(Another) Wifi Connection Problem Support Thread

[Synthesis]

Hello--I'm only posting because the previous solutions in this forum, which did work, have stopped helping and I'm stumped.

I have two Windows 10 Pro 64-bit machines: a Surface Pro, and a desktop. Naturally, they share the same Wifi network. My Canon Powershot G7X Mk 2 connects flawlessly to the Surface Pro, and did on the first try. Previously it connected to my desktop with no small effort (the ritual of resetting the wifi connection and searching for a new device in the Control Panel when it connected--the in the future, removing the "old" device under Devices and Printers, and doing it again if I was connected more than a week later, roughly).

Now, nothing happens. There is no "old" device. My camera sees both computers fine, and will see my desktop (suggesting all the proper wifi settings are toggled, as done via the Canon application you download and install as part of the software suite), but spins endlessly. Searching for a new device...reveals nothing, except my own devices (and a neighboring one). There is one device in the search window marked "Unknown", but connecting to it yields no result (and since the "Unknown" device was probably there when I was able to connect via Wifi a year ago, I doubt that's it).

Any help as to what to do now would be much appreciated. Connecting my camera via wifi to my Surface Pro, and then sending those photos to my desktop, seems kind of stupidly tedious. 

[Waddizzle]

You can try turning Wi-Fi off and back on again every time you try to establish a connection to a different device from the last time that you used it.  Resetting the camera might clear the Wi-Fi settings.  I would think Wi-Fi may have its’ own reset, though.

[Synthesis]

I'm not sure what you mean by turning wi-fi on and off. I've tried power cycling the camera every time of course. 

Do you mean wiping the Wifi Settings entirely? That hasn't helped, that was one of my original ideas (now all it would do is wipe the Wifi settings that do work, with my Surface Pro).

Thanks for the quick answer though, all the same. 

[John_]

Just a thought from my experience, are both of your computers on the same 2.4 ghz SSID's? I have to switch to my 2.4ghz SSID rather than the faster 5ghz SSID  for any device to connect to my camera which is a pain.

[Synthesis]

I definitely considered that might be the issue: my two computers are on a Wifi network at 5 ghz, whereas the camera is on a wifi network from the same router at 2.4 ghz (naturally). The networks actually share the same name, but the camera can't connect to the 5 ghz, so that's not really an issue.

The camera has no issue connecting, over wifi, to the Surface Pro (which is on 5 ghz). But it won't connect to my aforementioned desktop PC (which is also on 5 ghz, even though it used to).

the 2.4/5ghz separation is annoying, but I don't think it's the issue. Thank you for suggesting it though. 

[Waddizzle]

---

@Synthesis wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean by turning wi-fi on and off. I've tried power cycling the camera every time of course. 

Do you mean wiping the Wifi Settings entirely? That hasn't helped, that was one of my original ideas (now all it would do is wipe the Wifi settings that do work, with my Surface Pro).

Thanks for the quick answer though, all the same. 

---

I mean literally turning off the Wi-Fi.  Switch the camera to USB mode.  Doing so should not clear Wi-Fi settings.  I am not sure if your camera supports multiple Wi-Fi configuration settings, but turning off Wi-Fi should not clear them out.

[Synthesis]

@Waddizzle

Oh, I see--sorry to have to ask, but how do you toggle USB Mode? Just connect it via USB to my PC? I've never seen a specific function. 

Erasing the Wifi settings doesn't seem to work, but I'm willing to try this. 

[Synthesis]

And after a few months of mysteriously working...it broke again. My PC happily sees the device under the Device Manager, but will not read it as a networking drive.

Canon really half-assed the Wifi with this one. Which is a shame, because that was a motivation for upgrading (never having to deal with cables or card again). Guess that's on me.

[Waddizzle]

---

@Synthesis wrote:
And after a few months of mysteriously working...it broke again. My PC happily sees the device under the Device Manager, but will not read it as a networking drive.

Canon really half-assed the Wifi with this one. Which is a shame, because that was a motivation for upgrading (never having to deal with cables or card again). Guess that's on me.

---

Having “Wi-Fi” does not mean that the device is necessarily “networkable.”  I do not think the intention was for the camera to accessed as if it were a wireless network drive.  I would suggest using a copper connection, a USB cable, for that type of functionality.

[Synthesis]

@Waddizzle Without sound ungrateful, maybe that's the case, but it's really confusing considering not only did Canon advertise the functionality (and uses "generic" drivers rather than releasing specific ones), it did work--it never worked well (any sort of storage device you have to regularly remove from your device manager in order to be detected isn't a well-designed one).

Obviously, you can always plug in a cable, or remove the MicroSD card, but that's accepting that advertised functionality of the camera is broken. It could be worse, it could be some other area of functionality, but it doesn't change the fact that it's broken.

I could also be describing it badly: using wifi, the camera no longer shows up as a storage device in the file browser. The way Canon advertised it as doing so (they even have a tool to change your PC settings for no other purpose but doing this). Even when the PC detects it (and now across multiple PCs). Canon really half-assed this one.

For old times sake, I tried switching out the MicroSD card, wiping out wifi settings, and reconnecting--the camera is detected, but shows up as a Portable Devices that needs troubleshooting. Honestly at this point, I might just have a defective camera because this is clearly supposed to work but barely does. Well, eletronics fail, and considering Canon's reputation when it comes to wireless linking...