Difficulties with ESP8266 Wireless and possible solutions

Wireless networking has many "gotchas" and this page only highlights a few of them. It is up to the DIY'er to solve his/her own specific issues because no two networks are set up the same way or have the same environmental constraints.

• Electrical. The ESP module works with 3.3vdc only. Powering it at 5vdc or more will usually damage it -- instantly. Powering it with less than 2.8vdc can also create inconsistent performance. Another issue can be fluctuating voltage. For this reason, it's a good idea to put a 100uf 6.3v or greater electrolytic capacitor on the VCC and GND connections of the ESP module to help eliminate oddities in power fluctuations because of sudden current draws.

• Available Current. The ESP module can require 250-300ma of current, especially during power-up. If enough current isn't available, it usually goes into a default mode and doesn't connect to the network. Power it off, wait a few seconds and back on again to solve this.

• The orientation of the ESP's antenna to the access point's transmitting antenna has a significant influence to communication success. Distance, height and obstructions also can make a difference. In particular, leaves and evergreen trees are known to soak up the 2.4ghz radio waves and prevent them reaching a remote ESP module, as can cars parked in the driveway or other metal structures between the ESP and access point. The best connections are made when the ESP has direct, line-of-sight access to the transmitting access point with nothing but air in between. ANYTHING that is between them other than air will cause some sort of signal degradation.

• Using one's normal home/internet wireless network is generally not as successful as if the show network is separate. This is because of the amount of data a show network uses -- it can bring the internet connection to a crawl.

• Network gear that uses multicast in its communication seem to work best with ESP modules. Some inexpensive, home wireless routers/access points are not designed to implement multicast communication very well and you should check the specs of the equipment you plan to use before trying it out. This may not be important for small show networks with only a few ESP modules but when the network traffic increases and dozens of ESP modules as well as high channel counts are in play, it can be crucial to success. Some users report that reflashing the router/access point with DD-WRT firmware helps, but this may not be successful in every case.

• Mesh networking is generally not a good solution for a show network and should be discouraged. This can be dependent on the scope of the show network; small shows with only a few ESP modules can work okay while larger shows will almost always bog down.

• An ESP module that has a good connection to the wireless access point normally makes a connection very quickly -- within a matter of 1-2 seconds. It will otherwise try to connect for a short period of time but after about 5 or 6 seconds, it usually gives up trying and goes into a factory default mode, after which your only recourse it to power it off and back on again to retry.