Networking Windows 7 with Android tablet with iPad

Topic

New Reply

I want to network my Windows 7 Home Premium PC with my Android tablet and my wife’s iPad primarily so that we can print documents and emails from our tablets. Our printers – an HP all-in-one and an old Epson Action Laser – are connected to our Windows PC via cables. They are not wireless printers. The PC is connected to our router via cable and the tablets naturally are wireless. The printers are set to sharing on the PC.

While I’m at it, it would be nice to be able to access certain files on the PC from my tablet.

I have no clue how to do this, or if it’s even possible, though I don’t know why it wouldn’t be, this is the 21st century.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Reply | Quote

Replies

I am not sure about the Android Tablet, but with the iPad (at least iPad3) you can print documents from it on your printers, provided the iPad is on the same network as your PC. You need to install the app PrintCentral (even the free iPhone version of it will do) on your iPad, and a small program called WePrint on your PC, which is basically a print server. Once you have them istalled, the process of setting them up to print is relatively simple. I cannot give you the details immediately, as I am away from home, but I had no difficulty in making them work together.
I would imagine there is a similar thing somewhere for the Android.
I think there are various ways of getting documents onto your iPad from your PC – one way is to open a (free) Dropbox account and install Dropbox on your PC and on your Ipad – you can then access any documents in your Dropbox folder omn your iPad, and even edit them with an app such as Pages or QuickEdit (formerly known as Office2 or something like that). Also there is an app called FileApp for iPad which works with Evernote on your PC (both free).
Best of luck.
Paul

Reply | Quote

Hi Ronald,

Have a look at Using PrintCentral and WePrint to Print from Your iPad (excerpt from iPad All-in-One For Dummies).

Also, have a look at Activate iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or Android printing for ALL printers to download WePrint.

I use Google Drive on my Win 7 PC, iPad and Nexus 7 to store, sync and access selected files. (Yes, I know many people have concerns about Google but, quite frankly, it’s not really a concern of mine.) I tried DropBox but found it a bit clunky by comparison and was worried at the time (about 2 years ago) about its data breaches. I also tried SkyDrive (now OneDrive) but – although photostreaming was better on SkyDrive – found Google Drive just easier.

Another consideration at the time was that Google Drive offered 15 Gb free storage whilst SkyDrive offered only 5 Gb and DropBox only 2 Gb (if I remember correctly). Finally, I preferred Google Drive’s ‘sharing’ capabilities which meant I could give members of my family access to one folder and its files whilst keeping my personal folder private.

One of the things I find strange is that the Google Drive app for the iPad is more functional than its equivalent on the Nexus. The Android GUI is quite plain-looking:

Google Drive app – Android
36915-gdrive-android
Click to enlarge

The iPad GUI is intuitive and one thing I like particularly about it is the Offline button (shown by the pin in the left hand pane in the pic below). If I know I’m going out of wireless range then I use this button to download a local copy beforehand. I find this especially useful when I visit my Dad’s local (wireless) medical surgery with him and need his non-medical notes available to show his doctor.

Google Drive app – IOS
36916-gdrive-ipad
Click to enlarge

For comparison, here’s the web browser and PC GUIs:

Google Drive app – Web
36917-gdrive-web
Click to enlarge

Google Drive – PC
36918-gdrive-pc
Click to enlarge

Hope this helps…

Reply | Quote

Hi Ronald, I cant help you with Apple but on my Android (Galaxy S3) I use PrinterShare https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dynamixsoftware.printershare .Also Available on itunes app store for iPad. Its not free but does have a free test mode to test printer. it supports HP and just about all other printers both wireless, Bluetooth, network and cloud printing. I have my printers plugged direct to my Router via LAN cable and this eliminates all hassle of trying to connect wirelessly with so many devices. All I have to do is connect to my Wireless Network and the printer shows up and is accessible to all devices on the network. If your printer does not have the ability to connect via LAN but only via USB, then no problem as PrinterShare on Android also discovers printers connected to PCs on networks as long as you have allowed sharing on that PC you can print to that printer. You can also print to Google OneDrive or any other cloud printer service you have or want to set up. Also allows you to choose Paper size, print properties and any other features associated with printers including print preview before printing. Have tried many others but this one does everything needed across all devices and protocols. Hope this helps your cause.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the input and suggestions. I will give them a try!

Sorry to be so late in getting back to this but I was traveling and when I returned the email notification that you had responded was way down the list and I missed it!

Ron

Reply | Quote