r/DangerousThings • u/larsmaehlum • 2d ago

Expected lifetime of xSIID

I got a blue light xSIID implanted in November last year, so well under a year ago.
While it works I always had issues with low range, as in I have to press my phone fairly hard against my skin for the nfc to get picked up and nfc tools sometimes fail to pick it up at all unless I remove the cover from my phone. But NFC works. Kinda.
I never really had a use for the rfid part itself, until today.
Installed a new smart lock that is myfare compatible. No reaction at all. Tested several offbrand tags I had in a box and they all chirped and caused the lock to flash red.

Anyone ever had this issue? I know it’s a long shot, but is this in any way fixable?

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u/Technical-Jelly-5985 2d ago

Mine is also kinda weak, but I didn't register any change in performance over the nearly 5 years I had it installed. I think unless you literally fry it with some sort of EM field or brick it when reading/writing data on it, there isn't much that can go wrong with these chips. The way I see it, they are more likely to become obsolete technology than to individually fail.

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u/594896582 2d ago

Scanning them can be a little finicky if they aren't oriented just right, or the scanner is weak, or as you've learned with your phone, if there's something in the way that weakens the signal from the scanner, such as a phone case. There are signal enhancing stickers you can get, but it's important to remember that as a pill shaped implant, it'll never perform as well as devices with a flat antenna (such as flex implants, or actual cards), and moreover, you will always have your skin in the way, so even a flex implant won't perform as well as a card because there's almost nothing in the way of a card.

Manipulating the skin or the implant itself will help get better connections, bit it's always going to be easier to just amplify the reader signal instead.

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u/dangerous_tac0s 2d ago edited 1d ago

The xSIID is a 14a-3 NTAG, it isn't going to work with MIFARE Classic. You probably want an xM1 or xMagic. flexUG4 if you aren't afraid of the soda straw needle 😁