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Using a printer connected via network cable or Wi-Fi in the FRITZ! home network

You can easily connect your printer to the FRITZ!Box home network using a network cable or Wi-Fi and use it as a network printer on all devices in the home network. Since the printer itself accepts and processes all of the print jobs, you do not need to configure any specific settings for the printer in the FRITZ!Box.

Requirements / Restrictions

Note:All instructions on configuration and settings given in this guide refer to the latest FRITZ!OS for the FRITZ!Box.

1 Configuring the FRITZ!Box

Enabling the FRITZ!Box's DHCP server

In the factory settings, the FRITZ!Box automatically assigns the correct IP settings to all devices via DHCP. If you disabled the FRITZ!Box's DHCP server, re-enable it:

Important:If the FRITZ!Box uses the internet connection of another router, then the DHCP server of the FRITZ!Box is disabled. In this case, the upstream router must assign the IP settings to the devices.

  1. Click "Home Network" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Network" in the "Home Network" menu.
  3. Click on the "Network Settings" tab.
  4. Click "Additional Settings" in the section "WAN setting" or "LAN Settings" to display all of the settings.
  5. Click the "IPv4 Settings" button.
  6. Enable the DHCP server and define the range from which the FRITZ!Box assigns IP addresses.

    Note:The FRITZ!Box has the IP address 192.168.178.1 (subnet mask 255.255.255.0) and assigns IP addresses from xxx.20 to xxx.200 in the factory settings.

  7. Click "Apply" to save the settings.

Allowing wireless devices to communicate

The following step is only necessary if you want to connect the printer to the FRITZ!Box via Wi-Fi:

  1. Click "Wi-Fi" ("Wireless") in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Security" in the "Wi-Fi" ("Wireless") menu.
  3. Enable the option "Active wireless devices may communicate with each other" in the section "Additional Security Settings".
  4. Click "Apply" to save the settings.

2 Setting up the printer

Make sure that the printer obtains its IP settings from the FRITZ!Box:

  1. Configure the printer to automatically obtain IP settings via DHCP (this is the default setting for most printers). Refer to the manufacturer for information on how to set it up, for example consult the manual.

3 Connecting the printer to the home network

  1. Use either Wi-Fi or a network cable to connect the printer to the home network.

Now the printer is connected to the FRITZ!Box and can be used as a network printer in the entire home network.

Refer to the manufacturer for information on how to set up the printer on all of the devices, for example consult the manual.