What is the difference between network printer vs. wireless printer?

network printer hooks up to the router with a wire, wieless printer hooks up wirelessly, so basicly nothing other then the conection type

"Network printer" and "wireless printer" are the same thing, only one is more broad than the other. A wireless printer is one type of network printer, but one that works via a wireless network connection, while a "network printer" in general may work with a wired or a wireless connection.

To know what you need, you need to know how you plan to have it accessible on the network. If you have a desktop PC on the network, the printer can be connected to the desktop PC, and you set up the sharing for the printer on the desktop PC, and then point your laptop to your desktop's printer. If your laptop is your only computer, then you need to buy a print server device, which allows you to plug the printer into the print server and the print server into the network.

Network Ready Printer

A wireless printer is just that, a printer that is wireless. That's probably what you want. A networked printer is one that is hooked up to a network, or multiple computers that is available for use by all of them even if it is in a completely different place than the computer itself. This requires wiring though and a network setup.

A network printer hooks directly to a hub so multiple people can use it on a network. You can make a regular printer a network printer but you would need a print server in this case. A wireless printer usually uses something like bluetooth to connect to a computer. Although multiple computers can use it, this is not a true network printer.

You can do this either way. You can purchase a wireless print server or you can have the printer connected to another computer in the house, setup a home network and then share the printer.

The wireless print server will cost you a couple of extra dollars, but it will be the easiest way to accomplish what you want.

I've included an excellent website from Microsoft that explains home networking in beginners terms.

This is assuming you are using Windows XP

They are both networked printers if they are part of a network, period. It is just the form of connection you have, wired or wireless. A wireless network is one which uses a WAP or Wireless Access Point, or a Router with a built in WAP. You can have a mixed network of wired and wireless node ( a node is just any device on the network, ie: printer, computer, game console etc.). So, a wireless printer IS a network printer.

Networking is when you set it up to be shared by various computers. A wireless network is the same.

You can set up a wireless connection to the printer if you have the wireless adapters for your printer and PC.

Check here to see examples

http://www.nextag.com/wireless-printer/search-html

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"Bluetooth vs. Wi-Fi in networking Bluetooth and Wi-Fi both have their places in today’s offices, homes, and on the move: setting up networks, printing, or transferring presentations and files from PDAs to computers. Bluetooth Bluetooth is in a variety of new products such as phones, printers, modems, and headsets. Bluetooth is acceptable for situations when two or more devices are in close proximity with each other and don't require high bandwidth. Bluetooth is most commonly used with phones and hand-held computing devices, either using a Bluetooth headset or transferring files from phones/PDAs to computers. Bluetooth also simplified the discovery and setup of services. Wi-Fi is more analogous to the traditional Ethernet network and requires configuration to set up shared resources, transmit files, set up audio links (e.g. headsets and hands-free devices), whereas Bluetooth devices advertise all services they actually provide; this makes the utility of the service that much more accessible, without the need to worry about network addresses, permissions and all the other considerations that go with typical networks. Wi-Fi Wi-Fi uses the same radio frequencies as Bluetooth, but with higher power consumption resulting in a stronger connection. As mentioned earlier, Wi-Fi is sometimes, but rarely, called "wireless Ethernet". Although this description is inaccurate, it provides an indication of Wi-Fi's relative strengths and weaknesses. Wi-Fi requires more setup but is better suited for operating full-scale networks as it enables a faster connection, better range from the base station, and better security than Bluetooth. One method for comparing the efficiency of wireless transmission protocols such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is called spatial capacity."

Thankyou! extremely informative and this gives me better insight on this topic