A small business is larger than a home office, but one or two network printers can still suffice to meet its needs. Such businesses typically have four to ten computers and are spread out in a relatively large space, like a storefront real-estate office or a small law office or accounting firm.

If your business falls into this category, you probably don't have anyone on hand with expertise in either networks or printers. That means you should not consider anything less than a true network printer with a fully automated network setup routine and a built-in Web page.

State-of-the-art installation routines will find the printer on the network, ask you to confirm that it's the right printer, ask whether you want to share it, and then handle everything else automatically. But not all setup routines are so sophisticated. Some will ask you for an IP address or leave it to you to create a new port in Windows or set up sharing for the printer. If none of this sounds familiar and you don't want to learn about it by way of a technical-support call, make sure you get a printer with fully automated network setup. You should be able to find out about the setup routine through the reviews and manuals on the manufacturers' Web sites.

Small businesses can benefit more than home offices from built-in Web pages, which let you check printer status from any computer to find out such things as whether the paper or toner is running low. That can be a welcome convenience if the alternative is having to walk into another room to check. Most built-in Web pages keep track of other information too, such as the number of color, black-and-white, single-sided, and double-sided pages printed. Information like this can help you make decisions about the features you will need in your next printer.

Some network printers offer features you won't find on non-network printers. With private printing, for example, a printer holds the print job until you walk to the printer and enter a PIN code. This is especially useful when you're printing sensitive information, such as an employee's annual review. Private printing usually requires a hard drive in the printer to store the print job. It often goes hand in hand with other features that need a hard drive, such as reprint or proof-and-print. Proof-and-print does the first copy of a multiple-copy print job, then stops to give you a chance to proofread that copy before you give the command to print the rest of the job.

When you're shopping for a network printer, remember that you'll likely want more sophisticated paper-handling options than you would need in a desktop printer. Adding or changing paper in a printer that is relatively far away can be a major annoyance. And if you load special paper or reinsert a stack of printed paper for manual duplexing, someone else may send another print job before you have a chance to send yours.

To avoid these problems, consider getting a printer with additional paper trays, so you can keep more kinds of paper loaded. You might also want higher-capacity trays than you would get on a desktop printer. Don't rely on manual duplexing. If you want to duplex, get a printer with a built-in duplexer. And don't overlook the possibility of getting a network multifunction printer, which can give you all the features of a network printer, plus a fax machine, a copier, and the ability to do faxes and scans from over the network.

Did You Know?

  • Approximately 80% of monochrome laser printers are networked today, compared with only 10% ten years ago.
    Source: Gartner, 2003