Do Even More with iCloud and AirPlay - iConnected: Use AirPlay, iCloud, Apps, and More to Bring Your Apple Devices Together - page 205

Figure 9-1
If apps have a print capability and you have an AirPrint-enabled printer, you can print
wirelessly from your iOS device.
Lantronix makes the xPrintServer series of devices that plug into your network and make almost
any printer on it AirPrint-compatible. The $100 Home model supports two printers connected to
your network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, as well as to USB printers connected to its USB port (you can
connect a USB hub to it if you want to AirPrint-enable multiple USB printers). The $150 Network
model supports an unlimited number of network printers, but not USB models. The $200 Office
model supports an unlimited number of network printers plus has a USB port, and it also has extra
security features meant for business use.
Many routers let you connect USB printers to them, but they don't AirPrint-enable them, so only
Macs and PCs can print to them. But some wireless routers such as the WNDR and R series from
Netgear also have AirPrint support built-in, so network printers connected to them are enabled for
AirPrint — as long as a Mac or PC is also on and running Netgear's free Genie software.
Several iOS apps let you print from iOS devices to printers connected to your network, but they
don't use the Print option in most apps. Instead, then make you open or copy your document into the
printing app, then print from there — an awkward process that works only with apps that support the
Open In facility.
A better software option is to get Ecamm's $20 Printopia and run it on your Mac. It makes the
Mac an AirPrint server that iOS apps “see” as an AirPrint printer; Printopia then relays the print job
to a printer your Mac or PC can access directly or over the network. Collobos's $20 Fingerprint 2 for
Windows works the same way for PCs.