MFP M281CDW - Can I use both USB and Ethernet?

[DonM2000]

I have recently installed an MFP M281CDW Color Laserjet printer.  The device is used in my home office for both work purposes and personal.  This is relevant because it is on my home network and is used by my entire family (via ethernet connection) and also by my work laptop which may be on my standard home network or on my companies VPN (same physical network but using Cisco Anyconnect).  When I am on VPN my home network devices (e.g. the Printer in question) is not accessible via ethernet.

In the past we were using an HP 6700 inkjet printer and I was able to configure both the USB direct connection for my work laptop (allowed printing while on VPN) and also the network configuration (when not on VPN) - meaning both cables were connected to the printer and we were able to print from the network for home devices and USB for my dedicated work computer.  I honestly don't recall how I did this as it was many years ago that I did this configuration. 

When I tried to configure the USB on my work laptop it indicated that this would override/delete the network configuration.  id didn't know if this meant from the printer or just from my computer... So, I guess my questions are this:

1) If I have the USB cable plugged into the printer - will the device (printer MFP M281cdw) recognize both the USB and Ethernet connections?  This is important as I need to have the printer on my home network so my home devices can print.

2) For my work laptop - Is it possible to configure my work laptop to work with both USB and wired network on this device?  this would be convenient although not necessary, as USB-only for that one device would be an acceptable compromise.

Many Thanks!

[sandytechy20]

@DonM2000

Welcome to HP support community.

The printer supports one active local (USB) connection and one active network connection (Ethernet) at a time. It is not possible to connect the printer to both Ethernet and wireless networks at the same time.

I hope that helps.

To thank me for my efforts to help you, please mark my post as an accepted solution so that it benefits several others.

Cheers.

[AlS77]

Yes. The printer should be able to have both the network and USB cables plugged in at the same time and print from either as needed. If you want to setup both ways on the same computer, then simply install the printer a second time with a different connection type and name them differently so you know which is which.

The reason your work laptop it indicated that this would override/delete the network configuration is that you were trying to change the connection type in the only printer driver setup you had. It can only support one connection type at a time, hence why you install a second printer driver with a different connection type.