I think you mistaken the concept of Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct. While both works wirelessly, both requirements are different.

Printer <-> Smartphone/ Laptop
Wi-Fi Direct - Your smartphone/ Laptop connects directly to Printer like you would connect to a Wifi Access Point. In this case you find your printer in your Wi-Fi and connect to it with password.

Printer <-> Router <-> Smartphone/ Laptop
Wi-Fi - This one you need to set up the printer to connect to the Wifi router. Then any wireless device smartphone or laptop that connects to your router wifi will be able to print.

Printer <-> Router(USB Printer Server port) <-> PC
The last one uses the router USB port to act as a Print Server. This type of connectivity is used for printers that does not have LAN or WIFI connectivity. Major limitation is printer compatibility list. Usually you need to install a USB print server client software in PC first. Then install the printer driver and manually change the printer port that the print server assigns. It may or may not work depending on printer driver and print server software. So many probabilities to consider when using this route.



This post has been edited by netmatrix: Apr 23 2020, 10:55 AM