Set a password for a printer?

[Chelsea26]

Hello!

We have a printer in the office lounge area and it's connected to wifi.

Everyone who connects to our wifi can use the printer, which can sometimes be a problem.

I was wondering if we could set a password for the printer so only people who know the password can use it.

Thank you!

[John_Getzke]

The problem here is that you are trying to share a printer over the network with some guests but not others.  The printer does not perform individual user print job authentication on its own.  If you can see the printer, then the printer will attempt to print.  You need the printer to belong to a seperate network that can be password protected in the first place.

What most companies do is setup a Virtual LAN and then move the printer to the VLAN.  Then setup a Print Server and grant that print server access to both the VLAN and the prod LAN.  The only way into the printer is through the print server.  Print servers can do authentication and restrict access to its corresponding print queues.  Approved guests can then use a guest Windows credential to authenticate and install print queues from the print server, where normal guests cannot.  However, this breaks some functionality for entirely mobile clients like phones and tablets as they may not be able to setup a network print queue like a Laptop or Desktop would.

The other option is to setup 3 networks:

- Production = All access (Internet+Print+Production resources)

- Guest+Print = Internet + Print

- Guest = Internet only

Leave the public Guest network open to everyone with no passwords.  Restrict access to GuestPrint and Production with a password, only hand it out as needed.