First Look: RC522 RFID Reader/Writer ($4 on eBay)

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A first look at this RFID reader/writer module which can be bought for a few dollars on eBay. It's cheap but also quite complicated.

[@jimsqueezle9840]

The fact that this man has a magnifying glass and used it to actually zoom up rather than showing a completely blurry close up is worth a thumbs up alone

[@T3rr0rByte13]

Thanks for this Julian. This is helping me write a security system for my home where a person would scan an RFID tag to turn off the security features... while it is still all in the future: alarm, facial recognition and video documentation. This is all a hobby at this point, I'm just loving coming up with solutions for problems I want to crack.

[@ExStaticBass]

I built a Dalek once using RFID to identify it's master and guests. It had an airsoft cannon to pelt those who didn't "Identify" properly. It used a Raspberry Pi SBC for a main brain, an old Xbox Kinect for it's eyes and ears, and a bunch of micro-controllers for it's peripheral control systems.

[@DrBoiii-ly5jd]

That's dope asf tbh

[@murthenstephane6640]

#Whovian

[@sharks3010]

This was one of the most concise and informative videos I've found on the use and management of these devices. It's given me a great first step and pointed me in the right direction to find out more. Thanks mate.

[@JulianIlett]

David Sharkey Thanks David

[@radioeast1]

+Julian Ilett How can I deactivate a RFID chip?

[@mattroh7248]

You can't. There is no such "deactivation" in RFID Devices.

[@Null257]

Disclosurer Radio Shouldn't reprogramming the chip with the wrong data accomplish your needs?

[@elamehdf]

cut it in half lmao

[@ReneeStevens98]

You've done an AMAZING job explaining this for a beginning hardware geek, like myself. Many thanks!!!

[@tonypepperoni4706]

Just randomly popped up in my recommended. I'm using this exact setup in my engineering class so thanks for the help. You probably just got me an A on my final.

[@BGroothedde]

The Dutch people who cracked it actually cracked the public transit card system by overwriting the cards with information about credit for public transit.

[@abnormaalz]

The balance information was saved on the chipkaart instead of on a central server?

[@AlexandreLopez1999]

@@abnormaalz yes

[@Sabhail_ar_Alba]

Thanks for that informative presentation. My own interest is to clone the RFID fob I have for entry into my apartment (which I've been informed will cost £60 if lost - apparently they need to "send an engineer" - lol).

[@funkydunky1671]

better find where a controller is in your appartment. determine the model, find the manual, reset it to factory defaults, and program your own cards into it. you will end up with a master card which can be used to teach our own cards as regular entry keys. the master card or any teached in regular cards of your landlord will no longer work :) no extra hardware is required besides a couple of extra compatible cards. do not forget to give your new master card to your landlord after you end the rent.

[@ggman1254]

Funky Dunky Why not just sell the masterkard to the most shady guy in the neighboorhood. You might get a bugs.

[@Bkazi123]

love how you were able to show sources as to where you found each information step by step. A very helpful video. thank you

[@mid_knight]

We have started to use them on our project: Automated Library Management System, wherein we would be using the tags for identifying book, tracking, security checks, smooth technical processing of the books, easy to locate books in library and also certain membership management techniques for library users.

[@MaxTheGabri]

Thanks for this extremely useful video! I've bought it with actually no clue on how to get it working, but now that i've seen your video i have much clearer information on how to use it! Thanks a lot. :)

[@Vhbaske]

How much I love these of your tutorials! Thanks Julian.

[@linuspauly2380]

Well you could use it for hidden doors or something like that - you could just put the electronics inside something - you could also add those rf-relay-buttons to it so you could control anything with it - youd need a way to power it tho

[@anondimwit]

9v battery

[@arafitoarafito7409]

Its flexibility in managing many tags as well as making it an ideal choice for applications that require real-time data management.

[@Orientalmentor]

Can't believe there are so much information on just a 4 dollar thing.

[@enquire422]

Mechforce-USA Wait till they start to censor the internet!

[@Skullkid16945]

I don't understand half of what I watched, but somehow I kept watching. Now at least I am more informed on RFIDs. Did not know they had a coil and chip inside them.

[@Jishnu.Janardhanan]

Uses of RFID ( i dont know how many of are implemented), If you got any ideas feel free to add them as replys. 1. Package tracking. 2. Access control. 3. To store product info in package replacing barcode 4. Store indoor/outdoor location information such as lobby, stairs, elevator which can be used by blind and other disabled people. Put the cards/tags in location and a reader in cane/wheelchair will read it. 5. Pet control, get some RFID tags and install RFID reader in kitchen door to keep them away from kitchen, If you dont like pets in kitchen.

[@SirValiantIII]

Wonderful video, it gave me the perfect guidance as I set up my RC522 and began my RFID journey

[@msgcheckout]

Julian, there are hundreds of uses for RFID tags, like for instance, chipping pets, (these are tiny glass capsules which are placed in the neck of a dog or a cat or other animals, and the chip ID can be read and pets are registered on a data base, so when lost and found they can be reunited with their owners, you could use them on cat flaps that reads the chip of your pet and only allows it the access to come into the house and other animals are denied access. You could mark your property, etc etc, I understand that such technology will be implemented on supermarket items such that a reader will read all the items in your trolley and produce a bill that you simply pay and walk out without having to take items out of your trolley on to a supermarket conveyor belt for scanning individual product.

[@iansmith3301]

You think they're going to put RFID tags on every banana ever sold?

[@skubberson5378]

Sure. They put stickers on all fruits now anyway. Why not a low cost RFID sticker just like the ones they put on other packages?

[@noahfin5919]

Skub Berson it’s not needed

[@robinturner2300]

Large retailers already use RFID for garment stock control. They can identify each garment as it comes in the back door and when sold. They can also tell if it gets nicked...

[@JeffreyKemper]

Is this for low or high frequency? Does it store data on it like the r.f.i.d. used for pets? Can you erase the radio frequency? How. Can I disable it to not give a signal?

[@tombraselton2671]

Haha! I just got these to play with as well. Got it all working and thought the same thing: I don’t know what I would practically use it for…. Thanks for the video!

[@TKomoski]

Saw it on Seller alice1101983 and I do have it in my cart. Thanks for the short tutorial about it. As you said what to use it for other than the intended use. Put it on the bottom of a cup and data log your drinking habits. My first project with it is to datalog my life. Cheers

[@GregWoodsLancs]

Another really useful video. I too had a play with various cheap RFID, including the RC522. But in the end I settled on a PN532 based card, which is little more expensive, as it has compatibility with a greater range of tags, including NFC. Need more time to play with it though.

[@vistron888]

I bought a bunch of those blue RFID tags for my alarm system. Originally they were fine but over time they become very weak. You have to touch the alarm receiver in a very exact spot and with the flat side of the tag, otherwise it just won't work. Meanwhile the original tag (grey block) supplied with the alarm works fine. There's something definitely iffy about these blue ones.

[@micromachine7954]

I would love a video that explains how to install one these say in a vehicle. Like the new cars that have the chip in the key. You could set the reader near the keys and only allow the car to start if the chip is in proximity. It sounds like a fun project and it could potentially keep your car a little safer from theft. If you really wanted to get clever you could install it on the power supply for the fuel pump rather then the ignition and place the reader under a cup holder or something so if you were parking your car in a bad area all you have to do is grab the chip outta the cup holder to disable the fuel pump. Just thinking out loud here but I could think of all kinds of fun things to do with rfid if it wasn't so complicated to set-up.

[@naboulsikhalid7763]

most impressive instructions, made easier and simple. thank you. I will always keep watching and talking about your videos.

[@adamjenkins3065]

Beautiful in depth description. So great. Thank you!

[@dylanwilliams9860]

Since you asked at the end of the video, you could use one of those to generate a grocery list if you hook it up inside your fridge. Then just write the information (name, type, expiry) and have it attached to the object so when it expires or is out of the fridge for a certain amount of time it would write it on a digital list for you to take to the grocery store. Even make it more advanced and have it search your fridge for ingredients when you find a recipe you want to make so you know If you have everything required!

[@dylanwilliams9860]

Another idea I just had was if you felt like doing an air quality experiment but didn't feel like creating a webserver to compile the data to you could use a USB with a reader on it to read all your different stations and have them logged in that way.

[@GaNgStAlBeRt]

can you actually Write on cards that have a RFID code on it? example: i have a RFID card with a LOGIN NUMBER on it, and you hold it to a machine and then you need to give the password. but the problem is i lost a card which i know the LOGIN NUMBER, but if i wanna get a new card, because i lost my old one, i need to pay 30$...so i wanna know CAN I TAKE A RFID CARD, delete the internal LOGIN NUMBER and PUT a other one on it with this device? thx

[@glennarens81]

yes

[@sunhuatom]

that's totally depends. you also need to know where to store your data, and the original data might be encrypted in some form. And for some applications, people dont really write the actual data to the cards. Instead, they only use the tag id(UID), and then link the tag id to the data which has been placed in a more secured database.

[@PaioneRPF]

that is one hell of an awesome video, loved it. just got me one of those gonna try all kinds of automation things using nfc :)))

[@DigBipper188]

You just gave me the best idea for a keycard based power button... get one of these, an arduino and a relay...

[@YeOldeSpellbooke]

Hi Julian. Thanks for the stream of cool electronics you post :) Keep up the good work!

[@awshuckaduckey]

Thank you for sharing this. I plan to try this out on reading microchipped animals for identification purposes.

[@bringithard6721]

18:18 That's what I was looking for the entire time! Great video though, I love tinkering with Tech. You did a much better job than I could have a very matter of fact kept me from getting frustrated as to what on earth could that then be use for. Keep the videos rolling.

[@MonacoMonuments]

Criminals would probably say credit card theft

[@renxula]

Very good video! I don't think I've seen such an informative video from you recently, exploring something on a technical level and taking us along. I'm sure it's a lot of work to make, but hopefully you'll do something similarly in-depth every now and then... :)

[@tmd63]

Just a note. "SDA" is the nomenclature of I2C communications which uses SDA, SCL, VCC and GND. It is another type of communications used by Arduino and Raspberry Pi. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I²C.

[@OminousPinapple]

Hey there, Just wondering if you have considered using a screen recording program instead of a handheld camera? It would be a nicer viewing experience IMO.

[@gerlagerweij]

I don't think he's any good with computers :-p

[@duitargragon8677]

+Ger Lagerweij he can write assembly, so I would hope he knows what he's doing.

[@myazemmour9843]

i need read some information from a rfid card but i have the same problem the UID is good but PCD_Authenticate() failed: Timeout in communication. lik this 5:54 what is the solution ?

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

I wonder what data is on my NFC bus pass. What's the difference between RFID and NFC. Gotta check it out!

[@JulianIlett]

Knuckles the Echidna RFID and NFC are related - One is a subset of the other (or something like that).

[@YeOldeSpellbooke]

I had the same thought (but for the commute here in sweden), but i think they use a custom fequency and an advanced cryption system... But it would be fun to just read a card to see :)

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Björn Camitz Oyster cards used in London once used the chips mentioned, they had to change them quick I think!! I guess the magic really is in the encryption as you can still buy the chips the new cards use or so I understood although it is hard for me to figure out.

[@sivalley]

Knuckles the Echidna The difference has become a sort of segregation of what operating frequency the card uses. 125kHz is used in older RFID/HID cards whereas the 13.56MHz MFC/MIFARE cards are the standard being used for NFC/Google Wallet/Apple Pay/Eurocards. Otherwise they are one and the same; contactless card reading/writing systems.

[@sykskysyk]

This RC522 module seems to be pretty inconsistent. The more expensive PN532 based modules seem to read all sorts of cards/keychains/stickers just fine, including a card that was originally included in the RC522 package, but which the RC522 itself couldn't read...

[@TheRadiogeek]

Very interesting stuff. Have you used it to read any access cards of a coworker of friend? I wonder what kind of readable information you would see.? Nice job on this video, keep this kind of stuff coming.

[@jonasfischer7611]

17:08 What happened to 0A exactly? Why's there a FF in it's place? Please help me out!

[@reikenzan1916]

The software didnt talk to me when I opened the serial monitor. Its just blank what do I do?

[@bertriksikken]

I have one of those inexpensive RC-522 readers. While it reads the card and the keychain thingy that came with the package just fine, I can't really get it to work with other mifare cards (both 1k and 4k cards, and yes I'm sure they're mifare). I've done a lot of experimentation with the library from miguelbalboa, like trying to change the receiver gain registers and the pmos and nmos conductance, but no success yet. Perhaps the supporting electronics to connect the RC-522 chip to the reader/writer coil is not up to specification, or perhaps even the RC-522 chip is fake? So, I guess you get what you pay for...

[@mikecauser]

Is Blu-Tack conductive?

[@JulianIlett]

Nope. Just checked it.

[@stevecarter8810]

yes. if you didn't add the blu tack to the backs of these boards, none of them would work. /sarcasm

[@giomjava]

Link in description please! :) I'm not too lazy to watch the video and look it up myself, but it would be nice to know exactly which one you've used. Great video! Thanks

[@scarakus]

the coil of wire is the receiver for the wireless power...

[@peysopeysoo1408]

Hi,Thanks for your video , I have a question about tags! does each RFID system has own tags I mean every company writes own data to tags and it can not be understand by others?

[@headbanger1428]

Always great watching your videos. Thanks!

[@nnvskh8269]

i want to make an electric door lock and as key, use my own costume card. this project is for the library of the school so the keys will be the student id cards. i have been asking everyone in school if they know what kind of card it is and no one knows. i have done the the technique in 2:14 and the internal circuit of my student id card looks pretty much the same. does that mean that i should use a rfid rc522 with the frequency of 13.56 MHz ?

[@nnvskh8269]

if anyone knows: would U please answer?

[@damianfixel2479]

Hello! Do you need the keys to read/write the cards or the tags?? or you can just override any data between sector 1 and sector 15?? thank you from Argentina!!

[@NickFarrow]

Would you go into detail while using known key and blocking unknown keys. I can't seem to get any of my RFID tags to work even with the default program after removing factory default (FF).

[@khashmeshab]

Great video. I've worked with the exact same modules, but because their range is extremely low, I couldn't use them for my project. And at the end, you say it's complicated! Huh? These chips has lots and lots of awesome features. For example if you take multiple cards or tags close to it simultaneously, you can get the list of all of them and then decide which one do you want to communicate with. Or you can pace two modules in front of each other and have a wireless connection using NFC. Now, those are complicated buddy!

[@iansmith3301]

This is awesome, where would one start learning on how to understand all of this?

[@BrittneyColemanActress]

I would like to know the same

[@gracechen1717]

Hi freind,This is grace from Greenrfid company,we are a card manufacturer in Shenzhen China.we can provide all kind of card to you. My Email is [e-mail] or leave your contact information.let's talk details.

[@EpicAwesomeWin87]

This is interesting! Im planning to make an adoptation of this tech to our shared laundry room at my landlords houses. Or maybe some totaly unecessary stuff like a RFID startbutton to an old PC.

[@jbswoodfiredpizzas]

OMG you just made my day, have been looking for an option for my garage...

[@robertberman5701]

Very interesting video. I always wondered what was in these little cards and chips. Thank you for your many interesting vids! BB

[@sebb810]

use it for what i'm going to use mine for, i'm gonna use an arduino with USB support or whatver it's called. And have it write the password for my pc if the right UID is read, it'll write my password on my pc

[@fernandoluis53]

So a code comes in default for the RFID? beats the whole purpose of engineering.

[@adrianobrandao665]

Hello good afternoon, I really need your help, how do I write numbers with decimal places in the memory card. I write whole numbers 1,2,3,4,5 type using mfrc522.MIFARE_Decrement (valueBlockA, value), but record with decimal places no type 1:50, 2:50, 3:50 can not. I am very grateful if you can help me.

[@sunhuatom]

you can replace the decimal char by some hex number and do the opposite when you read it.

[@gluetubeserver]

so could I read and then write to a blank rfid tag for a HID proxkey? I want to read and maybe even alter the data on my building key card

[@atmel9077]

Where can I download the library files? I tried with rfidmaster, it works but i can't find any info on it so i used example sketches and the miguelbalboa/rfid library looks better. I also noticed that the module must be powered via 3.3v but it accepts 5V SPI signals and the SS pin is labeled SDA on certain modules because the RC522 chip can be used with an I2C interface.

[@atmel9077]

+Integrated Electronics Finally it's OK, I found the library from Baidu ("Chinese google")

[@rollo2163]

Julian how do you extend the signal to several feet?

[@rollo2163]

Simon WoodburyForget were can I buy 1

[@davey2k12]

make a massive coil all around the house and use loads of MOSFETs to boost it lmfao

[@tu-95turbopropstrategicbom55]

Roll have you tried putting it in a crossbow?

[@julianacarvalhosouza6557]

hi sir, with this device would be able to read a lot kind info RFID with storage data in txt for example , to write another moment ?

[@Bogatyr285]

Is it possible to change the UID using Arduino for such tags? Or where can i get tags with rewritable uid?

[@muhammadprawirayuda3510]

may i ask , did you ever use pn7150 for testing nfc type a / b and other else

[@MeriaDuck]

About the compromised crypto, the guys doing it were PhDs, postdocs and researchers, with Bart Jacobs being the head professor. I worked at the same department two doors away from them. COincidently, the manufacturer NXP was from in the same city of Nijmegen. The whole (partly political) aftermath was 'interesting'. The group was at least capable of cloning access control chips, public transport chipcards and putting their public transport cards onto some spare sector of their passports etc. Fun times they were!

[@DiySpeaker-Vn]

Các bạn có thể tham khảo sản phẩm tại: www.sendo.vn/module-rfid-rc522-1356mhz-9375734.html

[@shaunmiller9369]

what is the putty you use on the back of the components to hold them down and in place while your working on them?\ thanks

[@KennethTanFotografie]

How long does it take to read all datablocks from the card? Can it be programmed to read faster. I can image people are used to Swipe the cards.

[@JulianIlett]

Kenneth Tan I think the bottleneck is the serial monitor's 9600 baud rate

[@MoonLightGGA]

hi, can you advice me which is the best read and write machine to be use for Elevator & Car parking cards? Thanks

[@frac]

One idea: Windows supports smartcard/RFID authentication. I don't know much about it, but you can require the presence of such a device to log in. With encrypted directories/drives it can make for an effective two-factor security system.

[@marinehm]

You seem to know quite a bit about RFID and such. At work we have an door with a key pad. I'm pretty sure it reads RFID as well. I think my question is about the frequency of these things. They are not al on the same RF freq. Will these readers be able to get the frequency from the door and be able to write the access pin onto the card? do they make separate cards for each frequency? I don't know enough to even formulate the proper question. I would probably need to have the frequency the door keypads receives before I would go out and purchase a reader/writer, cards/chips?

[@sunhuatom]

Those RFID tags/readers as in this video all work at the same frequency(13.56MHz). Older RFID keypads(like 10 years ago) might use 125khz systems.

[@Patrik_xgs]

hello from chile , I wanted to ask how you can make the program samples in the video but with CCS compiler , have the same rc522 reader and 16F628A pic ...... I just want to read 2 RFID cards and nothing more ... Cheers Could you help me please ??

[@KaiCheetah]

Tought Mifare was used in bus smartcards?

[@TheFloatingSheep]

I wonder if i could hack the tags from ski. :|

[@abdbach379]

+TheFloatingSheep Easy and already done

[@mnelson10000]

I wonder if the communication problem has something do with the clock mismatch between the Arduino and the tags...?

[@ThandaLe]

PCD_Authenticate() failed: Error in communication Were you able to solve this problem? Or are the tags corrupted?

[@anuraaggungaram6632]

Howsit guys. Any idea whats the read range with the credit card sized tag. I intend on implementing an RFID into my final year mechatronics project which requires a read ranged of 1 meter.

[@Hollywood4Fun]

Here's a question - I have an RFID ignition key for my Ford Taurus. I only have one key and to program a new/extra key you must have both original keys that came with the car (unless you bring it to a dealer and pay big bucks). Could I use something like this to read the RFID in my good key and clone it to a second key?

[@funkydunky1671]

yes, the tag in your key can be easily cloned. ask around in car repair shops.

[@elginsteve124]

Any chance you can lets us know how many volts are generated in the tag coil when its put close to the reader please?

[@damandarin5415]

Wait, could you explain to me how you actually clone a card and "paste" (if its possible) onto a blank card??

[@xatic1]

This is not possible on many cards etc due to encryption. Tho, it's possible on basic useless things.

[@jamesbrien391]

xabo It is possible

[@quacka7376]

Dameer Ahmed yes it is possible. If you can get close to a card you can use a capturing device that basically captures the hexadecimal code for that card, then its as simple as writing it to the card.

[@amahlaka]

Some systems use only the unencrypted UID for authentication, which is cheap and unsecure system, as in some cases all you need is a android phone with nfc with mifare support and a mifare toolkit app + blank special tags with writable uid block (super cheap) But in some cases, the system actually uses more than just the tag UID, for example: encrypted block with the users private / public keys, another UID, or some other dats, which is encrypted with a “passphrase/key" and while you can bruteforce it, it can take a long time to do so

[@roberthatfield8966]

Of course you can find anything on the dark web. Google "glitching smart cards" or "low voltage fault attack smart card" got me into trouble 10+ years ago with DirecTV, but I quit doing what I was doing and they left me alone. Your results may vary. :)

[@7t3chguy]

Julian, could you please attempt to get IRQ Interrupts working on this module and make a video about it? Thanks

[@kirkdehaan5422]

Are there any routines for the Raspberry Pi and this module? Want to put together the RFID, camera and put it on a MESH system for local events where our ARES group is supporting them.

[@anisnajihahabdulhalim9068]

Hello, may i know that is this reader can be used to read uhf rfid strip? it is just for my final project.

[@TheMonyarm]

How big are the insides of those tags ? Would I be able to take it apart and put it inside a plastic cell 3cm in diameter ?

[@Ncky]

i have this for good 40 days and i cant learn how to write id but i know to read and that is something :D

[@zeeb1973]

can this be powered by a mini 3.7v 75mah batt? if so... where would one attach it? I figured an SD card would be needed unless there was a way to also send the reads remotely to a server/pc.

[@sensiblewheels]

Incase you still need it... the server part can be handled by an esp8266. a stand-alone wifi module. what you do with the data from the server is upto your application but yeah it's possible and easy . depends on the current requirements... 3.7 volts should be fine but the 75 mAh capacity might only last you an hour !! again depending on current draws. there are deep sleep modes for the Arduino and the esp so meticulous programming will give you a better life. ( upto a few years depending on the number of times you want it to wake up)

[@roggamer100]

Please do more in depth videos about this it will be helpful.

[@GregWoodsLancs]

my RFID/NFC project is for Scalextric Digital slot car racing. The Race Management Software needed a faster way to assign a car to a 'lane' and a driver to a lane. With an RFID sticker tag in the inside of every car and hand throttle, and each driver having an RFID card, the race setup process can be made a lot faster. Scalextric... it was never really for kids!

[@kennyQuekJH]

Can i program the pro mini so that whenever i tap the card on the rfid it will write the card automatically ?

[@shasnainreza]

It can read the multiple rfid passive tags at a same time(simultaneously)?

[@Jenko022]

Thanks for sharing this. Just wondered would you be able to read data from any RFID tag?

[@Promixro]

Did you solve the pcd authentication() failed timeout in communication problem?

[@jjk2one]

Can this detector find the E-thread with RFID chips woven in the clothes.

[@demon39063]

Are the SDA and SCL pins labeled as such because it supports an i2c interface?

[@shreyasmahangade3774]

Hi Julian, This was a great video and very informative. Thank you for it. Just want to ask how to make this reader to read more than one tag. If i stacked more than one cards within the range of reader reader won't detect any of those. Any solution?

[@squalazzo]

i read elsewhere that level shifter are needed to use this board with arduino, because not all of the mifare are 5v tolerant, and the board itself is 3.3v... any info about this? thanks

[@SadiqueKhan449]

squalazzo it's 3.3v board so no level shifter needed

[@tubeDude48]

It would have been nice if you had supplied the USB Interface device link for this project!

[@spoderman15]

How far can I set the range on the RFID scanner? Does it have to be that close?

[@marlonsedano9749]

Can you like where to purchase the other wires and gadgets connected to the reader?