Teslacam - dash cam with a usb drive that has wifi capabilities

[jrmnet]

Has anyone with v9 tried a usb drive with built in wifi, something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Connect-Wireless-Stick-Flash/dp/B00ZCFYT5K

This way, when you get home and connect to wifi, you could backup the drive over wifi without ever needing to pull the drive. On the home network you could have a service that polls for the usb device to see if it is on the network, and if it is, sync any newer files to a local storage.

I don't even know if I would ever even WANT to do this, but checking to see if anyone else has tried or thought of this.

One downside I assume is that USB port is probably powered off once you leave the car and lock it - so it wouldn't have much time to sync when you leave or return to the house.

 

[Runt8]

One problem is that you can’t connect to the drive over WiFi when it’s plugged in.

It also appears as though the device creates its own network, it doesn’t attach to an existing one, at least based on the questions and answers on the Amazon page.

 

[GPinzone]

And someone tried this and reported the WiFi feature doesn't work if it's formatted as FAT32. On top of that, I think you have to press a button on the stick to enable the Wifi feature. Not exactly plug and play.

 

[animorph]

I've been looking for a storage device that would connect to the existing Wi-Fi and plug into a USB as a storage device. I think a wireless My Passport looks like it might work, but I haven't found anything else. Seems like there would be a market for a Wi-Fi flash drive.

https://www.amazon.com/Passport-Wir...wireless+my+passport&psc=1&smid=A6CJ082TSE46T

 

[jrmnet]

And someone tried this and reported the WiFi feature doesn't work if it's formatted as FAT32. On top of that, I think you have to press a button on the stick to enable the Wifi feature. Not exactly plug and play.

This right here makes that product a non-starter.

 

[Twelve0one]

Wifi works fine when formatted to fat 32. I use it. Its great however you do have to unolug and oress side button to activate the wifi on the stick. If you insert into the usb oort it turns to usb mode.

 

[DCEV]

Wifi works fine when formatted to fat 32. I use it. Its great however you do have to unolug and oress side button to activate the wifi on the stick. If you insert into the usb oort it turns to usb mode.

But at that point might as well plug it into your phone... Anyone know of a solution that works to access the Tesla Cam videos via WIFI while it is connected to the car's USB port?

 

[C141medic]

But at that point might as well plug it into your phone... Anyone know of a solution that works to access the Tesla Cam videos via WIFI while it is connected to the car's USB port?

The only solution I’m aware of is the Raspberrypi Teslacam usb setup. I’m still trying to set mine up but haven’t had much luck, although others have reported it’s been working for them. I’ve researched WiFi ssd enclosures but they would have to be powered by the USB port. I found this but not sure if it’d work:
CineRAID Home Series - Model: CR-H125

 

[DCEV]

It seems someone can make a bunch of money putting together a product with off the shelf components and shipping it... At that point you could even connect it to a WFI Hotspot and have access to Tesla Cam videos from anywhere!

 

[israndy]

But at that point might as well plug it into your phone...

Some of us don't have phones with USB 2 ports.

I like it because it lets me access the files from my machine at home too by it connecting to my home WiFi if I press the button on the stick on the drive home. When the car turns off the USB it goes into WiFi mode and I can connect to either its network or my home network.

My favorite part is even when the device is plugged in you can still find it's WiFi network in your browser. So if you see "Rosebud" at a Supercharger I'm there with you.

-Randy

 

[RachH]

Some of us don't have phones with USB 2 ports.

I like it because it lets me access the files from my machine at home too by it connecting to my home WiFi if I press the button on the stick on the drive home. When the car turns off the USB it goes into WiFi mode and I can connect to either its network or my home network.

My favorite part is even when the device is plugged in you can still find it's WiFi network in your browser. So if you see "Rosebud" at a Supercharger I'm there with you.

-Randy

Hi Randy!!!

What exactly are you using? I know enough to be dangerous- technology wise- so could you explain this in layman terms in detail? If you would be so kind, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

Rachel

 

[Gen3]

Wifi works fine when formatted to fat 32. I use it. Its great however you do have to unolug and oress side button to activate the wifi on the stick. If you insert into the usb oort it turns to usb mode.

Which product do you use?

 

[animorph]

I almost got this today, looks like it'll do the Wi-Fi trick using a micro-SD card:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GVZ56T2/

Decided to wait, and might like a drive enclosure solution instead. Anyone else want to try it? I haven't heard of any successful Wi-Fi/USB solutions here yet.

 

[israndy]

I like my SanDisk solution, but yet, it has the issue with either acting like it is plugged in or on WiFi and not both at the same time, and it doesn't automatically switch to WiFi when you leave the car. I wonder if it does the clever trick the SanDisk does where it connects to my home WiFi and I can access the device via that OR via the unit own WiFi name. I guess I will wait too. Anyone else wanna try it?

-Randy

 

[DCEV]

I like my SanDisk solution, but yet, it has the issue with either acting like it is plugged in or on WiFi and not both at the same time, and it doesn't automatically switch to WiFi when you leave the car. I wonder if it does the clever trick the SanDisk does where it connects to my home WiFi and I can access the device via that OR via the unit own WiFi name. I guess I will wait too. Anyone else wanna try it?

-Randy

My concern with the WIFI or data approach is if the car had a file open when the data drive feature is turned off and WIFI is enabled, that might lead to data corruption...

Still looking for a USB drive that while plugs in acts like a USB drive PLUS a WIFI drive... Surely, there's a way to do this...

 

[C141medic]

My concern with the WIFI or data approach is if the car had a file open when the data drive feature is turned off and WIFI is enabled, that might lead to data corruption...

Still looking for a USB drive that while plugs in acts like a USB drive PLUS a WIFI drive... Surely, there's a way to do this...

I’ve been searching for this exact solution but other than the Raspberrypi I don’t think there’s such a device out there. The WiFi hard drive enclosures I’ve researched are either saving to the HD from the USB port or when the drive is powered on via the battery the WiFi is active and prevents data from the USB port.

 

[Pilot7478]

I almost got this today, looks like it'll do the Wi-Fi trick using a micro-SD card:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GVZ56T2/

Decided to wait, and might like a drive enclosure solution instead. Anyone else want to try it? I haven't heard of any successful Wi-Fi/USB solutions here yet.

This one looks very promising.

Did you find out if it can communicate via wifi without USB disconnection?
Does it require anything like a button press to turn on wifi or something like that?
I looked through the reviews, but could not find anybody who would describe a setup similar to what we need...
Per reviews it looks like it just works...

 

[DCEV]

This one looks very promising.

Did you find out if it can communicate via wifi without USB disconnection?
Does it require anything like a button press to turn on wifi or something like that?
I looked through the reviews, but could not find anybody who would describe a setup similar to what we need...
Per reviews it looks like it just works...

According to the video, USB is used only to charge the thing.

What we need for Sentry and Tesla Cam is the ability for simultaneous USB data and WIFI access. I'm honestly surprised how hard this is to find something that can do this.

 

[Pilot7478]

According to the video, USB is used only to charge the thing.

What we need for Sentry and Tesla Cam is the ability for simultaneous USB data and WIFI access. I'm honestly surprised how hard this is to find something that can do this.

I'm referring to this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GVZ56T2/?tag=tmc064-20
It can use USB to read/write to the flash memory card.

 

[C141medic]

I'm referring to this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GVZ56T2/?tag=tmc064-20
It can use USB to read/write to the flash memory card.

Just ordered one from Amazon. Should get here Thursday and I’ll report back as to how it worked. Just a note, it’s not available on Verbatim’s site so I’m wondering if it’s been discontinued?