Hi Gerry,
I have finally solved the problem with the speed control. It turned out that as you said, control through a printer port is simpler. There where 2 main issues which I faced A) since the operating voltage of the speed control and HDBB2 board are different (5 and 12V), I had to connect both neutral to have a common ground since each has it's own power supply! B) an additional relay was required to turn on and off the router. Initial test shown the router behaving as is should.........now some fine tuning and move on to the next task ......... the laser! I do hope this experience and information will save others to follow who find themselves in a similar situation.
Marteng