HP forum: hp photosmart e-all-in-one printer

Here all the wifi printers work from wired or wireless because we use the usual INFRASTRUCTURE WIFI setup. I decline to write why this matters or that it is how 99% of us use that but if the printer connects to our LAN then all the machines on the LAN can use the printer connected to the LAN.

HOWEVER networking is a tricky thing. Imagine that owner that installed firewalls and didn't learn how to control them. They could become irate at HP when HP won't support the setup.
Bob

Now I see. Ok this printer does not connect to the wifi in the laptop (say what?) It connects to our wifi router and joins our LAN. Our laptops join the wifi and thus the LAN and this is why wired machines will also be able to print.

This is the 99.99% of us setup or "infrastructure mode." I rarely see anyone attempt adhoc mode with wifi so you're good.

Sorry if this seems the long way to explain it but I strive to be precise when networking is involved.
Bob

Again I apologize for being picky about how this works. Many would want to think the laptop connects to the router directly with wifi bypassing the router but this isn't exactly true. Knowing how it works helps you later when you set it up.

Again I apologize for being picky. It's a habit from working in the electronics, hardware, software fields.
Bob