Essential Guide to Wi-fi – Around The Home

Using Wi-fi at home

Once you’ve got your connected camera home the built-in Wi-fi features aren’t quite as useful as they are out in the field, although there are a couple of obvious benefits. For starters, you will probably no longer need to use cables or a card reader to transfer image files between your camera and your home computer.

We say ‘probably’ because, somewhat surprisingly, not all Wi-fi cameras actually support wireless image transfer straight to PCs. That said, most Wi-fi cameras do and these usually come bundled with software that you’ll need to install on your home PC before you can get to two devices talking to each other.

That said, given the increased battery drain of using Wi-fi – especially for extended periods of time when you’ve got a large number of files that need transferring – it may well make more practical sense to use a wired connection or a card reader when you’re at home. After all, it only takes a second to plug a cable in and it may well charge your camera batteries rather than drain them.

One further use of Wi-fi in the home is the ability to send images to a compatible wireless printer directly from your camera, smartphone or tablet. Again, without having to use any cables or your home computer. Again, most manufacturers offer bespoke apps that can be downloaded for free to your mobile device to enable your device to talk to the printer.