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

[@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

[@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.

[@ReneeStevens98]

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

[@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

[@Vhbaske]

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

[@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. :)

[@naboulsikhalid7763]

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

[@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.

[@SirValiantIII]

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

[@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

[@YeOldeSpellbooke]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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... :)

[@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 :)))

[@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?

[@awshuckaduckey]

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

[@jomomackie]

Thanks for this great video - concise, and very useful I particularly appreciate your approach to the problem using online ressources. Thanks!

[@headbanger1428]

Always great watching your videos. Thanks!

[@adamjenkins3065]

Beautiful in depth description. So great. Thank you!

[@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

[@jbswoodfiredpizzas]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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!

[@christopherhumphrey]

Fantastic! Very in depth. Thx for your time..

[@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.

[@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.

[@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...

[@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!

[@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

[@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.

[@Jenko022]

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

[@h311sb311s]

Outstanding and well done!

[@DigBipper188]

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

[@robertberman5701]

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

[@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.

[@notaclue143]

saved me trying - can use it the way I require

[@padlockbeats151]

love this channel!!!

[@roggamer100]

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

[@BeneBF]

Awesome Video and nice Information!!!

[@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

[@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.

[@bojuwoyebabatunde5265]

Love this It helps me know more about it I wonder if I can use this to replace coin acceptor

[@Liv4IT]

Well done and explained thank you ;)

[@reikenzan1916]

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

[@entozoon]

Wonderful video, as always! Have you thought about having two RFID Reader/Writers communicate with each other? Or even communicate with a phone, like Apple Pay ?

[@Teknotasyon]

really good tutorial. thanks !!

[@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!

[@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.

[@masonreimert]

Cool i just ordered 2 of these

[@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?

[@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!!

[@ThandaLe]

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

[@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).

[@emberleona9278]

Thanks I learned stuff!

[@reggiebacci]

I know exactly what you mean about cryptanalysis papers Julian - I glaze over after the first couple of pages usually. I can recommend Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier though, even if you just use it as a reference. Also, you were right, The Imitation Game is definitely worth a watch. Loved it, thanks.

[@serverguy2]

Very nice. Thanks for the info. Don't know what to do with it but interesting know.

[@Trailtraveller]

love this arduino stuff

[@lalmohanjena4524]

Thanks! Greatly appreciated!!

[@Promixro]

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

[@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 ?

[@mmehdijamali]

Hi Julian, First thank you for the video, the explenations are great. I'm currently doing a small project on RFID but I'm a beginner in electronic stuffs, I would like to try this so I was wondering if you could give me the references of the components you use, for example I heard you use a "pro mini" I search for it but I don't know exactly which one to take.

[@kennyQuekJH]

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

[@demon39063]

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

[@tubejim101]

Great video.

[@332jatc]

You can use it as a Time Clock like punching in for doing your hourly work punching out taking a break and be able to start your data out of that way you can just download it and basically they're just for the month or the week or whatever

[@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?

[@scarakus]

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

[@ericwes7351]

Very informative video. Would you happen to know if this device would read chips used for pet identification? One such chip is the ALLFLEX ISO FDX-B transponder. Thank you, Eric

[@TKomoski]

Just read the other posts and they have the same idea, well I shall continue on with the project.

[@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.

[@shashankr7705]

Can you please tell me which are the cables you use to connect the Reader to the arduino pro mini?

[@shasnainreza]

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

[@mnelson10000]

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

[@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

[@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 ?

[@muhammadprawirayuda3510]

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

[@jonasfischer7611]

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

[@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?

[@PuffyDonut365]

Great job!

[@jamesaddyman5506]

spent ages trying to get one of these working in conjunction with a data logging RTC/SD shield on a nano, both communicating over SPI. Turns out it doesn't have tri-state IO. When CS is high (chip disabled), it won't let any other device use the MISO line. Took hours to fault find this!! You'd expect an implementation of SPI to be able to share lines. Surely that's the whole point of SPI! Can't spare anymore IO on the Nano so going to have to try multiplexing the MISO line with a dedicated chip.

[@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...

[@marlonsedano9749]

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

[@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?

[@earlybird6885]

can it also read/write data from the RFID chip of the identity card?

[@user-xx4jx1nw8g]

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?

[@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

[@1francia1]

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 ??

[@Bogatyr285]

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

[@fahmiammar1107]

hello, I have the same rfid card but i can't seem the write on a rfid card. could you help me to do that please. thanks

[@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.

[@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.

[@anisnajihahabdulhalim9068]

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

[@ankurarohi265]

hi, great video, but i am looking for a solution to my UHF range RFID reader....I want to connect it with the controller..pls help

[@roidroid]

_re: not sure what to use it for._ i have (eventual) plans on using it to automatically sense when the phone is docked into my smartphone robot. Perhaps even automatically pick up the phone and dock itself, if you simply put the phone nearby (it'd trigger a search routine). Sortof like a robot comically trying to reattach it's own severed head. One cool thing i've seen is people using RFID tags with cutting edge prosthetic arms. They put sticker-tags all around their house and the reader is in the arm, it tells the arm what context it's in. ie: There's a tag on the fridge door which automatically sets the fingers to "open the fridge" mode, one in the bathroom to set it to "hold toothbrush" mode. Handy stuff like that.

[@martyjames6204]

very interesting - thanks