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

[DCEV]

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?

Please let us know what you find out. From what I can tell, it does not support simultaneous USB read/write while also supporting WIFI read/write. I hope I'm wrong and you report back with the good news

 

[Slumpey326]

@C141medic, hey, your image looks exactly like mine.

 

[israndy]

Just ordered one from Amazon. Should get here Thursday

What? You didn't use same day shipping? We gotta know already!

-Randy (who just discovered same day shipping this week)

ps. Did you notice, your avatar looks JUST like scherer326's

 

[C141medic]

@Randy Spencer I'm thinking this will have the same functionality as your SanDisk connect usb stick. I’m anxious to try it as well, hopefully it’ll be at my house today. Yeah, our avatars look very similar. Very happy with the MSM. Although, if I get another Tesla, I’m leaning towards the blue.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Please let us know what you find out. From what I can tell, it does not support simultaneous USB read/write while also supporting WIFI read/write. I hope I'm wrong and you report back with the good news

We tried the SanDisk one out several months ago and were disappointed to find out that the wifi doesn't work if it's plugged in. That seems to greatly limit when it would actually be useful. We promptly returned it.

Waiting to hear about the Verbatim...but from the reviews, I don't think it does what we'd need it to do.

 

[C141medic]

We tried the SanDisk one out several months ago and were disappointed to find out that the wifi doesn't work if it's plugged in. That seems to greatly limit when it would actually be useful. We promptly returned it.

Waiting to hear about the Verbatim...but from the reviews, I don't think it does what we'd need it to do.

Would be nice to have that capability but I’m not expecting that the verbatim will have WiFi available if it’s plugged in. I think by the virtue of powering it on it shuts off the connection to the USB port. That’s how the majority of the WiFi hard drive enclosures work. I hope I’m wrong. I’ll post later on today once I get the device and set it up.

 

[Arizona Willie]

The Tesla uploads data to the factory ( or some mysterious place ) ... I don't see why they can't program it to upload the files from the USB to our home network. It can play music files etc. from the USB and write to the USB so why can't they fix it so it automatically uploads everything to the cloud?

 

[DCEV]

The Tesla uploads data to the factory ( or some mysterious place ) ... I don't see why they can't program it to upload the files from the USB to our home network. It can play music files etc. from the USB and write to the USB so why can't they fix it so it automatically uploads everything to the cloud?

It can play music files? Have you used the USB media player?

 

[C141medic]

Ok, just received the Verbatim with a Sandisk 128GB micro sd card. Here are my impressions: Unfortunately, as what I had expected, the drive's wifi will not work at the same time it's plugged in to the usb port. It's either or and selectable via a slider switch.
Pros:
1. it's a nice little usb stick that you can plug in up to 128gb micro sd card.
2. Has a nice IOS interface and web interface as well
3. Transfers files and also plays back at a good speed
4. Easy to set up and use
5. Inexpensive

Cons:
1. Can't use wifi and usb port at the same time.
2. Verbatim doesn't support the device (no fw, etc.)
3. Limited to 128gb sd card.

Heres a link to the user's manual for anyone who's interested: Search

I'd recommend it for anyone looking for an interim solution to being able to view saved video files and also upload/delete them. Hopefully, with future Tesla FW updates we'll get the capability to upload/view our cam/sentry files to the cloud (perhaps via subscription as some dashcams have). In the meantime I'm going to leave this in my car and work on getting my RaspberryPi configured correctly so I can use it for file viewing/uploading, etc. I think someone can definitely make some money if they started selling these Pi's already configured and working for our cars, since it looks like it's the best solution right now.

 

[DCEV]

Ok, just received the Verbatim with a Sandisk 128GB micro sd card. Here are my impressions: Unfortunately, as what I had expected, the drive's wifi will not work at the same time it's plugged in to the usb port. It's either or and selectable via a slider switch.
Pros:
1. it's a nice little usb stick that you can plug in up to 128gb micro sd card.
2. Has a nice IOS interface and web interface as well
3. Transfers files and also plays back at a good speed
4. Easy to set up and use
5. Inexpensive

Cons:
1. Can't use wifi and usb port at the same time.
2. Verbatim doesn't support the device (no fw, etc.)
3. Limited to 128gb sd card.

Heres a link to the user's manual for anyone who's interested: Search

I'd recommend it for anyone looking for an interim solution to being able to view saved video files and also upload/delete them. Hopefully, with future Tesla FW updates we'll get the capability to upload/view our cam/sentry files to the cloud (perhaps via subscription as some dashcams have). In the meantime I'm going to leave this in my car and work on getting my RaspberryPi configured correctly so I can use it for file viewing/uploading, etc. I think someone can definitely make some money if they started selling these Pi's already configured and working for our cars, since it looks like it's the best solution right now.

Thanks for taking the time to research this!

I think an ideal solution is for Tesla software to move the files to a DropBox account when connected to your home WIFI...

In the meantime, let's continue to look for a solution...

 

[Pilot7478]

Ok, just received the Verbatim with a Sandisk 128GB micro sd card. Here are my impressions: Unfortunately, as what I had expected, the drive's wifi will not work at the same time it's plugged in to the usb port. It's either or and selectable via a slider switch.
Pros:
1. it's a nice little usb stick that you can plug in up to 128gb micro sd card.
2. Has a nice IOS interface and web interface as well
3. Transfers files and also plays back at a good speed
4. Easy to set up and use
5. Inexpensive

Cons:
1. Can't use wifi and usb port at the same time.
2. Verbatim doesn't support the device (no fw, etc.)
3. Limited to 128gb sd card.

Heres a link to the user's manual for anyone who's interested: Search

I'd recommend it for anyone looking for an interim solution to being able to view saved video files and also upload/delete them. Hopefully, with future Tesla FW updates we'll get the capability to upload/view our cam/sentry files to the cloud (perhaps via subscription as some dashcams have). In the meantime I'm going to leave this in my car and work on getting my RaspberryPi configured correctly so I can use it for file viewing/uploading, etc. I think someone can definitely make some money if they started selling these Pi's already configured and working for our cars, since it looks like it's the best solution right now.

Thank you for trying and letting us know!

Regarding USB and Wifi limitations: does it mean that once you park in your garage all you need to do to be able to view the recordings at home is just pull the drive from usb and leave it there in the car? Then you should be able to connect to the drive via your home wifi and watch the videos. Then once you are ready to drive, you just connect the drive (which is still in the car near the usb port) back to the usb and that's it? If that's the case it's already a much better solution than taking the drive to your home computer, copy files to the local drive and watch it there. And then you need to remember to bring it back to the car.
If the drive can be left in the car just disconnected from usb and be accessible via wifi - that's great!

 

[C141medic]

Thank you for trying and letting us know!

Regarding USB and Wifi limitations: does it mean that once you park in your garage all you need to do to be able to view the recordings at home is just pull the drive from usb and leave it there in the car? Then you should be able to connect to the drive via your home wifi and watch the videos. Then once you are ready to drive, you just connect the drive (which is still in the car near the usb port) back to the usb and that's it? If that's the case it's already a much better solution than taking the drive to your home computer, copy files to the local drive and watch it there. And then you need to remember to bring it back to the car.
If the drive can be left in the car just disconnected from usb and be accessible via wifi - that's great!

The nice thing about the Verbatim is that it generates its own WiFi network so you can log onto it to view/delete/upload files to your iPhone or other mobile device. You don’t necessarily have to be at your home’s WiFi. You can also leave it plugged it into your car’s USB port and when you want file access through WiFi you just switch the slider on the device. The camera icon will disappear and once you slide it back, the USB port will connect again with the Verbatim and the camera icon will reappear.

 

[Pilot7478]

The nice thing about the Verbatim is that it generates its own WiFi network so you can log onto it to view/delete/upload files to your iPhone or other mobile device. You don’t necessarily have to be at your home’s WiFi. You can also leave it plugged it into your car’s USB port and when you want file access through WiFi you just switch the slider on the device. The camera icon will disappear and once you slide it back, the USB port will connect again with the Verbatim and the camera icon will reappear.

Cool! That's even better! Thank you!

 

[C141medic]

Almost forgot. Thanks to @animorph for recommending this. In my opinion, right now, it’s the cheapest and mostly effective solution (other than the Pi) out there.

 

[Pilot7478]

The nice thing about the Verbatim is that it generates its own WiFi network so you can log onto it to view/delete/upload files to your iPhone or other mobile device. You don’t necessarily have to be at your home’s WiFi. You can also leave it plugged it into your car’s USB port and when you want file access through WiFi you just switch the slider on the device. The camera icon will disappear and once you slide it back, the USB port will connect again with the Verbatim and the camera icon will reappear.

Just wondering: is it possible to delete files via WiFi?
Thank you!

 

[C141medic]

Just wondering: is it possible to delete files via WiFi?
Thank you!

Yes, as long as you log onto the WiFi of the unit. I believe it’s something like Verbatim-(numbers).

 

[lairdb]

Ok, just received the Verbatim with a Sandisk 128GB micro sd card. Here are my impressions: Unfortunately, as what I had expected, the drive's wifi will not work at the same time it's plugged in to the usb port. It's either or and selectable via a slider switch.
Pros:
1. it's a nice little usb stick that you can plug in up to 128gb micro sd card.
2. Has a nice IOS interface and web interface as well
3. Transfers files and also plays back at a good speed
4. Easy to set up and use
5. Inexpensive

Cons:
1. Can't use wifi and usb port at the same time.
2. Verbatim doesn't support the device (no fw, etc.)
3. Limited to 128gb sd card.

Heres a link to the user's manual for anyone who's interested: Search

I'd recommend it for anyone looking for an interim solution to being able to view saved video files and also upload/delete them. Hopefully, with future Tesla FW updates we'll get the capability to upload/view our cam/sentry files to the cloud (perhaps via subscription as some dashcams have). In the meantime I'm going to leave this in my car and work on getting my RaspberryPi configured correctly so I can use it for file viewing/uploading, etc. I think someone can definitely make some money if they started selling these Pi's already configured and working for our cars, since it looks like it's the best solution right now.

I've been playing with this thing today -- pending any Tesla enhancements or a rock solid Pi solution, I think this is the winner.

• I have yet to load their app -- when in drive mode it mounts the card to the USB client lke any card reader; when in wifi mode it can be managed through an http interface and it can be accessed as an SMB share or DLNA server. (I actively dislike things that require a particular client to manage/configure -- I seem to be getting at all the settings through the http UI.)
  
  
• It does remember its settings even if you change SD cards; that's being held onboard somewhere.
  
  
• It copes just fine with a card split into two partitions. I have a 128GB card split about 32/96, with music on the 32 side, and TeslaCam on the 96 side. The device sees both, and drops (small) cache directories on each, but doesn't require partitioning or formatting on the device; the card was partitioned, formatted, and loaded on my Win10. Both partitions mount in USB mode and in wifi mode; both are verified visible to the car or to a Win10 PC when connected by wifi.
  
  
• When the switch is flipped into wifi, it takes about 10 to 15 seconds to boot the server side. At that point, it offers its own network. I have successfully attached with a iOS devices, and can use the browser interface through Safari, and the SMB share through multiple apps. (Mostly File+ (‎File+) -- no connection, but it's a good free file manager, and has a "scan for shares" capability that Readdle's Documents, which has some better file handling capabilities, doesn't have. (‎Documents by Readdle))
  
  
• You can connect directly to it's own network, and push, pull, view, delete, etc. right from the SMB share. You can also configure it to connect to an access point, at which point it does serve SMB on the network to which it's attached.

My draft plan (when I get back to my home network, which is why this isn't a success report -- yet) is to

• Attach the device to the home network.
  
  
• Set up a job on a home box, that periodically wakes up, checks to see if the device is attached, and if so, copies off all the TeslaCam clips. This should burn near-zero CPU/effort when the device is not connected (99.999% of the time) and should wake up and rip the files when it does attach.
  
  A one-liner like this, launched at login and running perpetually in the background, should work just fine:
  
  robocopy * \\mediashr\SDCard_Volume2\TeslaCam \\myNASBox\TeslaArchive\ /s /mov /tbd /mot:5
  
  
• (If I get enthusiastic, I might also auto-sync music to the music partition.)
  
  
• Periodically, e.g. once a week, I just have to remember when getting home, to stop the TeslaCam and flip the switch, and then flip it back and restart TeslaCam the next morning; the rest should automate.

(If I get really enthusiastic, I could host the file copy job on the home router, and have it trigger when the device connects, but that only gains a little bit of elegance, not much function.)

 

[C141medic]

My draft plan (when I get back to my home network, which is why this isn't a success report -- yet) is to

• Attach the device to the home network.
  
  
• Set up a job on a home box, that periodically wakes up, checks to see if the device is attached, and if so, copies off all the TeslaCam clips. This should burn near-zero CPU/effort when the device is not connected (99.999% of the time) and should wake up and rip the files when it does attach.

I have a Synology NAS and this is exactly what I’d like to do. Just not sure how to go about it.

 

[DCEV]

I have a Synology NAS and this is exactly what I’d like to do. Just not sure how to go about it.

I specifically looked to see if Synology made a USB drive as I LOVE their products. Unfortunately there is nothing in the market right now that I can find that offer simultaneous USB and WIFI connectivity with full file access.

 

[DCEV]

I've been playing with this thing today -- pending any Tesla enhancements or a rock solid Pi solution, I think this is the winner.

• I have yet to load their app -- when in drive mode it mounts the card to the USB client lke any card reader; when in wifi mode it can be managed through an http interface and it can be accessed as an SMB share or DLNA server. (I actively dislike things that require a particular client to manage/configure -- I seem to be getting at all the settings through the http UI.)
  
  
• It does remember its settings even if you change SD cards; that's being held onboard somewhere.
  
  
• It copes just fine with a card split into two partitions. I have a 128GB card split about 32/96, with music on the 32 side, and TeslaCam on the 96 side. The device sees both, and drops (small) cache directories on each, but doesn't require partitioning or formatting on the device; the card was partitioned, formatted, and loaded on my Win10. Both partitions mount in USB mode and in wifi mode; both are verified visible to the car or to a Win10 PC when connected by wifi.
  
  
• When the switch is flipped into wifi, it takes about 10 to 15 seconds to boot the server side. At that point, it offers its own network. I have successfully attached with a iOS devices, and can use the browser interface through Safari, and the SMB share through multiple apps. (Mostly File+ (‎File+) -- no connection, but it's a good free file manager, and has a "scan for shares" capability that Readdle's Documents, which has some better file handling capabilities, doesn't have. (‎Documents by Readdle))
  
  
• You can connect directly to it's own network, and push, pull, view, delete, etc. right from the SMB share. You can also configure it to connect to an access point, at which point it does serve SMB on the network to which it's attached.

My draft plan (when I get back to my home network, which is why this isn't a success report -- yet) is to

• Attach the device to the home network.
  
  
• Set up a job on a home box, that periodically wakes up, checks to see if the device is attached, and if so, copies off all the TeslaCam clips. This should burn near-zero CPU/effort when the device is not connected (99.999% of the time) and should wake up and rip the files when it does attach.
  
  A one-liner like this, launched at login and running perpetually in the background, should work just fine:
  
  robocopy * \\mediashr\SDCard_Volume2\TeslaCam \\myNASBox\TeslaArchive\ /s /mov /tbd /mot:5
  
  
• (If I get enthusiastic, I might also auto-sync music to the music partition.)
  
  
• Periodically, e.g. once a week, I just have to remember when getting home, to stop the TeslaCam and flip the switch, and then flip it back and restart TeslaCam the next morning; the rest should automate.

(If I get really enthusiastic, I could host the file copy job on the home router, and have it trigger when the device connects, but that only gains a little bit of elegance, not much function.)

When in WIFI Mode, does it create its own WIFI network that you can connect to so you can access the files when you are away from your home WIFI network?