To put it simply, printer pooling is a process of connecting two or more two printers to a single computer system. This thing is widely utilized where multiple monitors are required to print a large number of documents. Printer pooling is a great way to connect multi-port printers to a single computer. Also, you can use this strategy to connect a single printer to multiple computers.
This thing can effectively enhance the quality and speed of your printing tasks at the same time. In fact, most corporations would need printer pooling if they are looking to improve their performance and also the core business tasks. Printer pooling will not only help you speed up printing tasks but also improve efficiency.
You can imagine multiple printers connected to a single computer system. Now, if you want to print multiple documents, each printer can handle different tasks and you will get your desired things printed in a very short period of time.
The same task using a single printer will take multiple minutes because one printer will obviously print one document at a time.
So, printer pooling can help you get the most out of your printers if you have multiple ones.
In another way, you can connect your single printer to multiple computers as well. In this case, you would surely be having fewer printing tasks to get done per day. So, if a single printer can handle multiple commands from different people at different tasks, you will be able to save a lot of money.
But, this has nothing to do with the pooling tasks. Pooling has its actual name coming from a pool of printing devices. So, connecting multiple printers to a single system will be considered a pool.
Now, different environments or people would want to set up their printer pools in different manners. If you want to get the best out of your printer, you would always have to use the same printers while setting up a pool. This will help you get rid of the driver issues and various other hassles.
You are going to have much more effective results when you are using a printer pool instead of a single printer at the job. In this article, we are going to help you know more about these printer pools. So, without any further delays, let’s get started.
What is pooling and why it is important for printers?
As we discussed earlier in the above section, printer pooling is the process of connecting multiple printers to your computers. Now, there could be a single computer or multiple computers. But, the main thing is to increase the speed of printing with the help of multiple printers which are always ready to do the job done.
If you are using multiple printers, it simply means that you can send multiple printing commands and your printers will always be there to process and print them.
In order to set up a printer pool, you will firstly need to have multiple printers and then some extra components for the setup. This may include printer hubs and extra printer wires. Once a pool is properly installed and configured, you can start sending your print commands and multiple printers will be ready to print them.
The print priorities will generally depend on the availability of free printers. But, you can do some other customization or change the priorities as per your needs.
Another feature that is beneficial is the functionality of multiple printers being managed centrally. For small offices, managing printers can be difficult because each printer needs to be administered separately.
When managing multiple printers via the printer manager, you can easily identify which printer is in need of service and immediately place the printer under management. With the help of a printer pool, you will definitely be able to enhance your workflow by increasing the printing speed.
In this way, getting the most out of your computer and the printing devices is very easy and effective. Not only in the corporates, but you will also see printer pools in small companies, shops, and sometimes in personal setups.
Benefits of printer pooling (With printer hub)
You might be having a good idea of printer pooling with the information above. So, the basic benefit of printer pooling is that you can fasten up the printing process. You don’t have to rely upon a single printer in order to do your printing tasks.
Another primary benefit of printer pooling is the reduction in maintenance requirements. When multiple users access the same fax machine at the same time, there are numerous issues that arise.
For example, multiple users may not recognize or understand the different features and uses of the printer. This can result in multiple printing issues and confusion.
By running a single pool of faxes, multiple users will only need to focus on single tasks and not confuse the system. Some of the main benefits of printer pooling are as follows.
- Fast printing without queues
- Easy to integrate
- Good for multiple computer setups
- No need to buy expensive printers. You can do it using almost any printer
Once the printer pooling operating system starts to operate, the operating system will determine which tasks should be performed first and which should wait until the next priority change.
The advantage of doing this is that you can start out with fewer tasks in the queue and reduce the time needed for printing by reducing the number of priority points. By assigning priority to different printing tasks based on their priority, you can also avoid waiting on one task while the rest of your tasks are being printed.
With the help of printer pooling, you are definitely going to get the best benefits possible for printing tasks.
Drawbacks of printer pooling
You might have been aware of the main benefits of printer pooling by reading the information above. But, you should also be ready to see the drawbacks. Generally, you will face no issues using the printer pooling if you are doing it in the right way.
But, there are definitely some drawbacks that should be known before doing anything else. So, some of the main drawbacks of printer pooling are as follows.
- Could be hard to set up
- Some operating systems might not support it
- The same driver and software are required for all printers
- The printers should be placed near to each other
Some other printers might cause issues related to numerous things. If you are using different printers to install a single pool, you are going to have some issues for sure.
If they are coming from different brands, you will face driver issues that you will have to fix before starting to use your pool.
Otherwise, there are no serious issues if you are doing everything properly.
Who should use printer pooling?
Any company working in any field where large printing tasks are involved should use printing pooling. This thing will be great when you have a lot of printing tasks to do on a daily basis but a single printer to handle those workloads.
Printer pooling is a great way to make use of your multiple printers for huge printing works. This will be great in printing shops, photo editing tasks, etc.
If you have a staff with multiple computers and all of them are required to print several copies of documents on a regular basis, you would definitely get the best results with printer pooling. This is going to provide you with great results when you have more than 5 printers and a single or maximum of two computer systems.
Printer pooling can also be utilized for personal purposes sometimes. If you are having a single printer and it is not able to handle huge printing tasks sent from your computer, you can easily deploy two or more two printers to share those printing tasks. This will give you a lot of benefits not only for saving your time but also for providing other things as well.
For example, if you want to print black and white and color prints from different printers, you can use different devices at different times.
It is all up to your selection and you will be asked for the same whenever you are proceeding with any printing task.
8 Exclusive steps to configure a new printer pool for multi-port color bidirectional printers?
If you are having previously worked on computers or multiple frames screens, it will be very easy to configure multiple printers for them. The first thing will be to connect your multiple printers to a single hub in order to get them ready for further configurations.
You would want to use a hub that can support the number of printers you are looking to connect.
Once the printers are connected, you can follow the below process to get started.
1. Go to the Start menu in windows and search for Devices and Printers and then go to this menu
2. You will find all your connected printers there. Just right-click on any printer and click Port. Note down all the ports available on the menu.
3. Next, go to the Devices and Printers menu and click Add a new printer
4. Go further and add the printer you want to add to your pool
5. Select the Local printer and uncheck the option “Automatically detect My Plug and Play Printer” and then click Next
6. Choose “Use the Follow port” and select the port of your first printer
7. Now, you can go to your printer and right-click it
8. Click Enable printer pooling to get started
This process might vary as per the Windows version. So, we would suggest you go through some tutorials or YouTube videos for more information.
Normally, you can get support from your printer manufacturer and they will help you get this thing done as well. If you don’t know anything about these things, it is good to get in touch with a professional to do the same for you.
Can we use different printers in a printer pool for print priorities?
It is always advised to use printers from the same brands if possible. Also, it will be good if you are using the same monitor models. This will help you get rid of serious configuration issues. But, if you are using different printers, make sure to have drivers installed for all of them.
You should get the drivers from the official websites and make sure to install them on all the computers you are going to configure inside a pool. Driver issues are most common with this type of setup. Also, you may want different printing hubs for connecting the printers.
Because all the printers are going to work and behave differently, you may have to use external software to handle those tasks. In normal setups, you can easily get this thing done without using any external software. These are the main reasons why you should try to use the same printers whenever you try to set up multiple monitors.
For example, if you are going to configure a new printing pool and trying to go for new printers, it is a good thing to buy the same monitors.
However, if you are going to install the old printers which are not from the same brand and model, you would definitely need to use them. It is certainly possible to get it done. But, you will have to put some extra effort to get this done.
Final Verdict
We hope this article will help you know everything about printer pooling and its processes. Make sure to use the same printers to set up a new pool if it is possible for you.
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