ESP8266 as bridge

Owned by Ricardo Rufino
Last updated: Nov 23, 2016
2 min read

This mode uses the ESP8266 to provide WIFI for a microcontroller as WIFI-TO-SERIAL BRIDGE.

Setup

  1. On the ESP8266 side the esp-link firmware is used
  2. On the Arduino / Similar side the OpenDevice + el-client library is used.

To flash ESP follow this guide: https://github.com/jeelabs/esp-link/blob/master/FLASHING.md

Hardware Connections

ArduinoESP8266
RX (0)TX
TX (1)RX


It is recommended to use an external power supply or converter to power the ESP8266


ESP-LINK Configuration

The communication between the ESP8266 and the server uses the MQTT protocol, for this we need:

  • Enable SLIP on Serial port
  • Enable MQTT
  • Disable DEBUG log
  • ClientID : ApiKey/ModuleName
  • Username: ApiKey
  • Password: x

Code

.....


Debug Information

You can enable debug information passing a second parameter.

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
SoftwareSerial debugport(10,11); // RX, TX
EspLinkConnection conn(Serial, debugport);
// ...
Serial.begin(115200); // ESP-Link port (change to correct port)
debugport.begin(115200);

In Leonardo as it has two series, it does not need the SoftwareSerial

You can also see some debug information on the Esp-Link web console

References