Struggling with WIFI on the 6d

[SGFFX]

I have had the 6D for about a month. I generally like the camera but find the Wifi to be technically limited and difficult to setup.

If someone can point me to a good tutorial on setting up the 6D's wifi, I would greatly appreciate it.

Technically limited: I live in a suburban area where all the neighbors seem to have 2.4Ghz routers. In other words this is a congested band and this limits the transfer rate. I wish this camera had a 5Ghz antenna. 5Ghz has limited range which is both a constraint and also an advantage because I can see no other 5Ghz users. So there is huge available bandwidth. But the 6D can't use it. The other technical limitation is that video can't be streamed over wifi. I wonder if this limitation is due to the limits of the 2.4Ghz band?

Setup: I have a Windows 8.1 workstation with a Gigabit ethernet network. The wifi is run via a dual-band wifi router with 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz 8.02.11n wifi networks. I have had limited success setting up an EOS Utility connection to the 6D. The above technical discussion is more theoretical than experience based because in a month of owning this camera I have been successful only once in getting the camera to pair up with a computer. Today I tried until I drained the battery and was not able to get the EOS utitility to connect to the camera. I was able to use the DNLA feature to connect to the picture folder on SD card in the camera. But I take only RAW format and the DNLA interface does not even show the .cr2 files much less display them and provide a transfer capability. Other than proving that the camera was detected by my network and by the computer this was an excercise in futility. On the computer the pairing software WFT lists the camera and I can click on the CONNECT button. But no connection was made that allowed the EOS utility software to become active.

I have a huge complaint with the setup software. It does not seem to remember my passphrase when I attempt to set it up for the EOS utility. I use WPA2 and have a long security phase. But the camera does not seem to remember this passphrase for my SSID. I click on my SSID in the list of SSIDs and then I get the screen to re-enter my pass phrase. Seriously? The camera does not share the passphrase between LAN functions and it does not seem to remember it in the EOS utility function from session to session. And there is no capability to see the passphrase once it is entered. All I see is 6 asterisks. These asterisks provide security? This seems to be an industry joke on the poor user so I guess I can't fault Canon for this level of thoughtless design. At least Windows 8 now provides a "eyeball" to click to see passwords as text and not only asterisks.

It sure would be useful to be able to set the Wifi passphrase using the USB cable interface. Then I could type it using a keyboard rather than the ridiculous thumbwheel interface in the camera. Does anyone know if it is possible to setup wifi via the USB interface? I know that wifi and USB are mutually exclusive but may be setting up the wifi could be allowed.

Canon's marketing makes wifi seem to be a reason to buy the 6D. In my opinion the Wifi function is over rated, a negative factor, and implemented poorly. Certainly it is not something that is useful enough to justify the 6D's price point or to select it over other manufacturers.

[Tim]

Hello SGFFX,

We're sorry to hear that you're having difficulties with the Wi Fi on your EOS 6D.  We have an article that should be of help to you.

If the camera cannot be connected to a computer, it may be due to the following reasons. Therefore, please check the following items in order to find the cause of the problem.

1. [Wi-Fi] is set to [Enable]

If [Wi-Fi] is set to [Enable] under the cameras [ 
 ] tab, the camera cannot connect to a computer. Set [Wi-Fi] to [Disable], then connect the interface cable.

NOTE

When the camera is connected to a computer, printer, GPS receiver, or any other devices via an interface cable, the settings for [Wi-Fi] cannot be changed. Disconnect the interface cable and then configure settings.

1. Set the cameras power switch to <ON>.

2. Press the <MENU> button to display the menu screen.

3. Press the < 
 
 > keys to select [Wi-Fi] under the [ 
 ] tab, then press <
>.

 

4. Select [Disable], then press < 
 >.

5. Connect the interface cable to the camera.

2. The camera is not connected properly to the computer with the supplied USB cable

3. The camera is not recognized by EOS Utility (You can only click [Monitor Folder] on the main window of EOS Utility)

If the camera is not recognized by the supplied software, please check whether any of the following cases may be a remedy to the problem.

Please check whether the EOS Utility application supplied with your camera, or any other EOS Utility version is installed on your computer. (Version 2.12 or later is supported.) If your version is not supported, please update the application to the latest version by using an updater. You can download the EOS Utility updaters from the Canon Web site.

• 
  EOS Utility does not operate correctly on a computer if its system requirements are not met. Use EOS Utility on a computer with compatible system requirements. For details on system requirements that are compatible with the application, please refer to the Related information.
• 
  EOS Utility and the camera may not communicate normally with a cable other than the EOS DIGITAL camera-dedicated Canon interface cable. Connect your camera and computer directly with the interface cable provided with your camera. Do not connect the camera via a hub; doing so may prevent EOS Utility and your camera from communicating normally.
• 
  If there is insufficient charge left in the camera battery, the camera cannot communicate with EOS Utility. In this case, replace the battery with a charged one, or use an AC adapter kit ACK-E6 (Separately available).Your computer does not supply power to the camera through the interface cable.

4. CameraWindow is being used

Your camera does not support CameraWindow. If you are using CameraWindow, please install and use the EOS Utility application supplied with the camera.

If this is an urgent matter, please feel free to contact Technical Support directly. You can do this through our Service and Support web site.

[SGFFX]

Tim,

I'm not sure how your post helps me connect the 6D through wifi. It tells me how to disable wifi and connect a USB cable. Connecting a USB cable was never a problem. Yes, I am using the latest version of the EOS Utility. It works just fine with a USB cable.

In any case SUCCESS! I have the wifi connection between the computer and the EOS 6d working. I had to start the pairing software WFT by finding the executable in the Program Files (x86) folder and clicking on the executable. The WFT selection was greyed out in the EOS Utility menu. So starting WFT manually was the only option.

My best guess is part or all of my problem was due to the passphrase that is 35 characters long. I really take the guidance to enter a complex passphrase to heart. This is no problem when you can use a keyboard to enter the passphrase. I am a clutz when it comes to using the thrumbwheel and I must have been incorrectly entering it. I attemptied to enter it many times. It would not pair with WFT. When I would return to the passphrase screen I would see 5 or 6 asterisks. Retry entering the passphase and same result. But finally I was somehow successful and now I can connect whenever. The WFT pairing software now runs at Windows startup and is always in the taskbar.

My point: setting the wifi passphrase can be made user friendly. The limited ability to configure the camera via the EOS Utility seems unnessarily limited.

I don't understand the limitation that the wifi can't be configured when the USB cable is plugged in. Maybe I can understand why both USB and WiFi can't be used at the same time but not allowing the wifi to be configured is not understandable. In fact I question why it is not possible to set/change any and all options and parameters through the EOS Utility however the utility connects to the camera whether USB or wifi.

I also wish the camera had the ability to connect via the 5Ghz band. As I said in my original post the available bandwidth on 2.4Ghz is congested and the very best I can do is about 130mbits per second transfer and often much less. On my 5Ghz band I can get 300mbits per second. Maybe video could have been streamed from the camera at that bandwidth.

[SGFFX]

The latest version of EOS Utility 2.14 has a better implementation of the Wifi pairing that the previous version. I recommend upgrading to this version if you want a better interface for Wifi pairing.

Steve

[Falco57]

Before updating, check this out http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=20597.msg412392#msg412392.
After trying to pair my EOS 6d, had to update to 2.14 for it to work. However, then lost WiFi capability from router. After spending the day with ISP replacing all infrastructure, traced problem to EOS Utility and EOS UPNP Detector.

[rft_canon]

And sadly, the users manual is fo 2.13, not 2.14