There are a couple of ways to share a printer on a home network. You can attach it directly to one computer and share it with all the other computers on your network. This method works with any USB printer, but the host computer must be switched on before you can print from any other computer.

Connect to a printer over a network

Once you’ve connected the printer to your PC using a USB cable, you also need turn on sharing. Here’s how:

1. Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel. In the search box, type 'network', click Network and Sharing Center, and then, in the left pane, click Change advanced sharing settings.

2. Click the down arrow to expand the current network profile.

3. If printer sharing is off, under File and printer sharing, select Turn on file and printer sharing, and then click Save changes.  

4. To set up the printer for sharing, clicking the Start button, and click Devices and Printers.

5. Right-click the printer you want to share, and then click Printer properties.

6. Click the Sharing tab, and select the Share this printer check-box.

Alternatively, set up a printer as a stand-alone device on the network. This means the printer is always available to any computer on the network. Some printers have ethernet ports so you can connect them directly to a network using a cable, but most offer wireless connection.