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Forum Discussion
Connect both USB storage drive AND printer to Nighthawk RAX42 (only 1 USB3 port)?
Just installed new Nighthawk RAX42 (AX4200 5-stream WiFi6) router, and successfully set up an external storage drive in the single USB 3.x port. Updated Windows 10 on most of the networked machines,...
I've heard of people using a usb hub to connect more than 1 drive. Can't say if I've read of people connecting hard drives and a printer.
A usb hub is pretty cheap and if it didn't work, you could always return it.
plemans wrote:
I've heard of people using a usb hub to connect more than 1 drive. Can't say if I've read of people connecting hard drives and a printer.
A usb hub is pretty cheap and if it didn't work, you could always return it.
Yup. If you have a USB drive with secondary USB ports, you could try putting a printer on one of these.
I have just confirmed that you can do this with an 8TB Seagate Backup Plus Hub. That has two USB ports on the front.
But the RAX42 falls at the first hurdle. It does not say that it supports printers attached to the USB. So no amount of messing around with hubs and add-on devices is likely to fix that.
michaelkenward Thanks, it appears that that is the answer--there isn't a way. I'm going to try a wireless printer server adapter, and if that isn't successful, may have to look into a router that does support printing options like my ASUS did. That router failed a couple of days ago, and my only quick replacement option was an evening visit to Wal-Mart. The NightHawk looked to be a robust, feature-filled router, but I hadn't had the time to read up on it beforehand. Guess it's returnable if I need to.
billrenn wrote:
The NightHawk looked to be a robust, feature-filled router, but I hadn't had the time to read up on it beforehand. Guess it's returnable if I need to.
It doesn't help that Netgear keeps messing around witj features. Take the Orbi range, these have a USB port but it doesn't do anything.
The cynic in me says that, unlike parental controls and security stuff, Netgear can't charge for these features as a service.
And why not enable USB printing on all the RAX range? It is there on the RAX40 (one USB port). Also the RAX80 and RAX120 (both with 2 USB ports).
You could trade in for one of those.