Different ways to connect the printer to the computer

Here are the different types of connections that exist to print from your computer or from a mobile device to the printer.

After purchasing a printer, it is important to make sure you will be able to connect it to your printer or your mobile device to get the work done.  In this post, we talk about the different types of connection available.


What follows is a small evolutionary overview of the types of connections available for printers.

The types of connections ranging from the oldest type called parallel or serial connection to the modern and innovative system that allows us to print without cables Wi-Fi.

parallel cable

The parallel cable was one of the first types of connection created to connect a printer, this cable can also be called serial cable and was reliable and strong.

 USB  Printer cable

After the parallel or serial cable comes the printer cable mostly use nowadays, almost all printers have this type of connection and all computers have a USB port

USB stands for "Universal Serial Bus" and was designed to remove the type of connection to the computer. The printer cable has the Plug and Pay technology that allows the computer to detect what model of printer was connected and update drivers.

The ethernet cable exists in two different version 2.0 and version 3.0 and allows the fast transfer of documents. The only disadvantages of this type of connection are their short distance and troubleshooting difficulties.

ethernet cable for printers

This type of connection is one of the other ways to connect the printer to the computer. However, this can only be done if the printer has the ethernet cable port.

The ethernet cable has its advantage, the printer can be connected to multiple devices and share the same network. It really helps because not every team does not need to have a printer. The drawback of this type of connection is the computer must be connected through this cable to print.

bluetooth printers

The Bluetooth printer is the type of wireless connection, this method is not really popular in printers and has only excelled in audio systems and mobile phones.

Connection via Wi-Fi network

The WI-FI network connection is one of the very effective and functional connection, no wires are needed to connect the printer to the computer and if the WI-FI has a wider range which facilitates and ease the installation and the compatibility since most computers have this technology available and there no adjustment needed. 

This type of connection allows new devices such as tablets and smartphones to print easily.

The disadvantage of this connection is that everything depends on how strong the central router that connects both the computer and the printer.