This problem comes up every once in awhile at my work. Someone brings his/her laptop computer to work and gets on the Internet by connecting to the WiFi at the coffee shop next door. Then they want to print something to a shared office printer. Will he/she be successful? Probably not.
Anytime you get onto a wireless network, you are given a number that looks something like 71.88.44.149. This is called an IP address. It's basically an address on the network, just like a phone number is your spot on a telephone network. Each wireless network has a different set of numbers. The last number is unique and specific to your computer only.
If your office printer is 171.19.122. 44 and your computer is 71.88.44.149, what do you think your chances of printing are? Slim to none. If, however, you connect to the network at your work thru a cable or by using a company-owned wireless access point and you get a number of 171.19.122.133, then you have a good chance of printing to a printer with a number of 171.19.122.44. The numbers look the same almost because they are on the same network.
Maybe that set of numbers looks unfamiliar to you, but it's not harder than a telephone number; they are just with periods and not dashes. Hope that helps.
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