You can do that in Windows too? Could you tell me how please?

"route print" will show the current routes

"route add xxx" will add a new specific route

route by itself has fairly comprehensive help. It's in XP and Windows 7 for sure and almost definitely back to the 98/2000/NT days too.

Not that you need to use route for anything trivial. Just installing a second interface and setting the IP address, netmask and broadcast address on the interface are enough for most cases.

It is entirely possible that stuff like this is crippled in Windows Home (or whatever they call it) and the like, I've only ever used it on pro versions of Windows (and even then I haven't needed to do it for a while).

Though I do still use route regularly still. When you need to access a client's secured network and only the IP address of the office broadband router has access, it is quick and easy to VPN into the office and then add a route for the client's server via the VPN.

(the VPN I use in this case isn't locked down at all)

How? Is the VPN installed at such a low level on this machine that it has complete control over everything? I haven't seen anything like that before. In fact, I've never seen any way to completely lock down a Mac (meaning something that can't be gotten around). If you have an admin account you should be able to do whatever you want and get around any restrictions placed by any third party software.

I think it's been mentioned before however, that the VPN software might fail or pop some error if it detects another network - I wonder if they've included anything like this.

You can create networks in Mac OS over bluetooth and firewire as well. It's possible that the system's network control panel has been locked down, but you should be able to get around it with some work. I'm not sure how a third-party product would do this of course. If it's locked down by some policy on the Mac, an admin user, which can also get root access, should be able to unlock it.

No idea, but I hope you're right. I only said that because jmwking said in his post that he tried to add a secondary network device via USB, but that it didn't work for him.

Again, I hope you're right because that would be a relatively simple way to solve my problem. I'll check tomorrow and let you know how it went.

Not sure, but I *think* that would still be blocked by the Cisco VPN for the same reasons. I know ours works that way. Ours has an additional reason for doing it that way: Ours is intended to automatically hop among different connection types (wifi, wired, wwan) without losing the VPN connection, so ours grabs every single possible network connection, and then directs all network traffic destined for any one of those connections through the VPN, using the fastest available network connection as its tunnel.

Again, that's all configurable... at the VPN server side.

At the end of the day you can also dual-boot the Mac to another instance of Mac OS without VPN.

Erm, no. Just turn the VPN client off. They arent typically designed to lock you out of your networking, they are just designed to stop you making other connections while connected to the network they are supposed to be protecting.

Yes. The VPN software will detect any change to the routing table and disable the VPN connection.

If it can be turned off, then it's not locking down the entire system. Which did sound implausible anyway.

Bitt's routing table point makes the most sense, and having the VPN shut down when it see changes would preclude my original suggestion of simply creating a new route for the printer.

Just a thought, triggered by one of mlord's posts about an Android app -- does your printer have bluetooth capability, or can that be achieved via an adaptor? Since that's using a different networking technology, the VPN won't block it.

If you have spare in-wall cat5 cabling that runs between the two rooms, then you could use a $20 USB extender kit from DX.

Good point! Yes it does, and so does the Macbook pro obviously. I'll give it a try, but I doubt it'll work since there's too much room between the MBP and the printer. The printer is about three rooms away and on the floor beneath where the MBP is. Lots of concrete between those two points too, and Bluetooth isn't exactly known for its wide range. But I'll give it a try.

Edit: No dice. It seems the printer needs an USB Bluetooth adapter for the Bluetooth function since the printer doesn't seem to have the Bluetooth transmitter built in. Needless to say, I don't have such a USB adapter. Bummer.

Also a good idea, but unfortunately, no such luck.

Must be an HP printer, right?

I stuck a $1.50 BT adapter (from DX) into mine. Works well, but I doubt it would go through concrete.

Yup. An HP Photosmart C6180 all-in-one.

Come to think of it, I DO have a BT adapter here,$ the one from my DiNovo keyboard. Of course I need that one, or my keyboard wouldn't work any more, but I could use it just to try it if it works. But indeed, I don't have high hopes because of the distance issue.

That dinovo dongle isn't likely to work. It presents it's self as a pair of hid devices. Besides its a usb slave.


Just noticed, on an iPad, after selecting some text, the iPad's action balloon can obscure the bbs's action icons. I couldn't strike out that text till I added a few leading blank lines.

I still offer that picking up the laptop and walking it to the printer, where a handy USB cable can be employed, is your best option.

After all the paper isn't going to deliver it's self wirelessly.

Nothing wrong with USB slave -- that's what the printer expects from a BT dongle. But it does have to be a real BT dongle.

I was thinking, mistakenly, of the dinovo dongle, somehow being plugged into the printer.

No, you're correct. The dongle needs to be connected the USB port of the printer. There's one built in the front of the printer especially for that purpose. Still haven't gotten around in trying the DiNovo dongle though, but I also have my doubts if it'll work.

On the other side, you're obviously correct also. The range of Bluetooth is so limited, I could just as well walk up to the printer and connect the USB cable. But, more than anything, this 'problem' for me has become a challenge in 'beating the system', without giving in, in this case: printing while connected to VPN without having to move the laptop to the printer. Hmmm... maybe wireless USB is an option.

No that one won't work. It doesn't register as a generic BT device.

It shows up as as if a kbd & mouse was plugged in. Which makes it very good if you are trying to activate a bios menu on your computer.

Although I admire you for wanting to beat the system, you've got some things happening which are at direct odds with each other, so that's going to be a hard system to beat. The printer has three inputs: Bluetooth, USB, and LAN, and each of those has a problem.
- Bluetooth: Too far.
- LAN: Blocked by VPN (I still say your easiest option is bypass VPN while printing, takes all of two seconds).
- USB: Requires physical proximity.



Not a cheap one, but maybe.

Here's a more basic question:
- You want to print a hard copy of something from this laptop.
- Printing something implies that you want to have that hard copy in your hand.
- So, at some point, you personally have to be in physical proximity to the printer anyway, to pick up the hard copy.
- So why not just get a cheap USB or Bluetooth printer for the room that contains the laptop? Or permanently move the printer to the room with the laptop?

I asked my wife about the 'dropping the VPN for a few seconds to issue a print command', but it seems this doesn't work for her. One of the programs she uses the most is Outlook. Now, her version of Outlook runs in a Windows 7 virtual environment (vmware) on her Mac. (she doesn't use the Mac version of Outlook because it lacks certain features she really needs). It seems her Outlook doesn't like it when it's connection to the server gets interupted, I don't know if this has anything to do with the fact it runs in a virtual window or not.


Heh. At the prices those Wireless USB extenders come, it's actually a lot cheaper to just buy another printer. I think I'll take your advice, thanks.

Yeah, printers are cheap these days.

So's clicking on a disconnect button...

As said, it's not the disconnecting itself which creates a problem, because that's obviously easy enough, but the fact my wife's Outlook creates all sorts of problems (lockups, crashes, ...) when you bluntly cut the connection to the server.

Wow, okay, yeah. That's a pain. It's not supposed to do that. My Outlook doesn't have that problem, it just quietly disconnects in that situation. Actually, my company allows Outlook to work outside the firewall, so mine quietly disconnects, then reconnects to the external-facing exchange address. Maybe it's because something is wrong with her outlook installation (my guess would be plug-ins causing that), or maybe it's because my company's VPN is cleaner about disconnecting than Cisco's VPN is.

Of course, there's always: Exit outlook, disconnect, print, reconnect, launch outlook, but yeah, that's a pain. Especially if you want to print from outlook.

But yeah: cheap little bluetooth printer? Simplest solution.

No idea, could be.


...which is indeed mostly the case. (of course it is, anything other would be less annoying and we can't have that, can we? )


By now: agreed.
(thanks for your help!)

You could always print to PDF (which is very easy under MacOS) and then print those to paper after the VPN session is complete. That requires that the physical printouts are not needed at the time, though.

That's an excellent suggestion, I'll keep that in mind, thanks!