This camera seemed pretty popular with the Gearbest deals, but they have since expired. Enter the code TECH30 for US$5 off 15MIMOUSE for US$6 off (credit to pifts for new code).
Referee gets $2 in coupons. Referrer gets 10% off (if referee spends over US$10)
Yeah I got one of these in the last lightinthebox sale. The only issue I have is the video motion detector. It all works fine except for the video motion recordings. It seems to store something but whenever I go to play them it never works. Any tips?
Also anyone have the web address for the picture on these? I would like to add it to my own software I already use.
There's a hack to disable the Mi Home cloud features and add RTSP support instead:
https://github.com/fritz-smh/yi-hack/issues/118
If you're looking for the ability to get JPG images via HTTP, I've created a further modification which adds that ability - you can read about it at near the bottom of the above post.
Will give it a look, what is your name on github?
I'm MarkG55 - a direct link is here:
https://github.com/fritz-smh/yi-hack/issues/118#issuecomment…
Yes, tinfoils will say you're tracked and watched by the Chinese Government
Tinfoil hat or not, best not to aim any IP camera at a location where you might get 'caught with your pants down'. Happened to me and even though nothing came of it (that I know of), the worry some nosey sysadmin might have images/video and try to blackmail you at some point hangs with you :)
I bought a couple of these in the previous deal. The image quality is utter crap. Looks worse than the 720p Yi camera. Night vision is also much weaker. The only advantage is that I can connect to it more reliably from the Mi Home app, whereas with the Yi camera it would sometimes fail to connect after a motion alert.
ah I've got a few ants cams, so this is the flashy, but crappier little brother? i.e. if I want another I'm better getting another ants cam?
I can connect to it more reliably from the Mi Home app
Please be careful with this product. I've posted some comments about Mirai and/or Bashlite botnet.
Is this specific to Xiaomi products?
It is not specific to Xiaomi products. Every internet connected device is vulnerable. Cameras are particularly vulnerable because they punch holes through your modem's firewall so that you can view the video on your phone.
The issue is that few manufacturers do not focus on security and rarely if ever release software updates.
There are approaches to making these devices more secure and your network less vulnerable (e.g. segments networks and firewalls) but this is non-trivial.
Is this specific to Xiaomi products?
No. Xiaomi, as a whole, is not responsible for writing bad codes. There are two components to the a lot of IoT: The product itself, like the camera, and the wireless component. Xiaomi is NOT responsible for creating the wireless chipset. Xiaomi, like the others, sourced them from a vendor.
Now the problem is that the vendor has made a huge sales with the wireless chipset. The author of the chipset drivers (who used to work for the vendor of the chipset) has long gone.
With the Mirai/Bash-lite botnet, no one knows how to fix the code. The chipset vendor probably is being asked for more money for the original author to come in.
The give-away to this is the "Mi Home" app. Some products call it "MY Home" and some other calls it differently. If you look at the websites, they are the same.
If products like this require registration and/or control to these kinds of websites or apps, then chances are the product you'll be buying will be part of the botnet within 98 seconds.
The only way to fix this is to perform a firmware upgrade (if there is one) but there is none available.
@sanmigueelbeer: If you Google for "mirai", "bashlite" and "mi home", the only result is your previous post on OzBargain. There is no actual information indicating that Mi Home is related or vulnerable to Mirai/Bashlite. If you think otherwise, can you provide a link?
I made a response to this question back in December 2016:
Read this article about an IP Surveillance camera that got infected/injected with the Miria botnet app in under 98 seconds.
Next, the product in question can be found HERE.
Look at the Amazon page. Look at the name of the application required to run this hardware. It's called "XM Eye".
Now google for "XM Eye" and the first "hit" is the website called XM Eye. Now go to the website. Look at the logo found in the upper left-hand corner of the website. What do you see? "MY Eye". It's a play of words. It's the same software to "Mi Home".
@sanmigueelbeer: So your entire argument is that "MY Eye" sounds like "Mi Home", with no real proof whatsoever? Sorry but I think you're wasting everyone's time.
Having recently attended a hacker's (security) conference last November (Kiwicon X), I completely agree with everything you're saying. All the hackers who gave a presentation laugh at IoT and how insecure it is for the very reasons you've pointed out. They've identified serious flaws like using a serial number as a valid means of authentication (which you can easily obtain through google image searches), and configuring simple/no password protection allowing for entry via telnetd.
You'll see how easy it is to obtain the root username/password just through bruteforce as per previous comments about trying to hack the camera (https://github.com/fritz-smh/yi-hack/issues/118#issuecomment…).
Security is always an afterthought (or never at all).
Interesting - the root password for this camera isn't on that list.
Not too surprising since Telnet isn't enabled by default on this camera anyway…
I had problems with mine when I first got it - night vision was truly awful - 2/3rd of the picture was blurred to the point where you had trouble recognising whether you're actually looking at a human only a meter or so in front of the camera!
In the end, I pulled it apart and found condensation on the IR/non IR filter which I cleaned off and that improved the picture enormously. In the process I managed to defocus the camera, so I had to disassemble it again and refocus it.
Since then, I've had to disassemble it a few times to clean condensation off the filter. Since I've set up the camera outside, I haven't had any further problems with condensation - I suspect that the condensation is due to using it in an air conditioned room, so I'd consider that to be a bit of a design fault myself…
I'm not sure if it was another fault with my particular unit, or if I've just damaged it in the process of disassembling it so many times, but mine was getting stuck in night mode which meant that colours were off during the day. I've since set it into day mode and disconnected the cable which controls the filter so that it never tries to go into night mode. The night mode itself is fairly useless - the amount of IR isn't enough to see beyond more than a few meters - it's rated for 9m of night vision, but they must be "Chinese" meters! Where I've got it set up though, it doesn't need the IR mode because of motion sensing lights that are already there.
Overall, picture quality, particularly during the day, is quite good - definitely better than 720P. I'd give the product a cautious thumbs up considering how cheap it is - just so long as you're not trying to use it in an air conditioned environment and you don't need IR night mode to work in anything bigger than a small bedroom.
Could you fit one of those small sachets of silica in the unit housing?
If it was small enough, I don't see why not - there's a bit of room to spare inside the housing.
There are a lot of holes through the housing at the back and on the bottom though, so I'm not sure how effective it would be - I suspect that the moisture could get into the housing quicker than the silica sachet could absorb it - might still be worth a try though!
Further 4.8% off via CashRewards takes this down to around $31.07 AU - https://www.cashrewards.com.au/banggood-com
Ali have it for $34.17 or $31.93 using CashRewards for those that dont have/want BangGood account.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Xiaomi-Xiaofang-110…
A little help for your guys.
"XiaoFang" in Mandarin means "little Square box", so name is regarding the shape of it.
I bought one from the previous GB deal. The motion sensor is very sensitive even to noise and wind. We're receiving more than a dozen false alerts overnight and observed to be due to sound of cars outside or even airplanes! So now we're just ignoring the app notifications. Night vision is also useless, can't even recognise my dog on the video.
Did you try reducing the sensitivity of the motion detection? Worked for me. Mine was picking up random noises from toys during the night.
TECH30 code is not working. so bought from Aliexpress. Thanks Pavlouh for the link..
I bought one from the previous deal. It failed to update its firmware (stopped at less than 30%), so I can only use it on my home network, which means I can't access it from internet. Crap product. I have not found any good third party review, except its promotional marketing articles.
That's exactly how I'd want to use it anyway (just as a baby monitor).
Can you advise if it's possible to set up a static IP configuration with this device?
you have to use the app to watch the video
$23.99USD with code '15mimouse' although pre-order only at this point.
I bought one of these from GearBest (after LightInTheBox claimed that customs had returned one I ordered through them..).
I'm currently running the RTSP hacks mentioned above along with ZoneMinder. For <$35, I'm very happy with it
How are you receiving the feeds and recording it?
I'm doing all that through Zoneminder. I plan on getting the camera to record/store footage on the camera itself as well, but I haven't made it that far yet
Can anyone advise whether it's possible to enter a manual IP configuration? i.e. I want it to be part of my home network, but not specify the gateway address. I'd rather not connect to the camera via its adhoc network.
Ive got 4 of these and one keeps going offline in the mi home app. Any suggestions?
I have one of these units.
But
For ~$30, I can strongly recommend.