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Unkown problem with printer name resolution

By Namey ·
I am attempting to get a printer installed on a set of computers via its internal print server. Due to the circumstances, I'll need the printer port to point to the printer's hostname as opposed to the printer's IP address, which is dynamically assigned. The problem is that no computer can resolve the printer's hostname. I have tried different printers and firmwares, and even a spare external print server I had in the lab. The computers can ping the printers' and external print server's IP addresses but not the hostname I've assigned to any of the print devices. The computers resolve their hostnames and each other's hostnames just fine. All testing has been done on consumer grade routers (netgear and belkin) while not connected to a WAN/internet/external DNS.

What I'm wondering is, since I believe the computer name resolution is occurring via NetBIOS broadcasts, do the print server devices lack some critical piece which allows for this functionality? A piece that the computers have and allows them to resolve their hostnames to IP addresses? Would this implementation require a dedicated internal DNS resolution server to work? If so, I thought that the off the shelf consumer routers provided this. Would the fact that I?m not connecting the router to the internet be triggering some setting on the router? I?m looking for any helpful verdict here so I can, at a minimum, move on to developing a different solution instead of endlessly researching this...

Thanks for any comments or help.

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Why not static?

by rjluvkc In reply to Unkown problem with print ...

Instead of dhcp on that printer, just give it a static ip and setup your ports to that.

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Unfortunately, Static addressing is not possible

by Namey In reply to Why not static?

This is a setup that I intend to use at multiple sites, some mobile. We have about 30 mobile sites. To minimize user interaction when moving sites, this setup in theory, is perfect. Local IT resources are strained and probably not going to be as punctual as needed for the type of business that we do so if it could be setup to work "out of the box" on a consumer router and single workgroup, it would be a magic bullet solution. Doesn't look like this is going to happen though. Frown Probably going to have to go with a million extra external print servers to setup individually for each geographic location and printer.

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you could get away with using WINS or a hosts file on each computer

by CG IT In reply to Unfortunately, Static add ...

if you don't have any servers that can host a WINS server, then I'd go the hosts route, but hosts files are/were notorious targets for malware....

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