Shared Printer Takes 20 Seconds to Print Test Page

[allanc]

A new client is having a printer issue.
I am being called in to repair this problem because their prior tech support is no longer available.

The problem is that printing is very slow except from the computer that the printer is attached to.
The results are the same for test pages, Outlook, Word, Excel, etc

Here is an example:
They have about 10 computers on a domain.
One of the computers has a shared 2 year old colour HP LaserJet connected via 6' USB cable.
The test pattern prints immediately from the computer that it is connected to.
The test pattern starts after 20 seconds from other computers on the network.
I have checked that the printer is not in 'sleep mode'.
The delay time is even longer with a single page Outlook Email.
Both workstations are using the same print quality which I think is Ret3600.

Thank you in advance for all suggestions.

 

[Martyn]

What model HP is it?
Is there an ethernet option?
Where are the drivers loaded?
Is it a shared driver on the host computer or are the drivers loaded locally on each computer pointing to the share?
Operating Systems?

 

[allanc]

What model HP is it?
Is there an ethernet option?
Where are the drivers loaded?
Is it a shared driver on the host computer or are the drivers loaded locally on each computer pointing to the share?
Operating Systems?

This particular client is a government office and they mentioned this issue just as I was leaving their site yesterday.
I will have to go onsite again to investigate as I do not want to disrupt their work flow.
I will post again.
Thank you.

 

[Martyn]

Just be aware that I've seen a few situations where the client has a shared usb printer with a free ethernet port on the printer unused! I'll suspect you'll find this has always been slow. If they want to keep this setup then see where the bottleneck is. Pause the printer on the host and see when the file has finally arrived at the paused printer. Check the settings on the driver and make sure they are not printing at a size that is over the top. Print files(especially colour) can spool to very large sizes.

 

[JW The Computer Guy]

What are the spec of the host pc? The reason why I ask, is because this would happen to me when I was using an ancient pc as a print server.

 

[allanc]

Just be aware that I've seen a few situations where the client has a shared usb printer with a free ethernet port on the printer unused! I'll suspect you'll find this has always been slow. If they want to keep this setup then see where the bottleneck is. Pause the printer on the host and see when the file has finally arrived at the paused printer. Check the settings on the driver and make sure they are not printing at a size that is over the top. Print files(especially colour) can spool to very large sizes.

Yes, it is a HP colour laserjet with an unused ethernet connector.
*If* this is the problem, they probably would not mind switching to Ethernet however, I do want to slow down the printing even more.
Even the test page takes about 20 seconds to start printing (from the other computers).

 

[allanc]

What are the spec of the host pc? The reason why I ask, is because this would happen to me when I was using an ancient pc as a print server.

I will have to go onsite and check.

 

[Martyn]

Yes, it is a HP colour laserjet with an unused ethernet connector.
*If* this is the problem, they probably would not mind switching to Ethernet however, I do want to slow down the printing even more.
Even the test page takes about 20 seconds to start printing (from the other computers).

It's not going to slow it down, everyone just prints direct via ip or via a proper print server.

 

[allanc]

It's not going to slow it down, everyone just prints direct via ip or via a proper print server.

Well, I removed the printer from all workstations, added a switch/cabling and they are now printing via network connection.
The response time from the printer is almost instantaneous.
They are extremely happy.

 

[Martyn]

Well, I removed the printer from all workstations, added a switch/cabling and they are now printing via network connection.
The response time from the printer is almost instantaneous.
They are extremely happy.

Good stuff. As I said it's surprising how many printers are setup via a shared usb connection when an ethernet connection is available.