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IT Services Knowledge Base

You are here Wired and Wi-Fi Networks > Wired Network in Offices and Labs > Network printing

Offices and Labs - Network printing

Connecting a printer to the Trinity data network

Printers which have an ethernet card allowing you use a network cable for a Wired connection, may be connected to the network in Trinity offices and labs. This service is only available for printers with Wired network capability and so it is not possible to connect printers which only have Wi-Fi network capabilities.

In order to get a printer working on the network it is necessary to submit a network request. The printer will then be assigned a Printer Name and can then be connected to from any computer connected to the Trinity data network in offices and labs or the staff wireless network. The facility to print from computers on the staff wireless network is available from areas on the main campus but not currently available in areas such as the Biosciences building, St. James's and Tallaght.

If you subsequently need to find out the Printer Name of the printer then locate the configuration page menu option on the printer and print this configuration page. The information on this page will include the Printer Name.

Once you know the Printer Name, follow the instructions below to connect to a network printer from any PC or Mac on the Trinity data network in offices and labs or on the staff wireless network.

In keeping with our Sustainability Policy, please ensure you set your device to print double sided/duplex

Network Printer Security

Networked Printers include, but are not limited to: printers, multi-function devices (MFDs), copiers, scanners, or similar devices. These devices have become more sophisticated in recent years and have advanced from simple print devices to include services such as scanning, scan-to-email, document storage and other services. Network printers are fully-fledged networked computers that offer out-of-box easy print, scan and email of documents. Unfortunately, this ease of use is at the expense of poor security. Network printers commonly offer a web server where any user may browse to the printer where a simple web interface is available to manage the operations of the printer. Without security changes made to the printer, it is susceptible to:

  • Disruption to printer service and re-routing of print jobs to malicious third-parties.
  • Denial-of-service (DOS) attacks. The printer may be the cause or recipient of such attacks.
  • Documents or other sensitive information stored on the printer may be accessed.

Configuring a computer to connect to a network printer

How you set up a connection to a network printer is based on what operating system you are running. Choose your operating system from the following list:

Need help determining your operating system?

Enabling current networked printers to be printed to from devices connected to the staff Wi-Fi service

For users of the staff Wi-Fi service, it may not be possible to connect to printers which were connected to the Trinity data network prior to October 2012. To enable such a printer to be available from a device connected to the staff Wi-Fi service please ask your head of area to submit a network request to have the printer connected, as if requesting connection of this printer for the first time. Note that this facility to print from staff Wi-Fi is not currently available in areas away from the main campus such as the Biosciences building, St. James's and Tallaght.

The network records for this printer will be updated, it will be assigned a new Printer Name and it can then be connected to from the staff wireless network, as well as computers in Trinity offices and labs. All computers which had been configured to connect to the printer previously will also need to follow the instructions above to connect to the new Printer Name.

Please note that this printer will be unavailable for a period of time during the period where its network records are being updated by IT Services. Until the new Printer Name is communicated to you it will not be possible for anyone to connect to this printer.