tested this with a direct USB cable from HP2300 to PC, this worked. I then used the StarTech PM1115U2 print server (ethernet to usb) to connect to the HP2300 printer - nothing- Grrr.

Swapped the StarTech PM1115U2 print server (ethernet to usb) back to the HP4580 - worked.

Swapped the StarTech PM1115U2 print server (ethernet to usb) back to the HP2300 - nothing.

Repeat - same result.

Connected the USB cable back to the PC so now PC had a direct USB connection to the HP2300 - worked

I'll give it some thought over the next few days to see if I can come up with other options.

If my HP 4 had not failed due to a lightning strike I would probably still be using it since it had ethernet.

A Raspberry Pi might be an option as a remote print server for both since they are USB devices.

I assume its the age of the print server.

+1 to that suggestion. Lots of good "how to's" such as this one
https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/...i-print-server

A few years ago I had a working Raspberry PI print server. The problem encountered was that others didn't recognise it as a computer and would consistently switch it off at the mains, after all that's what you do with printers - switch them off at the wall. I always meant to get round to installing a UPS for the Raspberry PI so that it would shut down cleanly when power was lost. I have two other PIs in regular use, but one is used with a TV and the other with the 7inch monitor so are both recognised as computers. Maybe I need a UPS added to my PI box of hats, for those just in case moments.

What I did in the end, was buy a reconditioned HP LaserJet card circa 2005 for £24.00. It was the cheapest option.

It arrived and within a few minutes I had the new card plugged in to the HP2300, my network saw the card, allocated new IP address and the HP2300 is now printing. It's a neater solution than I had before as the internal card has replaced an external print server, plugpack, power cable and an RS232 cable.

Thanks for all your comments. I'll mark this as solved.

Thanks for the update.