Wireless vs Wired

[TexasIndian]

(just installed new AX router)

Tech assisting with install (other words, the techno-geek helping the blithering idiot!!) asked if

I had anything to plug into one of my several LAN ports; to which I replied accordingly  "Huh??".

She said it was advantageous to plug my printer in (it sits on a shelf 4.5 feet away from router).

What are the pros-n-cons of plugging printer into LAN port?  And if I did 'plug-in', would printer

still be able to receive pics/docs/etc sent from 'outside' sources?  Our cells?  Family out-of-state?

[Dragon-Fur · Accepted solution]

@TexasIndian 

In general, if you can attach something (a device) to the router, the connection is better, maybe faster, not prone to dropping.

Printers generally like to be connected via Ethernet to the router and therefore to your network.

 Product Specifications for the HP ENVY Photo 7855 All-in-One Printer (K7R96A)

Connectivity

Ports	1 USB 2.0 client and 1 USB host (for thumbdrive); 1 Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n; 1 Ethernet; 1 RJ-11 (Fax), dual band wifi 2.4/5Ghz, BLE, SD card slot
Wireless capability	Yes, built-in Ethernet, dual band Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n

That said, your devices that depend on Wireless (like the phones) will still connect to your router via the Wireless parts in the router.

The printer supports dual band.

If you have not done so,

If you "like" the idea of connecting the printer to your 5G network,

You can do so.

Making sure the printer is connected to the band of your choice might be more complicated than just using Ethernet, but 5G really excites some folks and it's difficult - and frequently not worth the time - to dissuade the converted.

Printer, if it's set up to receive pics/docs/whatever from over the Internet is using a different connection to do this.  That is, regardless of whether you are using Wireless or Ethernet to connect to your home network, the printer is using Web Services (eprint) or "Cloud Services" to connect the printer to its personal email address (people not in your house).

References / Resources

HP Support Channel - Collection of “how-to” videos

HP Video Gallery - YouTube

• Use Categories to narrow the results. 
• Select your Video

Printer  Home Page - References and Resources – Learn about your Printer  - Solve Problems

 “Things that are your printer”

NOTE:  Content depends on device type and Operating System

Categories:  Alerts, Access to the Print and Scan Doctor (Windows), Warranty Check, HP Drivers / Software / Firmware Updates, How-to Videos, Bulletins/Notices, Lots of How-to Documents, Troubleshooting, Manuals > User Guides, Product Information (Specifications), more

When the website support page opens, Select (as available) a Category > Topic > Subtopic

HP ENVY Photo 7855 All-in-One Printer 

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Reminder:  The Community is not an HP business group.

Our Community is comprised of volunteers - people who own and use HP devices.

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Question Resolved / Answered, Click "Accept as Solution" .

[TexasIndian]

Thank you so much Dragon-Fur,

I sincerely appreciate experts that can talk techno-idiot  with smatterings of

just-above-my-head geekdom...how the hell else do we learn!!  I'm heading

to WalMart tomorrow to grab longer Cat-6...printer maybe 4.5 ft away, but

gotta go from router to floor, across to baseboard, along to shelf, up to printer.

(fyi:  printer usually receives via HP Smart and new router uses Smart Connect.)

[Dragon-Fur]

@TexasIndian 

You are welcome.

Printer should work wirelessly.

Scanning can be pretty intense (lots of data) - the connection must be stable and solid.

We use Wireless for the mobile devices. 

In general, there are few problems.

That said, we do have a pretty robust network (house of tech-heads).

"Stuff" sitting in the office that includes an Ethernet port is connected that way.

What if?

If you decide you want to run (or at least try) Wireless,

HP provides a gallery of videos to introduce the subject and explain what to do.

HP Support Channel - Collection of “how-to” videos

HP Video Gallery - YouTube

• Use Categories to narrow the results. 
• Select your Video

Stay Safe.

Thank you for participating in the HP Community.

Reminder:  The Community is not an HP business group.

Our Community is comprised of volunteers - people who own and use HP devices.

Click Thumbs Up to say Thank You.

Question Resolved / Answered, Click "Accept as Solution" .

[TexasIndian]

finally got around to connecting the printer to my router via new Cat-6 ethernet cable; 

LOVE the idea of having wireless capabilities as well as stronger connection via cable

sent directly from my desktop...unfortunately, does not work.  🙁 Neighbor has very

near same model and said it's an either/or predicament...if so, I'll switch back to wireless.