ESP8266 Community Forum

- Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:08 pm #68521 forlotto,

maybe my english is too bad, but I dont understand your text completely.
I'm using the ESP8266-12. It's WLAN frequency is 2.4 GHz.
Also the ESP23 uses 2.4 GHz.
There's nothing with 5 GHz, you wrote about.

My Radar module also uses 2,4 GHz - clearly a problem.
But after much of recherche, I see, that even users who're using a Radar module's frequency around 3 GHz are complaining a lot about interferences with the ESPs WLAN.
No idea why Electroguard doesn't have such problems.

I'm not shure, why you speak about Bluetooth.
Fact is: All my ESPs are disconnecting immediately if I switch on a 2.4 GHz Radar module!
But even without Radar, all my ESPs are disconnecting from time to time. Since Months im fighting with this trouble!
Not only with my own programs, but also with code-samples from this forum.

Long time I was recherching in different forums for the reasons. And I tryed out each hint about decoupling and so on. But nothing was really helpfull.
I'm an electronic professionel, so I know about correct decoupling and how to make a sourge stable. So I don't use breadboards, I'm soldering with short wires and decoupling capacitors and so on.
My experiments show, that the ESP8266 himself is the culprit. This device works instable!
And I think, its his receiver - it works much to broadband.
Maybe an actice Antenna would improve its reliability.
Maybe also, the ESP32 has a more reliable receiver, but I didn't try it out, till now.

A friend of mine (a really professionel!) also has had many problems with the ESP.
Because that, he switched to the much more expensive SAMW25.
He says, this module workes stable like a rock! Even with bulky websites, containing websockets, Ajax, JavaScript ... but it's expensive and has some limitations against the ESP. Less memory and so on.

Conclusing, I really hope the ESP32 is more reliable, then the ESP8266!

- Mon Jul 24, 2017 3:55 pm #68534 Bluetooth band will likely disconnect as well in short maybe I recall incorrectly but doesn't the ESP32 also feature bluetooth in which case unless you found something out of band you will experience the same problems with the ESP32. Hrmmm if it is a problem with disconnection from the router why not try different channels and see if it clears the issue up? If it is all the channels than your radar is fundamentally working like a frequency jammer. The only way to fix this is to stay out of band a different radar band or channel possibly IDK just a suggestion to me weather it was esp32 or esp8266 you will still experience issues.

It is also possible that he uses a firmware that allows you to adjust the output on the router such as DDWRT or Tomato or OpenWRT so that his connection does not get overwhelmed this is a good question for Electrogaurd to find out what is different you must share all of the info possible and possibly take pictures of your setup this would help greatly in diagnostics and fixing the issue.

Helpful? Donate To help support Mike http://www.esp8266basic.com click the donate button lets keep this project going and hope we can get the ESP32 in the mix. BEGINNERS GUIDE HERE http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=6732

Where I buy my ESP8266 boards from... (Banggood)

- Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:24 pm #68540 forlotto, normally I connect the ESP to a Smartphone.
Normally my router's WLAN is off.
But if I switch on the router's WLAN, the connection between ESP and Smartphone offten breaks.
And, as I said, it happens also (and immediately!) when the radar module is switched on.

I tryed out each thinkable variation to find out, who's the culprit - it's the ESP!
Mostly I use the Wemos D1 mini (I have some of them) but I own also some other modules equiped with the ESP8266-12. I also tryed to drive the "naked" ESP stand-allone, with a good Voltage regulation and lots of capacitors.

I tested the connection to different Smartphone and Tablets, also to the Router and also to a WLAN Stick for the PC.
Connected via Router, I tested different channels.

Nothing helps! Other connections between devices, like a smartphone to the router, are working. But the ESP again and again loses connection.
It definitely does so, if I switch on the Radar. But also the Router disturbs the connection between ESP and Smartphone. Also a WLAN-Stick for PC does it.

So my conclusion: Each WLAN device, or 2.4 GHz source, "kills" the ESPs connection. But the Radar ist the most effective "killer".

This is astonishing, because:
1) The output power from the Radar must be diminutively! I don't own the equipment for measure its sending power, but from the circuit it is clear, that it must be very small.
2) The frequency can't be narrowband. There is no stabilisation for the oscillating unit, so the small power output must be "smeared" over a relative wide band.

Even more: Of course there is no modulation, no coding in the signal. So it is a little wonder, why a simple 2.4 GHz signal (maybe from 2 GHz to 3 GHz I suppose) without any modulation can disturb the ESP so much!
I would understand that, if the signal strenght would be very very high, so that it could "flute" the ESPs receiver. That would be a "jammer". But the cheap Radar's power must be very small.

I suppose two things:
1) The ESPs receiver works broadband. So it's receiving each "dirt" in the ether.
2) Probably the ESP doesn't have a good decoder for received datas. Maybe the error detection is much too bad for the job, so that it fails under suboptimale cicumstances.

And to be honnest, forlotto: The internet forums all over the world are full from people who complains about strange problems with the ESPs reliability.
What makes the situation even worse, is the fact that our beloved Basis hat its own bits of strange behaviour ... I hate it to say it, because I love Basic und I'm very gratefull for Michaels great work. But I think each of us knows what I mean ...
Michaels Basic has such a fantastic potential, but I doubt that it will be ready for professional uses some day. I think this project needs more than one man to replace all bugs against features and to create a really usefull documentation with examples and so on.

In my opinion there is now way tu use the 8266 in a consumer product, if it makes so much trouble all the time!
It maybe OK for switching on/off a lightbulb, or for hobby users needings. But not more than that.
So I'm waiting for the ESP32 now, in the hope it would be better.
And I REALLY hope, that the devolepment of our beloved Basic will get a big big turbo shove!

- Mon Jul 24, 2017 11:58 pm #68542 As for the Radar one last question are you focusing the radar with a soup can or dish to stop back scatter to your device if not you may wish to test this possibly providing a degree of separation and shielding may help or even mounting it on a metal flat plate and having the esp behind the plate as well as your wifi connection giving it 180 degrees at least?

I really have no hard data as far as anything on stability goes to be honest I just know my nodemcu unless it is an SONSOFF variant either from ITEAD or Electrodragon is in fact fairly stable. Signal testing has been done and amazingly this little chip with no external antenna does exceptionally well better than most anything with its specs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BYdZ_24yg0 That is one test there were many others.

As far as basic stability and using it commercially you are free to edit it and make it better for your purposes other things you could do is use a business model that fits your needs. However if it is a business model that you seek you could tell them beyond initial setup that they could email you for help or subscribe to monthly support and give them a month free and tell them that visits will be a set price. If you outline all of this and are up front with everything and do it at a competitive price you will succeed in your business. If it were my intent I would easily be able to setup a business and manage it doing this type of work for home use I guess the interest isn't quite there for me though for commercialization.

Well I ordered some units from ebay going to be 30days + across the pond will see how it works out for me because that project has me rather curious for a while now dunno when or if I will get around to doing it but I like it enough to have a few on hand.

I agree the esp32 may be better overall in certain aspects but I am really unsure without any hard test data to support it as I don't own one and have not read many personal use case articles here.

EDIT you say your routers WLAN kills your connection? That is interesting ...

You cannot be connected in both AP and Station mode at the same time so if you have both of these entered it could be possible that you are connecting to both which will cause problems with your connection. This was hashed over a while back and I am not saying that this is your problem it is just another avenue I am suggesting to investigate you can also disable AP mode in your code there are posts on this and it may be in the documentation I have no looked yet but everything can be handled in your code as far as connection goes I believe other than MACID if I recall correct. And really channel and type as well as aftermarket firmwares make a lot more difference than one could imagine! From one router to the next connectivity can be like the difference from football to syncronized swimming and there is plenty of hard data out there to support this my small network builder has a lot of data.

So the kicker is a guy here has this working solid and you do not frustration mounts you think you have exhausted every possibility and then wammo it is figured out and this is what I hope to see out of this conversation.

We both know it is working and a workable thing.
Thus we can assume it is something no matter how small that makes all the difference in the world.
He gave a link to the exact item he is using ;) He posted many pictures etc...
Maybe we could ask him all of the elements of his setup from router to distances from the router to heights and so forth.

I know you can get this working if he has it working bottom line.

Helpful? Donate To help support Mike http://www.esp8266basic.com click the donate button lets keep this project going and hope we can get the ESP32 in the mix. BEGINNERS GUIDE HERE http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=6732

Where I buy my ESP8266 boards from... (Banggood)