Use LAN printer over the Internet

Question

I would like to be able to connect my laptop to my network printer while I am not at home, what would be a good way to forward the printer and to configure CUPS on my laptop?

Answer 1

Never expose a printer directly on the Internet. The IP stack implementation is weak at best, and ripe for abuse. (do not do port forwarding)

Implement a VPN either with a router or with a raspberry like server using strongswan (I am using a Lamobo R1 with an IPsec VPN configured to work with the native Mac and iPhone VPN client), implement it on your laptop too, and print over the net as if you were at home. If you are using Linux, first install CUPS printing to an IPP queue, and test it at home before trying to do it remotely.

You can also tunnel CUPs via ssh, to a local server at home, it is a simple setup however I do prefer the VPN solution.