A photographer and videographer’s go-to gear has evolved over the years. A camera bag used to include a lens or two and some film but has since transformed into a mini tech hub with considerably more advanced essentials. Whether you’re a professional traveling to capture content or a hobbyist wanting to shoot like one on your vacation abroad, you’ll likely bring along items like your camera, speedlites, multiple lenses, power banks, batteries, a laptop, portable hard drives, and more. But something worth considering, if you haven’t already, is a mobile hotspot.
Hotspots like NETGEAR’s Nighthawk M6 Pro give creatives the power of the internet in their pockets, with a safe connection that can transform most locations into on-the-go offices and editing hubs. They’re unlocked, so creatives can even swap SIM cards and choose between carriers for unparalleled flexibility for international and domestic travel. Here are a few more reasons that a mobile router is the next essential device in your camera bag:
Keep your workflow in motion while traveling
There is increasing pressure for fast results and productivity no matter where you are, making a reliable WiFi connection critical. Some creatives want to ensure their content is quickly backed up in the cloud in case of emergency, others want to share content with their clients or simply communicate with them as soon as possible to meet quick-turn deadlines.
For instance, imagine you’ve been hired to shoot an elopement in Joshua Tree and are obligated to send your clients an edited sneak peek gallery immediately following the couple’s “I dos”. With the power of a mobile hotspot, you can hop in your car, promptly upload and edit your photos, and send a gallery preview to your clients with ease.
The 5G, WiFi 6E Nighthawk M6 Pro is palm-sized and fits easily into a purse or bag. It can run on battery power for up to 13 hours or be plugged into a regular power socket or a 12-volt socket in a car, boat, or motorhome. If you need WiFi in a crowded area where everyone is vying for the same signal, its mmWave technology will help ensure you stay connected or you can add an external antenna to help boost the connection where the signal may be sparse.
Free your phone up, and lean on a mobile hotspot for data intensive work while traveling
Gone are the days of worrying about returning to a hotel or rental for a stable connection to upload to the cloud – because now, you can do this from almost anywhere.
Using a dedicated hotspot is helpful for data intensive work on your PC and leaves your phone available for what it does best. Creative director and mountain athlete Lukas Mann explained, “The NETGEAR Nighthawk M6 Pro made up for the failures of iPhone hotspots that don’t work particularly well, especially when trying to do more data-heavy tasks through my laptop. As someone who spends time in places that are hard to reach, and hard to communicate from, using a mobile hotspot helps me streamline my workflow and allows me to get things done quicker.”
Also, if you want to take advantage of the WiFi features on your camera or attached adapters but don’t have access to a good WiFi connection to do so, a mobile hotspot is your answer. Simply connect your camera and laptop to the M6 Pro and you can instantly share files to your PC.
Avoid public WiFi and protect your creative work and personal information
Perhaps you’ve just wrapped a nature shoot for a blog or finished location scouting for an event and made it back to a coffee shop, hotel or even the airport to start editing and working online. Public WiFi is notoriously unsafe, and while it may be tempting to hop on the free offering, you’re immediately at risk of intrusion. You especially don’t want to rely on the risky and unpredictable option of public WiFi when sharing confidential personal or business information. If your laptop or phone becomes compromised, you could experience frequent crashes, unusually slow performance or worse, lose access to your life’s work on your PC hard drive.
NETGEAR’s mobile routers provide a portable, private, encrypted WiFi connection with a built-in firewall for all its connected devices. A mobile hotspot is the safest choice to stay connected while remaining protected. With the M6 Pro, you’ll also be able to connect multiple devices to the hotspot at once (up to 32!), making it simple to have your laptop, phone, and even camera all on one secure connection.
As you plan your next shoot or trip, consider adding a mobile hotspot to round out the tech you’re already bringing to help with your day-to-day work and life digital needs. Hotspots like NETGEAR’s award-winning Nighthawk M6 Pro and Nighthawk M6 are top-of-the-line options that guarantee private, speedy connection to manage all of your creative needs.
