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HP Printer: How to connect to local network BUT not to internet? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago by AstroLightz@lemmy.world to c/techsupport@lemmy.world

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I'm using an HP printer and currently am using the USB cable to connect to my PC to print. I'm running out of USB ports and (for some reason) when I use a USB hub with it, my PC fails to read it.

Instead, I wish to connect the printer to my local network, BUT I don't want it connected to the internet. I've seen how dangerous it is to expose your printer to the internet, so I wish to prevent that (plus I don't want the printer to auto-update).

How can I connect my printer to my local network so I can print wirelessly without allowing internet access to it?

If it's important:

My PC is ArchLinux
My printer is a HP ColorJet Pro MFP (I dont know the model #/what series it is)
I do have cups and hp-lip installed on my system

Also: A guest network does not work on my network for some reason, but that's a separate issue unrelated to this.

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[–] towerful@programming.dev 10 points 3 days ago (2 children)

You could statically assign an IP to the printer (if it has WiFi/ethernet) and not set a default gateway. It then won't know how to communicate with the internet but still be accessible on the same local subnet.
A more advanced route would be separate VLANs with routing rules between your main vlan and the printer vlan, while blocking all outbound traffic from the printer vlan.

Or you could set up something like a raspberry pi or similar as a print server. The printer connects to it via USB only, so has no access to any networks. And the raspberry pi is the device you configure and trust, which does the translation from network based printing to USB based printing.

[–] AstroLightz@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Is the gateway something like 192 168 255 255?

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Yes, usually the gateway address is the ip address of your router. You may leave it empty or modify it in a way that it points to a dead address.

[–] AstroLightz@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Would loopback (127 0 0 1) work too or should I just leave it blank?

[–] univers3man@piefed.world 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This is the easiest answer.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Vlans are not the easiest answer.

As someone else suggested blocking the printer at the router is easier.

[–] univers3man@piefed.world 7 points 2 days ago

Sorry, I meant just doing a static IP and not giving it a gateway.