I am a total newbie with this endeavour. I have two cameras that can operated with a phone app. They both do much the same thing, and work well for what they do. One of the cameras is actually easier to operate with a phone than it is directly, but neither will do exactly what I want, which is simply to operate the shutter at a specific time in the future.
What I want to do is to hack into the camera's WiFi with an ESP8266, i.e. have it masquerade as the phone app, but I'm utterly clueless about where to start and I just hope somebody else has already done it.
There is obviously nothing sacred about the WiFi per se. I can see it in the phone's settings but that is about as far as I can get. I have the camera's SSID and password.
I don't expect any joy from the phone app. It won't do anything until it is connect to a "registered camera".
I am in the process of making an intervalometer using a ProMini and a DS3231, with cable-connect to the cameras. It already has an ESP-01 but this is only used to check the RTC against the Internet during Setup, and I would rather it was better employed.
I hope somebody has already been down this road.....
I don't know the answer to your questions but my concern is the app communicates with the camera using a proprietary system, you need to read that and understand it. You also have to hope it's not encrypted or otherwise made difficult to read
I suggest you connect the camera to a separate wireless access point connected to a switch with port mirroring. Connect your PC to the switch with a cable (no WiFi) and mirror the data going to the camera to the PC. Use Wireshark on the PC to look at the data going to and from the camera. Then you have decode what the data means.
This what worried me but I get some comfort in finding that it can be done. I have now found some stuff on github but it is way out of my comfort zone. I'm just like the dog that has caught the car, and I don't know what to do with it.
Already built utility in Python:
Library that shows protocol as well as does graphic stuff using Qt - the protocol is the interesting part
First off understand that I am talking in general terms because I don't have the kit you have or experience of what you are trying to do, so this is based on what I do know and what you have told me.
I understand that the cameras communicate by WiFi. You want to see the data they are sending and receiving to / from the phone app, so you need a way to tap into that data, see it and figure out what it means. There is a PC app https://www.wireshark.org/ that allows you to monitor and view data sent to it over the PC's network connection. You can see individual packets and study them. There are options for filtering the data to get what you are interested in. If you can get the camera and app data to your PC then you are in with a chance of seeing the data and studying it.
You need to connect the camera to WiFi in a way that gives you a chance of getting the data to your PC. I imagine that you have an internet router at home with built in WiFi. That's no good for this as you can't get to the data you want to see. A wireless access point (WAP) is just the WiFi bit of a router in a separate box without the router bit included. WAPs are generally used to extend WiFi coverage more reliably than using WiFi extenders. WAPs need a cable back to the router to work. If you have a separate WAP and use that to connect your camera you've done the first bit: Data from the camera goes over WiFi to the WAP then through the cable to the router. As you make sure that the only thing connected to the WAP is the camera you know that the only data in the cable is data to and from the camera. The next problem is to get that data to your PC without interfering with the data, so the app and the camera can communicate, while the data is also sent to the PC and Wireshark can display it for you to study. To do that requires a switch with port mirroring. I'm guessing that your internet router has several network sockets on the back for plugging in different devices. 4 such sockets is not uncommon. Inside the router this is also a switch, which allows more than one device to connect to it. You can buy switches as separate devices, so you connect one switch port to the router, then other devices to the other ports on the switch. Normally a switch keeps the data to one device away from the data to another device. This is why if you have 2 (or more) computers connected to the internet the web pages (or whatever) on one don't get mixed up with the web pages on the other. In this case you don't want to keep things separate, you want the data from the camera (via the WAP) to also go to your PC so Wireshark can see it. Port mirroring allows you to do this, it links 2 ports (sockets) on the switch together, so the data at one is also sent to another. In this case you connect the WAP and your PC to 2 ports on the switch and use port mirroring between those 2 ports to get the data to your PC. You connect a 3rd port to your internet router so the camera can access the internet. The problem with what I am suggesting is that switches with port mirroring are usually managed and managed switches are not generally cheap. Some routers do have port mirroring in them, meaning you don't need a separate switch. I have a Draytek router, which supports port mirroring. Draytek routers are generally used commercially and are not targeted at the home internet market, however, if you can get one it might be what you need. Be aware that some internet service providers won't provide your DSL credentials, forcing you to use only their router.
If you are new to this then what I am suggesting will be a steep learning curve, but you will learn a lot if you succeed.
Which country are you in? If the UK I might be able to supply a second hand Draytek router with port mirroring, I've have to check.
Wow... A fair bit to digest there. Steep learning curve it certainly looks. Thanks for going to so much trouble. I live n Australia. I have a spare modem which I understand is quite versatile and up for a bit of butchery, also a WiFi extender
Probably too far to ship sensibly (although tariffs on exports between our countries have finally been lifted)
NOT a WiFi extender, a wireless access point. An extender is connected via WiFi to existing WiFi. You need a cable connection, which means a wireless access point.
OK. It is some multi-function thing which has more RJ points than most and I think it can cable-connect. I will have to retrieve it from my daughter's place.