newbie fedora user (or linux in general). I am trying to connect to my Canon GX7050 printer with Wifi Direct or Wireless Direct, like its called in the printer menu.
In Windows to add the printer I just click add printer in the print menu and after a while it shows connect wifi-direct printers, where you can choose your printer and install it.
You can then print over Wifi while beeing connected to a different wifi without switching.
In fedora I did not find this option. I can connect to the specific wifi from the printer. I already installed the printer and it works fine. But I have to disconnect from my main wifi to connect to the printers wifi.
How can I tell fedora to use the p2p / wifi direct / wireless direct connection to print, without me having to disconnect from my main wifi? Or how do I set this up?
Unfortunately it is no option to connect the printer to the main wifi.
on wifi direct, your printer acts as a ruter, you conect to that router and it will accept print jobs, that is how it works, for tablets, smartphones, all devices
the printer, most models must have a way to enter into the configuration menu and set a static ip that works on your wifi network
the printer will ask for the wifi ssid and password, so it can connect to your wifi signal at home, so other devices can see it and send print jobs directly to the ip you set up
each printer does this differently, if it is a printer with a display it might have a way to press buttons and set the static ip, the ssid it has to connect and the password for that ssid
i am not familiarized with the model of printer you have but i did a small google search and it told me that you might have a touch screen and a way to set the ip, ssid and password form there or it might have a usb cable and a program that allows you to do that, most likely a program that only runs on windows, well,like my old samsung does
i would point you to set the static ip, set the printer on the right ssid and wifi password and then just add it using ipp printing protocol and set it up and a network printer that is, forget the wifi direct, it is not ideal, it is meant to be used by smartphones basically
Hi noname19,
thx for your reply. But its more like a p2p-thing like George pointed out.
Yes the printer sets up it’s own wireless network (the wifi direct connection) but you don’t have to connect to it specifically. On windows (and android too) the printer is set up as an wifi direct printer. everytime you want to print something, the os is using a peer-to-peer connection and does not disconnect from your main wifi. Of course your wifi-card has to support that multi-connect-feature which it does on my laptop (worked with windows).
For me, I have no idea how to set up such a connection. On windows it’s easy, you click on add printer and wait for the process to finish; it first looks for any usb connected printers or for network connected printers. Thereafter it asks you want to add a wifi-direct printer. You click on it, it will be found and added.
i have not done any p2p on any printer, because as you know, printers came from hell to make us suffer and as you have seen, they smell fear and you cant let them know you fear them
that is why i just set a static ip, add it via kde system settings/printers and i just forget it ever had wifi direct or other features that in theory are useful, bu they are not, nor are to be trusted because the device often will forget the device exists and that it can connect to it, while on a static ip, i just point the pc to that ip and forget about it, until printer comes up with some other bs and start a new path of problems
i know i am not answering directly your question, but to be honest, some printer features demand more from you, the user, than what they offer to you