HP en1700, en3700, Jetdirect ew2400 White Paper

HP Jetdirect External USB Compatibility

May 2009

Introduction

There have been some questions from customers about the compatibility of printers and the
HP Jetdirect External Print Server Products. This white paper addresses those questions and
provides a list of supported printers with the USB External Print Servers that are currently on
the Corporate Price List (CPL).

Over the years, many things have changed regarding external print servers and printers they
connect to. In the past, an external print server was the only way to place these printers on
a network. In contrast, many printers today come with their own embedded networking and
the USB port is used almost exclusively for direct connection to PCs. As a result, some
printers have implemented cost effective USB modes that are very difficult for an external
print server to support on the network.

Current Support Strategy

HP currently has four external USB products on the CPL:

J6035G 175X 10/100TX USB 1.1 External Print Server
J7988G en1700 10/100TX USB 2.0 External Print Server
J7951G ew2400 10/100TX & 802.11b/g USB 2.0 External Print Server
J7942G en3700 10/100TX USB 2.0 External Print server

In 2009, the J6035G 175X print server will be discontinued. This print server has been
popular, but is not upgradeable and it does not support Hi-Speed USB. The 175x supports

whitepaper

USB 1.1 and USB 1.1 does not include Hi-Speed. USB 2.0 added Hi-Speed and is fully
backward compatible with USB 1.1 in Full-Speed. As a result, some of the newer USB
printers cannot be supported. Its eventual replacement is currently available as the en1700,
an upgradeable solution that supports Hi-Speed USB and also supports IPv6. The ew2400
and the en3700 which are USB 2.0 Hi-Speed will remain on the CPL for a while as they are
respectively HP’s wireless value line external print server and HP’s full featured external print
server.

Scanning on AIO and MFP’s

The HP Jetdirect External print servers do not support scanning on Laserjet MFP’s. They are
currently a print only solution. The 175x, ew2400, and en3700 supported scanning
through the embedded web server for the Laserjet AIO’s and Officejet Pro’s. Many devices
have their own networking scanning software and no longer rely on HP JetDirects web scan
capability and in many cases no longer support it. As a result, the web scanning capability
has been removed from the en1700.

Supported Printer lists

Due to various product limitations, not all USB external print servers support the same set of
printers. In this section, I will break down the supported printers for each HP USB Jetdirect
print server. As always, be sure your firmware on both the printer and print server is at the
latest available version.

HP Jetdirect en1700

Supported with these USB network-capable HP printers, AIO’s, and MFP’s:

HP Business Inkjet 2300, 2600, 2800, and 3000;
HP Color LaserJet CP1515, CP1518, CP2025, CP3505, CP3525, CP4005, CP6015, 2500, 2550,
2600, 2605, 2700, 3000, 3600, 3700, 3800, 4610, 4650, 4700, 5550, 2820mfp, and 2840mfp;
HP Designjet Z2100, Z3100, 30, 70, 90, 110+, 130, 500, 510, 800, and 820mfp;
HP Deskjet 5550, 5650, 6940, 6980, and 9800 series;
HP LaserJet P2014, P2015, P2035, P2055, P3005, P4014, P4015, P4515, 1015, 1022, 1160,
1200, 1300, 1320, 2200, 2300, 2410, 2420, 2430, 3015, 3020, 3030, 3052, 3055, 3300,
3380, 3390, 3392, 4240, 4250, 4350, and 5200 series;
HP Officejet Pro K550, K850, K5300, K5400 and 8000

Print and Windows based scanning:

HP Color LaserJet CM1015mfp and CM1017mfp

Print only:

HP Color LaserJet CM3530mfp, CM4730mfp, CM6030mfp, CM6040mfp, 4730mfp;
HP LaserJet M3027mfp, M3035mfp, M4345mfp, M5025mfp, M5035mfp, M9040mfp, M9050mfp,
3050, and 3050z;
HP Officejet Pro K8600, L7300, L7500, L7600, L7700, 6200, 8500, and 9100 series