Hotspot access vs Direct mode ( Android/iPhone)

[Richard_T]

In about a months time or so i will have had my Eye fi card fro 12 months, after that, from what i understand the hotspot access will expire, and if i want to use it then i will need to purchase a 12 month subscription.

I have been using the direct mode function via the android app for a while, and using this method to upload photos, as well as control what goes where, editing, and so on, everything has ( mostly) gone fine.

which leaves me with one question, whats the point in the hotspot access, especially as, in the UK we( I) dont have access to as many wifi hotspots as they do in the USA/Canada?

[MikeV]

The hotspot service, through DeviceScape's Easy WiFi feature, can also be used to provide username/password info for other hotspot companies that you may have access to that may not be included in Eye-Fi's hotspot service (for example, if you have high speed internet at home that also includes WiFi access through your provider's hotspots).

It also allows the card to connect to ANY open network (read: non-encrypted network with no login/splash page) to upload your pictures.

[Isaan Photographer]

If you have you broadband from BT then you have access to the worldwide Fon network of hotspots that you can add to you Eye-Fi card. If you don't have broadband from BT then you can buy a Fon wifi router for as little as €40 that allows you to access any Fon hotspot.

[rpavich]

I THINK what the OP's point was this: if I can just use direct mode then what advantage is there to paying for wifi? It adds nothing...it's not solving a problem.

[MikeV]

It solves the problem of...

I want my pictures to go from my card to the internet with as little effort as possible (read: not sending the pictures to my phone, then requiring me to select the ones I want to upload to the internet and/or PC). I just take pictures and they make it to their destination without my involvement.
Or...
I want to send my pictures to my home computer (not my phone), but I'm not at home. Because we all know how great the iPhone/iPad support RAW format pictures.

[Richard_T]

Thanks for the replys, although im not a BT customer, i am on the fon network ( using a fonera+ router) and i have used the fon network, both at home in the UK, and elsewhere.

I understand the advantages of the photos goign from card to web with minimum effort, but trying this in reality isnt quite so easy, as the few hotspots that i can use in the UK are so few and far between, and as im sure youve expeirienced the eye fi card does need a good to excellent signal, where as my phone will connect to wifi with a good-poor signal due to the phone having a bigger wifi antenna than the tiny eye fi card ( it still impresses me how they managed to get all that in a little orange SD card)


So the hotspot function works, but only in a few limited places and with a good signal, however the fon network only usualy offers 512kb speeds, and this can be slow for transfers, and you need to have a good signal - usualy right outside someones house.
Using the phone as an intermediate does mean that you loose the instant upload function however the benefit is a ,uch more reliable data conection, weather it be from the mobile operators data plan, or wifi.
Asfor speeds, on 3G data i get 4mbps, wifi via fon i get 0.512mbps, and at home on my domestic wifi i get 7mbps.

so with all that, is it worth having a subscription to the hotspot function, especialy as in my expeirience its severly crippled by a lack of compatable wifi hotspotss, when my android phone can log me in automaticaly into a much greater range of hotspots?

[rpavich]

thanks MikeV...that cleared it up some for me.