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We have a few cameras out in our warehouse that we use to track progress of jobs and we send the pictures from the 3-4 cameras to the company they are going to so they also can see the status of their orders. We have someone who goes out to the shop at the end of the day and takes the SD cards from the cameras and runs them back to her computer, moves them off the cards, sorts them, sends them to clients, and then takes the cards back out.

We want to eliminate this task for her, because in most cases it results in her having to stay after hours and take care of this when we can be doing this via wireless. We have tried Eye-Fi and I received a few more cards to try today. The problem with the Eye-Fi was that it created a wireless network and we want these cards to join a wireless network. Out in the shop, we have plenty of access points, so the plant is well covered and they won't have any issues connecting to that, but all the cards I have tried so far have output a network and we want them to be able to join a network instead so that they can then transfer the pictures to her computer.

The cameras aren't very fancy (simple point and shoot).

I don't think the cameras have Wi-Fi capabilities (These are at one of our satellite locations).

I'm willing to spend up to $250 total for all three cards (the Eye-Fi was about 55, the Toshiba FlashAir was about 45, and the Ez Share was about 50) - I have yet to try the last two on this list. I guess I'm more curious if I am wasting my time with these cards and there is one that has all, or most, of the features I am looking for.

If it is possible for the cards that you guys know about to upload to Google Drive or Picasa (or any other cloud service), but not directly to a computer that would be fine as well.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I am planning on returning the cards I do not use BTW, so my cost limit still stands ;) \$\endgroup\$
    – Everett Whiteman
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 16:49
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    \$\begingroup\$ Is it possible to use a camera phone for this application? \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 22:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ According to the Eye-Fi site, this is something you should be able to do with the Eye-Fi card: With Eyefi Mobi desktop you can send your JPEG and RAW files from your camera directly to your PC or Mac Perhaps you have a different Eye-Fi card? \$\endgroup\$
    – Saaru Lindestøkke
    Commented Oct 29, 2016 at 17:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ Possible duplicate of Wirelessly transfer photos from camera to a computer?. Once you have the photos on a computer, a script can be run periodically that syncs a local pc folder with a network location. \$\endgroup\$
    – Saaru Lindestøkke
    Commented Oct 29, 2016 at 17:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ @SaaruLindestøkke While the linked question is indeed very close, it doesn't answer the OP's question about connecting EyeFi cards to an existing wireless network, rather than the EyeFi creating its own network. \$\endgroup\$
    – scottbb ♦
    Commented Oct 29, 2016 at 18:43

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According to EyeFi's Mobi Pro support article and discussion forums, you can configure a Mobi Pro to connect to existing networks (called Infrastructure Support), rather than your computer connecting to the Mobi's own network (Mobi Pro only; this is not possible with Mobi).

However, according to this discussion at the Mobi Pro support site, it appears the only way to connect to the Mobi Pro card that has joined a preexisting infrastructure network is to use the EyeFi Mobi Desktop software, which can only connect to a single Mobi Pro card at a time.

So with existing EyeFi Mobi Pro cards, you can connect to existing networks, but you will have to either manually get the photos from each card on the network using the Mobi Desktop software, or use the Mobi Cloud service (which is free for 1 year after purchase).

If you have or are using discontinued EyeFi X2 cards, according to EyeFi's support article Add a Wireless Network, you used to be able configure an EyeFi X2 card to connect to an existing network, by inserting the card to a computer connected to the wi-fi network, and launching the EyeFi Center software on the card.

After EyeFi was acquired by Ricoh in mid 2016, they posted notice that they were discontinuing several products, including the X2 cards and the associated EyeFi Center software, because they were shutting down servers hosted by EyeFi that the configuration software connected to. So even though you just want to get the photos off your own cards on your own network, the configuration software was disabled, effectively bricking any configuration of existing X2 cards.

Toshiba FlashAir cards support connecting in Station Mode, allowing them to connect to existing wi-fi networks. To do this, you have to configure the card by inserting it into a computer, and edit the /SD_WLAN/CONFIG file on the card. This file contains configuration parameters, such the the FlashAir's network name that you can specify, the network to connect to (and credentials), etc.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ It's not just the Ricoh service — those instructions only apply to their X2 line of cards, which they quietly discontinued in 2012 even though old stock kept being sold for several years. The new "Mobi" cards don't have this feature. One might be able to acquire back-stock or used X2 cards now, but I certainly wouldn't suggest building a commercial workflow around it. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Oct 29, 2016 at 19:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yeah, I wasn't very clear about the EyeFi Center software being effectively disabled, since it has to phone home. I've updated for that, and added a section for Mobi Pro cards. \$\endgroup\$
    – scottbb ♦
    Commented Oct 29, 2016 at 21:15

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