I use a small Linux vm to host cups with AirPrint setup - it lets us use my old laser printer that would otherwise be e waste.

It's super neat. Except for when my wife has random issues printing. Then I fucking hate it.

I tried this and had too many issues with other devices. I finally just bought a Brother laser printer with built in AirPrint that worked fine for many years but lately it seems to disconnect once in awhile. Current fix for that has been a smart switch that I programmed to just power cycle the printer twice a day.

Eventually I’ll just upgrade to a newer one with color and hopefully better AirPort support, but I’m glad cups and AirPrint works alright since I haven’t tried it in a few years. The issues your wife is experiencing though are likely the same ones that led me to just get a printer that supports it and from what I read at the time Brother has the best AirPrint support (purely anecdotal)