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Leica T App, 1 iPhone and no WIFI. Now it works


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There has been much Argy Bargy about this in the Pogue review thread ad infinitum, I thought it might be worth clarifying it in a thread

 

]I spent ages trying to do this, others have also failed. Then Simone in Facebook said 'it's easy' and it is, but it needs to be in the right order

 

1 start a hotspot on your phone in settings

2 connect the camera to the hotspot

3 start the app on the phone

 

It just seems to work. If you have trouble, try restarting both phone and camera and starting again

 

All the best

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When you "start a hotspot" you are creating a wifi network using your phones data plan. Not everyone has the ability to do this. In the US it's a $60/mo option that requires canceling your unlimited data plan...so most people don't have the option.

Additionally, this requires a data network. What we want is an ad hoc option...w/ ad hoc you don't need access to data network, it's a simple point to point connection that can occur anywhere.

Edited by digitalfx
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I almost got excited when I saw the title to the thread... I'm glad this will work for some, but I'll never give up my unlimited data to turn on the hotspot feature. Nor do I want to pay for the additional data plan that I shouldn't need. This ad hoc method is the way that most(all?) of the other cameras with similar apps work. I do hope Leica fixes this... :(

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When you "start a hotspot" you are creating a wifi network using your phones data plan. Not everyone has the ability to do this. In the US it's a $60/mo option that requires canceling your unlimited data plan...so most people don't have the option.

Additionally, this requires a data network. What we want is an ad hoc option...w/ ad hoc you don't need access to data network, it's a simple point to point connection that can occur anywhere.

 

I'm curious about this (though it hasn't been an issue for me) - with your plan, is the problem that your phone is locked? or that your plan does not allow tethering? The reason I ask is that when I got my first iPhone (the original one), I jailbroke it and used to tether with it - my service provider had no say in the matter, and had no way of knowing how I was using my data. It was nothing to do with my plan. In the subsequent iOS upgrade, tethering became possible; again, nothing to do with the service provider - it was a software setting on the phone.

 

When I was in the US last month, I bought an unlocked iPhone and signed up for a T Mobile pre-pay plan with data (can't recall how much, but traveling etc for a month checking emails and surfing the net, it was plenty); tethering wasn't an issue. Is it just an AT&T thing?

 

I can say, having roamed and bought pre-pay with data in Europe, US, Aus, Asia and at home in NZ, this has never been a problem. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that this is an international forum where this is actually a solution - for everyone except, apparently, those in the US on one particular plan? or is it more widespread? I should add that when tethering your camera in this way, (leaving aside the question of the ability to tether) using your camera should have no impact on your data plan as you're not actually transferring any data over your cellular network. It's peer-to-peer, isn't it?

 

Cheers

John

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I'm curious about this (though it hasn't been an issue for me) - with your plan, is the problem that your phone is locked? or that your plan does not allow tethering? The reason I ask is that when I got my first iPhone (the original one), I jailbroke it and used to tether with it - my service provider had no say in the matter, and had no way of knowing how I was using my data. It was nothing to do with my plan. In the subsequent iOS upgrade, tethering became possible; again, nothing to do with the service provider - it was a software setting on the phone.

 

When I was in the US last month, I bought an unlocked iPhone and signed up for a T Mobile pre-pay plan with data (can't recall how much, but traveling etc for a month checking emails and surfing the net, it was plenty); tethering wasn't an issue. Is it just an AT&T thing?

 

I can say, having roamed and bought pre-pay with data in Europe, US, Aus, Asia and at home in NZ, this has never been a problem. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that this is an international forum where this is actually a solution - for everyone except, apparently, those in the US on one particular plan? or is it more widespread? I should add that when tethering your camera in this way, (leaving aside the question of the ability to tether) using your camera should have no impact on your data plan as you're not actually transferring any data over your cellular network. It's peer-to-peer, isn't it?

 

Cheers

John

 

I have tethering, I'm referring to the norm.

AT&T sells tethering as an option to your regular service. Its $60/mo. Other networks do something similar.

If you have unlimited internet (which is no longer available)...which I do on my other devices, you would have to give it up to add tethering.

 

Jailbreak is an option, but breaks your agreement or service contract. With the latest iOS devices and software, jailbreaking has less appeal and isn't possible on some devices. I gave up on it long ago. and very few people in US have unlocked phones.

 

But the real question is why does any of this matter? Its far better to add an ad hoc option. Its not that difficult and its the proper way to do it. No reason to debate this, its really pretty standard.

ad hoc allows two devices (in this case the iPhone and your mac, iPad, whatever...to connect wirelessly and transfer data. It requires no "internet". Its a simple point to point connection using the wifi radios.

Edited by digitalfx
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But the real question is why does any of this matter? Its far better to add an ad hoc option. Its not that difficult and its the proper way to do it. No reason to debate this, its really pretty standard.

ad hoc allows two devices (in this case the iPhone and your mac, iPad, whatever...to connect wirelessly and transfer data. It requires no "internet". Its a simple point to point connection using the wifi radios.

 

I'm sure that's right.

 

I was just observing that what some US service providers offer in the way of tethering isn't really Leica's concern. I'm only putting perspective into what has been a significant comment by some (and in one case complaining that the Europeans were making assumptions about the rest of the World, when actually, it doesn't seem to be the rest of the World at all). If I understand correctly, if you have an unlocked phone and a data plan, this isn't an issue; and it is possible to tether an iPhone in the US (speaking from experience).

 

I do agree, though, that a straight ad hoc connection from phone to camera would be better. While we wait for that to happen, those of us who don't have locked phones can establish a peer-to-peer connection without actually using any data.*

 

Cheers

John

 

*I should add that our phones (NZ) tend not to be locked - I suspect it's because we travel a lot and the expectation is that we will buy cards from other providers overseas. This is in spite of the fact that Vodafone is not the only company offering iPhones (Telecom do also), and we still get the discounts on iPhones - if you sign up to a big enough plan (I do), you get a "free" phone. I bought my second, unlocked phone, from the Mac Shop on 5th Avenue, so unlocked phones are easily available.

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I'm not going to start a political debate, all I can say is that most other manufactures support this mode. It would be foolish not to with this type of device.

 

I think you are missing the point though. Why must Leica only allow this connection in areas where a data connection exists. With ad hoc you DONT NEED Internet.

 

I use my cameras in remote areas where internet, 4g, 3g, LTE or whatever doesn't exist. I want to be able to transfer between devices in these areas. Im sure you have those in Europe too :)

ad hoc lets me do this.

Edited by digitalfx
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I've posted on the other threads on this topic. In the US tethering is controlled by the carrier. For long term iPhone/iPad users, it will knock you out of getting unlimited data. Some might say well if you can afford the camera, you could certainly spend the extra $20/month to get the feature.

 

IF there were no other way to accomplish a mobile phone connecting with the camera I wouldn't be upset and I could decide what course of action to take.

 

However, since every other camera seems to set up an ad hoc network, it is super annoying that Leica set it up differently.

 

Panasonic, Olympus, Fuji, and GoPro have wifi and implement it differently than Leica.

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I'm not going to start a political debate, all I can say is that most other manufactures support this mode. It would be foolish not to with this type of device.

 

I think you are missing the point though. Why must Leica only allow this connection in areas where a data connection exists. With ad hoc you DONT NEED Internet.

 

I use my cameras in remote areas where internet, 4g, 3g, LTE or whatever doesn't exist. I want to be able to transfer between devices in these areas. Im sure you have those in Europe too :)

ad hoc lets me do this.

 

I'm not looking for a debate at all. I'm not in Europe. I agree that an ad hoc connection would be better.

 

BUT, until that happens, you can do the same by tethering with an unlocked phone. Sorry to bleat on about this. I was curious, as I'm pretty sure my D800E doesn't have this capability, and the Sony A7r I had really only had NFC for this. When I look at the Nikon specs, you can establish a direct ad hoc connection to the D800E, but only by adding the CamRanger hardware to establish the WiFi network.

 

Establishing what you want actually doesn't sound as straightforward as you say. NFC is available for Android (but not offered by Leica), and Apple apparently isn't keep on offering this for iPhone.

 

I hope I haven't completely misunderstood the issue.

 

Cheers

John

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In the US tethering is controlled by the carrier. For long term iPhone/iPad users, it will knock you out of getting unlimited data. Some might say well if you can afford the camera, you could certainly spend the extra $20/month to get the feature.

 

Well, visiting the US with my unlocked phone, I had no trouble signing up for pre-pay and using my phone tethered. Not sure what I was doing wrong.

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the issue is I want a wireless solution that doesn't require a internet connection, thats all. Clearly I'm the exception so I'll go away.

 

Not to flog the point, you don't need an internet connection - just your phone as a hotspot (which you can't do with you phone, I understand that). The personal hotspot still works even if you don't have a cellular connection.

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Well, visiting the US with my unlocked phone, I had no trouble signing up for pre-pay and using my phone tethered. Not sure what I was doing wrong.

 

Correct but most phones in the US are locked.

 

Again, the issue is why Leica set this up differently than every other implementation I've seen so far. There is no reason to have the discussion about locked vs. unlocked phones when clearly there is a simpler way.

 

On your unlocked phone if you put the phone in airplane mode and then turn wifi back on, can you still set up the hotspot?

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Correct but most phones in the US are locked.

 

I'm not sure why that should drive Leica's functionality, but let me repeat that I agree that an ad hoc connection would be better. It just doesn't seem quite as straightforward as everyone seems to be saying.

 

Again, the issue is why Leica set this up differently than every other implementation I've seen so far. There is no reason to have the discussion about locked vs. unlocked phones when clearly there is a simpler way.

 

I cannot comment on every other implementation that you have seen, but I can say that my D800E and A7r didn't allow what you're wanting. I could connect to my A7r, but I couldn't trigger it or use it in the same way I can my Leica T.

 

People who know far more about this than me actually seem to be saying it isn't that easy.

 

On your unlocked phone if you put the phone in airplane mode and then turn wifi back on, can you still set up the hotspot?

 

Of course not. In aeroplane mode, WiFi is turned off.

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I'm not sure why that should drive Leica's functionality, but let me repeat that I agree that an ad hoc connection would be better. It just doesn't seem quite as straightforward as everyone seems to be saying.

 

 

 

I cannot comment on every other implementation that you have seen, but I can say that my D800E and A7r didn't allow what you're wanting. I could connect to my A7r, but I couldn't trigger it or use it in the same way I can my Leica T.

 

People who know far more about this than me actually seem to be saying it isn't that easy.

 

 

 

Of course not. In aeroplane mode, WiFi is turned off.

 

Yes, reread what I said. Put in airplane mode and THEN TURN WIFI ON. This is exactly how you use wifi on an airplane...you turn off the cellular and then turn Wifi on. I was trying to see if you could even get to the option without cellular service. I can't get that far on my phone because I get a message to contact AT&T.

 

Sorry but wifi control of a camera is not that difficult. Here is how you do it on the little Sony QX10 lens that you use with a smart phone and a GroPro ....Both of these devices cost less than $400 and my little $250 Panasonic point and shoot works exactly the same way.

 

 Turn on the power of the camera.

 Start “PlayMemories Mobile” on

the smartphone.

 Select the SSID, as printed on the

inside of the camera’s battery cover or on the cover of this manual.

 Input the password, as printed on the same label (first time only).

 

Here is how you do it for GoPro:

 

Power on your camera.

Press the Wi-Fi button on the side of the HERO3/HERO3+ camera or Wi-Fi BacPac to go to the Wi-Fi menu.

If you have a HERO3/HERO3+ camera, select "GoPro App"

In your smart phone or tablet’s Wi-Fi Network settings, connect to the camera's Wi-Fi network. You should find the name of your camera/BacPac listed in your available Wi-Fi networks for you to select. By default, the name will be something like “GOPRO-BP-….”. The default password is “goprohero”.

Open the GoPro App on your phone or tablet.

Tap “CONNECT + CONTROL”.

You should now see and be able to control the camera that your phone or tablet is connected to.

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My Canon 6D has the ad hoc capability, with complete camera control including aperture, shutter speed, ISO settings, and camera trigger. And I've had it for a year and a half. It's not new technology, and it really is pretty straightforward.

 

And yes, in the US, tethering does not work without paying for the right data plan. Whether or not the connection uses actual cellular data is irrelevant. They make us pay to use it. I wish it were different!

 

Leica really did just set this up wrong. Even if you are in a country/have a cellular plan that allows you to easily use your phone as a hotspot it really shouldn't have to be done this way. I'm happy for those of you that can make this work. And it will not make me cancel my preorder for my T. I really do hope they can/will change this with a firmware update.

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Tried it on the ferry on the way home, just as Jono posted above. First you turn on the hotspot, then connect the camera to the hotspot network, then start the App. Sounds complicated, but it isn't. Now my phone is a listed network in the camera, connection is easy.

 

The way the iOS is set up, you can't turn off Mobile Data, or put the phone into Airplane mode then turn on WiFi, and then use the Personal HotSpot - it's greyed out. But, if you have no cellular access (ie, out in the sticks somewhere with no cellphone or data coverage), the personal hotspot still works. I can tether my Mac to my phone, but get no internet coverage. Can't test this, as I have coverage ... not sure there's much point, really.

 

Next time I'm up in the mountains, I'll try and I'll report back.

 

And, yes, I agree (again) that it would be better if ad hoc worked. You have my sympathy. But for me, it does work and it's actually a pretty simple work around.

 

Cheers

John

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When you "start a hotspot" you are creating a wifi network using your phones data plan. Not everyone has the ability to do this. In the US it's a $60/mo option that requires canceling your unlimited data plan...so most people don't have the option.

Additionally, this requires a data network. What we want is an ad hoc option...w/ ad hoc you don't need access to data network, it's a simple point to point connection that can occur anywhere.

 

No you do not need to use your data plan.

 

1.Go to” carrier” and disable “automatic”

2 Select a provider that you do not have a contract with manually.

3. The phone will display “ no service”

4. Use Jono’s procedure.

 

And if you have a locked phone, there are places all over that will unlock it for you. I don’t know about the US but it typically costs between 20 and 70 $ to do so.

Edited by jaapv
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