Transfluent U23 - Lightbulb mounted wifi camera - great for CCTV

reverend

reverend

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
5,715
Reaction score
4,105
Country
United Kingdom
Dash Cam
Too many
OK so I recently tried a Xiaomi Yi Smart Camera but that is only really good for monitoring inside the house.

The Transfluent U23 product is unlike anything I've seen before - it's a wifi camera with optional IR (included but you can remove it) that gets it's power from a light socket! I'd been looking for something that could do this so I could fit it into an outside light that I have never used.

That's right - it screws straight in and then you've got a working wifi camera with high quality IR and it also has full motion control so you can rotate it through 360 degrees from an app on your phone (I've only tested iPhone).

It has full RTSP support so you can plug it into software such as Blue Iris, but as I found out today by accident it works out of the box over cellular data with NO ports requiring to be opened on your firewall - I need to work out exactly how that works but it was just totally seamless and with an accidental launch of the U23 app I was sat watching home instantly in high quality.

This product is available from GeekBuying here who kindly supplied this unit:

There is currently a coupon code for $10 available here:
ZCOUWBSC

The version I have here is for a screw type E27 light socket but I actually have B22 sockets here so I used a B22 - E27 adaptor like I use for my Philips Hue bulbs:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B0076W5FKK
You can actually get these with a standard MR16 bulb type but I don't have any of these here.

It's complicated to describe so here are some pictures of the bits and then the assembled unit at the end:

IMG_0644.JPG

That's the IR ring on the left which is optional - you don't have to use it and it just snaps over the camera frontage. It's got a light sensor built in and automatically adjusts the intensity of the IR bulbs depending on how dark it is.

The camera itself is towards the bottom with the U23 branding and then you've got the USB power adaptor you can use instead of the light bulb if you so wish and then the common connector to the right which either gets power from USB or from the lightbulb adaptor you can see in the picture below.

IMG_0645.JPG IMG_0646.JPG IMG_0649.JPG

You can see a few buttons on the rear of the camera.

You can change the orientation of the camera (ie which way is up), and you can set the Wifi to be in client mode or access point mode. Initially you would start off in access point mode and then when you've configured the camera via your phone with your wifi details you just put it into client mode and reboot it and it joins your local wifi network and literally takes seconds to setup.

IMG_0653.JPG

That's a rotating ring which has a thumb screw which you use to lock the common power module into the camera itself. It also has a mini USB port you can use to supply power if you don't want to put this into a lightbulb socket.

IMG_0670.JPG

That shows everything assembled and with the IR ring fitted to the lens you can see at the bottom left and ready for going into a socket.

IMG_0655.PNG

This shows the iPhone app that you use to configure the camera.
 
Last edited:
Here are some pics of the setup process - first of all run the camera in AP mode and then connect to it from your phone (it is called SMART CAM_TransFluent)

IMG_0659.PNG
IMG_0660.PNG IMG_0661.PNG
IMG_0662 (1).PNG
IMG_0663.PNG IMG_0664.PNG IMG_0667.PNG

It literally takes less than a minute to set up before you're recording footage (you can see I had the orientation configured the wrong way initially).

Once it is online and on your own wifi it is then incredibly easy to get working with Blue Iris as this camera supports full RTSP support in addition to the U23 application.

Screen Shot 2015-07-09 at 22.41.03.png

You can see the camera in IR mode above in the Blue Iris window - the hallway is currently totally dark.

I don't know if any of you use Blue Iris but it's great for home CCTV etc and I have it set to email me with any motion so if anyone did break in and steal the box it's sat on then the relevant data would already be in my inbox :)

I know there are other 720p wifi cameras out there but I haven't seen anything using this form factor before.

I need to work out what to do with the outside light holder as the screw has been worn away so it needs drilling out before I can fit this outside.

LED wise there is a red LED on the front of the camera which is on and shows when the camera is recording and then you've also got smaller LEDs on the rear.

For now I've used electrical tape to cover everything so it won't stand out so much when it's fitted outside.

As mentioned you can also access the camera remotely using the U23 application without having to open any firewall ports which suggests it's phoning home to Transfluent and using some sort of p2p system.
 
Last edited:
This device has an IR Cut filter which is moved in and out of the way as necessary and also supports microSD cards so that it can record motion detection events locally to that as well if you wish - if you prefer you can use it in loop recording mode where it just operates like a dashcam and records continuously in 1 / 3 or 5 minute intervals.

I still need to test that side of the functionality but it's been bullet proof so far with no dropouts etc to the RTSP stream whatsoever and it's been like chalk and cheese comparing this and the Xiaoyi in that this Transfluent U23 is a breath of fresh air and much higher quality.

Build quality is high and I'm still learning all of the tricks as I didn't see a manual in the box.

It can rotate through 360 degrees and there is an adjustment of 45 degrees up and down.

I really love the fact that this hides in plain sight due to it fitting into a light socket which is not where anyone would expect to see a camera.

The quality of the RTSP stream really is great and high quality - I just need to work out how to get some sample footage off before it's mounted outside as just looking at my door isn't the most exciting footage!

The sides do get hot but that is because they are used as heatsinks so it's just dissipating the heat that way, similar to the Mobius heatsinks.

You can run up to ten of these from the U23 app which should cover what anyone wants to do but the fact these fully support RTSP makes these much more useful
 
Last edited:
The camera auto switches to black and white mode when it's dark and the IR is on.

You have two options for streaming - VGA or 720p - changing this setting changes the resolution of the RTSP stream too.

Either way if you have a microSD fitted the camera itself records in 1080p, although the framerate drops if you're streaming in HD.

vlcsnap-2015-07-09-23h05m59s193.png vlcsnap-2015-07-09-23h06m59s37.png

The above two images are screen captures straight out of the RTSP stream in VLC.

The camera itself would appear to run the OV2710 sensor.
 
You can get into busybox by telnet'ing to the device and logging in as root which gives you access to the filesystem.

Code: 
OtusCam login: root


BusyBox v1.21.1 (2013-12-26 15:20:13 CST) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

~ # help
Built-in commands:
------------------
        . : [ alias bg break cd chdir command continue echo eval exec
        exit export false fg getopts hash help jobs kill let local printf
        pwd read readonly return set shift test times trap true type
        ulimit umask unalias unset wait

~ #
~ # cd /
/ # ls -l
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root           607 Dec 26  2013 bin
drwxr-xr-x    5 root     root          3820 Jul  9 22:09 dev
drwxrwxrwx    2 root     root           869 May 20 06:01 drivers
drwxrwxrwx   14 root     root             0 Jul  6 18:52 etc
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             3 Dec 26  2013 home
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            13 May 20 06:02 init -> ./bin/busybox
drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root           504 May 20 06:02 lib
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            11 May 20 06:02 linuxrc -> bin/busybox
drwx------    2 root     root             3 Dec 26  2013 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x    6 root     root            53 Dec 26  2013 mnt
dr-xr-xr-x   51 root     root             0 Jan  1  1970 proc
drwxrwxrwt    2 root     root            40 Jan  1  1970 root
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root           345 May 20 06:02 sbin
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             3 Dec 26  2013 share
drwxr-xr-x   13 root     root             0 Jul  9 22:09 sys
drwxrwxrwt    7 root     root           340 Jul  9 22:09 tmp
drwxr-xr-x    7 root     root            66 May 20 06:01 usr
drwxrwxrwt    5 root     root           180 Jul  9 09:58 varp

Here's info on the running services:
Code: 
PORT    STATE SERVICE    VERSION
21/tcp  open  ftp        BusyBox ftpd (D-Link DCS-932L IP-Cam camera)
| ftp-anon: Anonymous FTP login allowed (FTP code 230)
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root        725696 Feb  5 01:49 8192cu.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         22404 Feb  5 01:49 AutoExposure.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         12926 Feb  5 01:49 AutoWhiteBalance.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root          4936 Feb  5 01:49 Godshand.bin [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root          5901 Feb  5 01:49 Godshand.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root           368 Feb  5 01:49 Godshand.sh [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root          8192 Feb  5 01:49 IICCtrl.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         11623 Feb  5 01:49 OV2710_15FPS.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         11795 Feb  5 01:49 OV2710_30FPS.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         20807 Feb  5 01:49 WM8940.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root          7657 Feb  5 01:49 adv7391.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root        130987 Feb  5 01:49 buff_mgr.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root           746 Feb  5 01:49 buff_mgr.sh [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         11932 Feb  5 01:49 cat6612.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root          4620 Feb  5 01:49 drivers.sh [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root        244530 Feb  5 01:49 dwc_otg.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         29971 Feb  5 01:49 g_file_storage.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         13343 Feb  5 01:49 gpio_i2c.ko [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root           913 Feb  5 01:49 gpio_i2c.sh [NSE: writeable]
| -rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root          8331 Feb  5 01:49 i2c-algo-bit.ko [NSE: writeable]
|_Only 20 shown. Use --script-args ftp-anon.maxlist=-1 to see all.
|_ftp-bounce: bounce working!
23/tcp  open  telnet     BusyBox telnetd
80/tcp  open  http       lighttpd 1.4.34
|_http-server-header: lighttpd/1.4.34
|_http-title: Index of /
514/tcp open  tcpwrapped
554/tcp open  rtsp       Sanyo VCC-HD2300 webcam rtspd
|_rtsp-methods: DESCRIBE, SETUP, PLAY, PAUSE, TEARDOWN, SET_PARAMETER, GET_PARAMETER
MAC Address: 00:11:7F:C7:08:40 (Neotune Information Technology)
Device type: general purpose
Running: Linux 2.6.X
OS CPE: cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6
OS details: Linux 2.6.9 - 2.6.33
Network Distance: 1 hop
Service Info: Host: OtusCam; Device: webcam; CPE: cpe:/h:dlink:dcs-932l, cpe:/h:sanyo:vcc-hd2300

I'm not sure why this is showing as a DLink DCS-932L and Sanyo VCC HD2300 but I'm guessing that's down to the way the RTSP pages are laid out.

To access RTSP just use the URL format:

rtsp://ip//live1.sdp

It will display at the resolution you have configured within the U23 application :)
 
nice idea, not sure how comfortable I'd feel having something from Transfluent plugged into mains power directly though
 
hehe sound like its time to read up on home insurance coverage.
 
I wonder how secure is this ? Any encryption level or just protected by password ?
 
The MR16 version might be a little safer.
 
I assume its like all or at least most wifi cameras, only protected by the wifi security.

I could make do with wifi on cameras pointing out of my place, but for coverage inside where i roam ( butt naked at times ) i only trust a wire, that is if that wire is not connected to the outside net ( internet )

My trust in routers is as low as in wifi.

PS. i dont have any inside cameras here, they ( 3 ) all point avay from my apartment ;)
 
I've got the Hikvision cameras which I'd be mounting externally and then using with PoE but I can't use those until I get the new place and this I'm hoping will last a year on the outside of this place.

With this you can swap over to USB power easily by just dropping it out of the lamp socket mount and it will then run on 5V. I'll do that to test the outside quality while working out how to get inside the outside light holder.

I need to do some packet sniffing to see how secure this is but it connects via encrypted wifi so that part is covered but I'm not sure about the traffic between the camera itself and then internet when you're using it via 3G :)

You can only access the device by using that P2P UID and password combination which you can see here:

img_0662-1-png.14836
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So the camera does do a single phone home call on boot up to register where it is and for the p2p to function:

Code: 
2015:07:10-07:20:09 utm httpproxy[5698]: id="0001" severity="info" sys="SecureWeb" sub="http" name="http access" action="pass" method="CONNECT" srcip="192.168.0.227" dstip="122.226.84.253" user="" ad_domain="" statuscode="200" cached="0" profile="REF_DefaultHTTPProfile (Default Web Filter Profile)" filteraction="REF_DefaultHTTPCFFAction (Default content filter action)" size="272" request="0xa0aa800" url="https://122.226.84.253/" referer="" error="" authtime="0" dnstime="4" cattime="42418" avscantime="0" fullreqtime="891214" device="0" auth="0" ua="" exceptions="" category="178" reputation="neutral" categoryname="Internet Services"
 
Geekbuying have just messaged me to say there is currently $10 off this product for anyone interested via the following code:

ZCOUWBSC

I'm away for the weekend now but will get some 1080p footage from a memory card up next week.
 
They seem a very high quality unit mate, I should have known if anyone would stock it you would :)

Have you sold many as I haven't really heard of these before (other than a variant of the SJ4000)?

Here are a couple of pics of it in situ - normally most of the body would be covered by a lampshade but I don't have one in the hallway.

IMG_0714.JPG IMG_0713.JPG
 
Now only if it were disguised as a normal lightbulb- then I'd buy it!

Phil
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top