AirPort Extreme: How to Print to a USB Printer From the WAN Port

In the default configuration, computers connected to the base station's WAN port are outside the base station's firewall, and are unable to access the base station's USB printer. There are two methods you can use to allow access to the USB printer from the WAN port. After using either of the methods below, computers connected via the WAN port should be able to access the base station printer in Print Center via Bonjour (formerly "Rendezvous").

Notes

1. If the WAN network connects to another router, printer access is only supported on the WAN subnet that is local to the base station. It is not supported for computers that are separated from the base station by a router.
    
2. USB printing through an AirPort Extreme Base Station requires Mac OS X 10.2.3 or later.

Turn on WAN-LAN bridging

If you have a computer on the WAN port that you would like to give access for USB printing, you can bridge between the LAN and WAN networks.

Note: When using this method, you will be dependent on Bonjour for all local network connectivity, or you will need to rely on a router that provides addresses for the connected computers.

Follow these steps to turn on WAN-LAN bridging on an AirPort Extreme Base Station:

1. Open the AirPort Admin Utility (/Applications/Utilities/).
2. Select your base station from the list.
3. Click the Configure icon.
4. Click the Network Tab.
5. Deselect the checkbox for "Distribute IP Addresses".
6. Note: If your AirPort Extreme Base Station has a built-in modem that you are using to connect to the Internet, WAN-LAN bridging is automatically turned on without the need to follow these steps. In that configuration, you may rely on the DHCP and NAT services provided by the base station for WAN, LAN and wireless clients.

Using WAN privacy to allow printer access

There may be reasons that you are be unable to bridge between the LAN and WAN networks. If unsure, check with your network administrator. When you cannot use WAN-LAN bridging, you may choose to use remote printer access from the WAN privacy settings. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open AirPort Admin Utility (/Applications/Utilities/).
2. Select your base station from the list.
3. Click the Configure icon.
4. Click the Base Station Options button.
5. From the pop-up menu, select the checkbox for Enable Remote Printer Access.
6. Click Update.