How to remotely access a printer over the internet and print files.

[RumbaMon19]

There is Office which has a PC and a Printer and An internet connection. I am at Home and I want to use Printer at Office and give command from Home. Both the places are far away and there is no LAN connection possible.

I am using Linux at Home and Office has a windows PC. So the tool must be compatible though If required, I can switch to windows at Place B but prefer Linux.

Also, I need to keep in mind security so it is not vulnerable.

 

[patkim]

As a general comment - Personally I would never expose a printer over the Internet even if a printer & setup may be capable of that.

Option 1
Use SoftEther VPN Server and Client *www.softether.org/ on respective systems and do a remote desktop connection into the remote server. Transfer the files over VPN to remote system and initiate Print on LAN. Not too sure if direct printing over VPN will work, it might as well be possible. You need to explore.

SoftEther Server and Client are available for Windows as well as Linux. So they are cross compatible i.e. Linux Client can connect VPN to SoftEther server running on Windows. Use L2TP or Azure server option as applicable. SoftEther also provides its own free DDNS service.

Also some important input info preferably needed in your post is the info about setup at office.

1. Is it full fledged Corporate IT or very basic networking? (By Basic I mean something like WiFi router/switch with a few PCs on LAN or WiFi and other networking devices like printer)
2. Does the PC receive Public IP or is it behind proxy? Does the Internet WAN at office receive Public IP or it’s behind CGNAT? Who controls the setup? Is there a firewall to be configured and who manages that?

If it does not receive public IP use UDP Hole Punching or if that also does not work try SoftEther VPN Azure option.

Option 2
Explore tools like AnyDesk / TeamViewer etc to hook onto the other PC, transfer file and print locally. However usage in commercial environment might mean paid options. Check the EULA. However I cannot comment on security aspect here with such tools.

 

[khalil1210]

Why not save files as pdf at home pc and copy those in office pc when you visit office and print it.

 

[RumbaMon19]

As a general comment - Personally I would never expose a printer over the Internet even if a printer & setup may be capable of that.

Option 1
Use SoftEther VPN Server and Client *www.softether.org/ on respective systems and do a remote desktop connection into the remote server. Transfer the files over VPN to remote system and initiate Print on LAN. Not too sure if direct printing over VPN will work, it might as well be possible. You need to explore.

SoftEther Server and Client are available for Windows as well as Linux. So they are cross compatible i.e. Linux Client can connect VPN to SoftEther server running on Windows. Use L2TP or Azure server option as applicable. SoftEther also provides its own free DDNS service.

Also some important input info preferably needed in your post is the info about setup at office.

1. Is it full fledged Corporate IT or very basic networking? (By Basic I mean something like WiFi router/switch with a few PCs on LAN or WiFi and other networking devices like printer)
2. Does the PC receive Public IP or is it behind proxy? Does the Internet WAN at office receive Public IP or it’s behind CGNAT? Who controls the setup? Is there a firewall to be configured and who manages that?

If it does not receive public IP use UDP Hole Punching or if that also does not work try SoftEther VPN Azure option.

Option 2
Explore tools like AnyDesk / TeamViewer etc to hook onto the other PC, transfer file and print locally. However usage in commercial environment might mean paid options. Check the EULA. However I cannot comment on security aspect here with such tools.

1) Very Basic networking. I must rather use the word home office instead. It is not being used in any corporate setup.
2) no Proxy is being used. IIRC, Airtel uses CGNAT for xstream fiber now, So it is behind that. The setup is controlled by me. No firewall.

I was originally using Google cloud print, but google has discontinued it. Since then I started using anydesk, but then it takes a good 10-12 minutes to transfer the files and then print so is not that convenient like GCP.

 

[RumbaMon19]

Why not save files as pdf at home pc and copy those in office pc when you visit office and print it.

I should have used the word Home office instead of Office. I am at home only during weekends and so it is difficult for me to get the prints late. It is about 1.5 hour journey. I have a known who lives near to me and has to go near my home-office daily(His office is there), so he can bring the prints along with while coming back. That way I get them by 5-6PM.

 

[Nerevarine]

Very Rough Steps but you need to investigate concrete approach.

-Setup OpenVPN on aws/oracle cloud.

-Connect your always on home machine/raspberry pi (which is connected to the printer locally) to this vpn and setup using ZeroConf or similar.
you could also expose printer address and port, and use IPP.

-Whenever you need to remotely print, you connect to said vpn and you should detect a printer as if its in your local network. (if ZeroConf was setup correctly) or use IPP address directly.

I do not remember the details very well but this is the exact thing I once did long back as a PoC for my company. It is not very complicated if you do research well

Might help.

*www.cups.org/