HP Deskjet 5850 HP Deskjet 5800 Series printer - (English) User Guide - Page 10

TCP/IP Devices on a network communicate with one another using a "language" called a protocol. The printer is designed to operate on networks that use a popular protocol called TCP/IP. IP Address Each device on a network identifies itself with a unique IP address. Most networks use a software tool, such as DHCP or AutoIP, to automatically assign IP addresses. internet connections Networks may or may not be connected to the Internet. If you place the printer on a network connected to the Internet, it is recommended that you use a gateway so that the printer's IP address is assigned through DHCP. A gateway can either be a router or a Windows computer running Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). For more information about ICS, see the documentation that came with the Windows computer. ethernet network examples To see some examples of Ethernet networks, click here. printing Computers on the network send print jobs directly to the printer, which prints them in the order received. The printer can accept print jobs sent simultaneously from four users. For example, if five users each send a print job to the printer at the same time, the printer accepts four of the print jobs and rejects the fifth. The user who sent the fifth print job should wait a few minutes and then resend the print job.