A guide to connecting Epson Workforce Pro printers to your Satellite, either by wireless or wired, including a walkthrough of the menu options to set them up.
This guide is for those using version 2 of the Penny Black Satellites (the router model shown in the picture below).
As described in the hardware overview, Penny Black Satellites are used to control and monitor your printing. These Satellites allow multiple printers to be connected to a single device and this article describes how to connect them.
Satellite to printer connectivity
Wired printer connections
The Satellite is a router with 5 ports for connecting printers directly. In the picture below port 1 should be used for your Internet connection (unless you are connecting to it wirelessly). Ports 2 to 6 can be used for connecting printers:
If you have more than 5 printers, or the printers are to be located a distance away from the Satellite, you may need to use a switch to provide either more ports or reduce ethernet cabling over longer distances.
Wireless printer connections
The Satellite has WiFi enabled out-of-the-box. As per the install guides, we recommend that you change the SSID to 'PennyBlack' or similar to make it easy to spot when configuring printers in your warehouse.
Once you have the printer SSID and password you are ready to start connecting printers.
Epson Workforce Pro printer network configuration
The Epson Workforce Pro range of printers has the same visual LCD screen interface for managing the printer. This section shows how to check the current network configuration and change it for your desired connection type.
Understanding the network indicators
On the home screen is a network status indicator, highlighted in the picture below. It shows the current connection type and status, and you might need to change it.
Notice that this is the left of two icons that look related to networking, ignore the right-hand one, it is not relevant.
The printer can only be wired or WiFi at any one time and this indicator shows the current mode:
|
|
|
wired configuration
WiFi configurationIt is also blue when connected, or grey when not connected:
|
|
|
The printer might have the correct connection type out of the box to suit how you want to use it. If so, great! If not, follow one of the options below to change it, and to set up WiFi credentials.
Changing from WiFi to a wired connection
The ethernet port for the Epson range of printers is on the rear side, usually near the power cable.
Make sure the Satellite is turned on before you connect the printer. The Epson printers often will get stuck without a connection if one is not available when they start up, and must be restarted.
If your printer is currently set up for a WiFi connection and you wish to switch to a wired connection, please follow these steps:
1. From the home screen press the UP and RIGHT arrows until the network indicator is selected then press OK
2. From the Network Connection Settings screen press OK again as the Router section will already be highlighted:
3. Press DOWN until Change Settings is highlighted, then press OK
4. Press Down until Others is selected then press OK
5. Press down to Disable Wi-Fi, then press OK.
The printer should now be in wired connection mode and you should see the icon change on the home screen above. The Satellite should detect the printer automatically, and this icon should turn blue once connected.
Changing from a wired to a WiFi connection
If the printer is currently configured for a wired connection then follow these steps to change it to WiFi:
1. From the home screen, press UP and RIGHT until you have selected the network indicator:
2. From the Network Connection Settings screen press OK again as the Router section will already be highlighted: 
3. Now press DOWN until the Change to Wi-Fi connection button is highlighted and press OK.
4. Press RIGHT then OK to answer Yes to the confirmation:
5. Press OK again to start the Wi-Fi Setup Wizard:
6. Choose your WiFi network name (SSID) from the list. Ideally, this will have been set up as "PennyBlack" or similar when first installing the satellite.
7. Then enter the wifi password and finally, press DOWN to reach Start Setup and press OK.
If entered correctly the WiFi icon will turn blue on the home screen. If not, check your password and try again.
Next steps
With your printers physically connected to the satellite you can now Configure them as Print Locations to start printing to them.