Printing From Your iPhone, at a Price

Seldom do plug-and-play devices live up to the name. It’s usually more like, plug, fail, reread instructions, curse, hold for tech assistance, fail, curse more, Google until you find an answer, play, try to soothe frazzled nerves.

The xPrintServer from Lantronix may be the exception. Maybe.

The problem is: How to print from your iPad or iPhone. If you have purchased a printer with AirPrint capability, it should be easy to do this — that’s what it is made for.

But for those of us who hold on to printers long past their prime, there are limited options. One is to add a printing app. But those apps are generally tied to specific models, so good luck finding the right one. I don’t want to think about what happens when the printer upgrades its drivers.

The xPrintServer simplifies that. It’s a box, somewhat larger than a pack of cards, that attaches to your router and to your printer. Then, presto, you can print from your iPad or iPhone.

It was that simple for me except for one glitch — what printed out was black and white only. It turns out the problem was with the servers for Lantronix. The driver for my printer that was stored there had become outdated. When that happens, a call to tech support should have it fixed within a day, said the company. If your printer isn’t supported, it said, a call will get it added within “a few weeks.”

With the driver updated, everything printed as it should.

But xPrintServer does show some signs of fussiness. When I tried to connect to my wireless printer through the Wi-Fi router without the U.S.B. cable, it failed. But I could connect by the cable, let the network find the printer, then disconnect the cable, and it worked wirelessly.

The main drawback to the xPrintServer is the price: $100 compared with less than $5 for an app that does the same thing.

I would suggest the first thing you should do is see if you have an AirPrint compatible printer. Then check to see if there is an i-device app specifically for your printer. Then consider how much you value simplicity. If the answer is $100 worth, you might consider the xPrintServer.