User printing onsite - no firewall port restrictions

For many smaller-sized businesses, managing printing is a complication that they just don’t have time for. Customers in this space are usually looking for a simple, easy-to-use solution.

In this scenario, there are either no or limited servers running in the network environment, and the environment is often quite a simple setup.

An example is a small office with managed network switches and IT support. The office setup could range:

• from a site running a single subnet with internet access provided by an ISP (like your home internet connection)
• to a small multi-subnet setup (for systems groupings, for example, staff subnet, server subnet, and printer subnet) with no port blocking configured between these subnets.

A SaaS print management solution (in our case PaperCut Pocket or PaperCut Hive) is a perfect fit for these types of environments because there are no dedicated print servers, there’s no capex outlay, and software configuration is simple.

Typical customers with this style of setup include:

• small legal firms
• startup companies
• small-to-medium-sized offices
• retail stores.

When it comes to configuring PaperCut Hive or Pocket in these environments, it tends to be quite a simple procedure depending on the options you want to use in your print environment.

Recommended solution

In most cases you don’t need to do anything special for these types of environments. All that’s required is at least one Windows or Macintosh computer running that has access to a printer and internet connectivity. Then you just invite your users to your print environment, install the software on each person’s computer, and start printing.

How printing with PaperCut Hive and Pocket works

For a summary of how printing works with PaperCut Hive and Pocket, take a look at the How it works page .

For a detailed look at the print job process and release print job process, including the ports and communications at each step, refer to The print process and The release print job process below.

Pros and cons

Network diagram

Ports

If you’re running the Full Embedded app, some platforms (MFDs) need additional ports to allow communications. For the complete list of ports, refer to Firewall ports and Networking .

The print job process

We are going to assume at this point that you have already read through the articles about getting your users joined to your print environment and that their computers or devices are configured to print. If you haven’t, read Getting started for administrators , which details the prerequisites and how to get your users set up.

Let’s now run through the process involved when a user prints in this environment.

Printing from Windows/Mac/Chromebook/Android

Printing from iOS devices

The release print job process

When it’s time for the end-user to release the print job, there are two different methods:

• MFD Release
• mobile device release.

MFD release

Mobile device release - via cloud service

Mobile device release - offline mode

If the link to the cloud services is unavailable, for example, your Internet Provider has gone offline, you can still release print jobs using your mobile device connected to your local WiFi. Here’s what the comms looks like.

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