EasySpooler enables you to discover network printers by using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) with any of the following methods:
SNMP broadcast
IP address ranges
a combination of SNMP broadcast and IP address ranges
SNMP broadcast discovers network printers and their capabilities. It reaches all devices on the local network on which the Web application is running.
EasySpooler also gives you the option of setting up IP address ranges for printer discovery. You may want to use IP address ranges for any of the following reasons:
To divide a large network into sections and complete discovery in stages, rather than using SNMP broadcast.
To identify specific, named, sections of a network and query them in combination or individually.
To probe addresses located beyond a router in another subnet to which a broadcast query would not be propagated.
To locate specific printers that did not respond to SNMP broadcast requests.
To discover new printers without using SNMP broadcast.
CAUTION: Discovery with SNMP broadcast can take a significant amount of time to complete on large networks. If you have a large network, class A or B, we strongly recommend that you turn SNMP broadcast discovery off and set up discovery based on IP address ranges. These changes prevent printer discovery from overwhelming your network or overlooking some devices.
Although address-based discovery is slower than broadcast discovery, it results in network traffic that is spread over time. You must use address-based discovery if devices are located on different subnets, accessed through gateway routers.
You can perform the following printer discovery tasks: