DIY Wireless Tethering On The Cheap

Posted on 15 May 2009 by Lou

wifitetherdiyIt’s always nice to be able to tether your camera to the computer, but being wired sucks.  Howabout wireless tethering for only $50? Now that’s what I’m talking about!

Peter Tsai has come up with a really clever–and simple–method of wirelessly tethering his Nikon D300 to his computer without shelling out for the $700 Nikon WT-4 transmitter.

Using a few pieces of equipment, most notibly a pair of CablesUnlimited Wireless USB dongles, one on the computer, one on the camera of course, he’s able to simulate a physical USB connection via Certified USB Wireless.  Within reasonable proximity to the receiver, the transfer speeds are way beyond normal Wi-Fi.  Best of all, a pair of these are only $50!

The downside is, these adapters do require an external power supply via AC adapter, however Peter’s rigged up an AAAx4 power pack that’s been soldered in.  A small price to pay for wireless connectivity to your comuter on the cheap!

If any of you have given this a shot–or a similar wireless tethering–leave some comments on your opinions and thoughts.  I’ll be getting around to trying this with my Canon somewhat soon hopefully, I’d like to think it will work on most cameras that mount via USB.

[Petek via Gizmodo via Wired]

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  • me
    you know it would be free to just plug in the cable that came with the camera, this seems like a waste of money to me!
  • tf5_bassist
    free, yes. Although I think you're missing the overall goal here. If you're only looking for a way to transfer shots off of the camera onto the computer, then yes. The USB cable would work, or even better, an inexpensive high-speed card reader (my preferred import method). Or if you wanted to get fancy, howabout one of those EyeFi cards that will automagically beam your images via WiFi to your comp? Those are cheap, starting at $75.

    But those methods do one thing, and one thing only: It offloads images from the camera onto the computer. That's it. What more is there, you ask? Well... This is where "tethering" comes into play.

    Tethering is the process of using your camera hooked up to a computer, so that you can fire the camera with the computer, adjust settings with the computer, compose and focus on your shot with the computer, and have the image show up instantaneously on your computer screen so you can see it right then and there.

    Not everyone needs this capability, it's mostly studio photographers, commercial/fashion photographers, or people who remotely mount a camera (sports photographers, for example, or people like Vincent LaForet, who do architectural and aerial photography.

    Considering as the first-party pieces of kit to do this are usually $700 or more, being able to do it for $50 all DIY-like is a steal.

    Pete's got some new revisions of this coming out soon, and I wouldn't be surprised if he starts selling them as well. Keep an eye out.
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