5 Ghz Wifi module?

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2021-08-24 by ingoiotESPruino

it there a compatible 5 ghz wifi modul?
i see only the esp8266 but its only 2,4ghz

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2021-08-25 by @gfwilliams

Not that I'm aware of. You could attach an ESP32, but even those are only 2.4GHz.

If Espressif does release a 5GHz WiFi module, chances are it'll have AT command firmware and will plug right in though.

Realistically you're not going to be able to take advantage of the extra speed you get from 5 GHz WiFi in Espruino, but obviously if you don't actually have a 2.4GHz WiFi network it's of little consolation!

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2021-08-25 by @fanoush

there is long ESP32 5ghz thread here https://esp32.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6162&start=30 , the first estimate was "end of 2019", still nothing released :-)
someone also mentioned "Realtek RTL8722dn (BW-16)" which is ~$4 thing on aliexpress

looks like it can do AT commands and there is some Arduino support
https://www.seeedstudio.com/Realtek8720DN-2-4G-5G-Dual-Bands-Wireless-and-BLE5-0-Combo-Module-p-4442.html
https://github.com/mikey60/BW16-RTL8720DN-Module-Arduino

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2021-08-25 by ingoiotESPruino

I have also just found the RTL8720DN.
looks like its fairly new.

this should work with
var wifi = require("ESP8266WiFi_0v25").connect(Serial2, function(err) {
i guess?

I don't really need it for speed, but for the limited channels on the 2.4 GHz network.
I am currently looking for an alternative to wifi for my IoT devices,
maybe something like Zigbee or I just read about EspruinoHub.
Sooner or later I want to separate my normal stuff from the IoT stuff.

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2021-08-26 by @fanoush

this should work with
var wifi = require("ESP8266WiFi_0v25").connect(Seri­al2, function(err) {
i guess?

Not sure how it differs from ESP8266 AT commands. The list of RTL8720DN AT commands is referenced in this post https://forum.amebaiot.com/t/resources-bw16-troubleshooting-guide/678#references-23 and looks like the AT firmware is part of official SDK so (same?) AT commands are also described here https://github.com/ambiot/ambd_sdk/tree/master/doc and the source code is https://github.com/ambiot/ambd_sdk/tree/master/component/common/api/at_cmd and https://github.com/ambiot/ambd_sdk/tree/master/component/common/example/uart_atcmd

Also SeedStudio did some work here https://github.com/Seeed-Studio/Seeed_Arduino_rpcWiFi to unify development using esp32 and RTL8720DN so same code can use both, however this is not using AT commands so not easily usable from Espruino.

It looks interesting, ordered BW16 kit and bare module from https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001320366011.html just in case. Total price below $10 including VAT and shipping for both.

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2021-08-26 by @gfwilliams

Thanks, the RTL8720DN looks really interesting.

require("ESP8266WiFi_0v25").connect

From the docs @fanoush linked above I think that while you'd hope it would work, the command names do seem to be different. However having said that, modifying ESP8266WiFi_0v25 to make it work would not be an amazingly difficult job

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2021-08-26 by @fanoush

Thanks, the RTL8720DN looks really interesting.

there is also Feasycom module based on same chip
https://www.feasycom.com/product-RTL8720DN-Chip-BLE-5-Wi-Fi-Combo-Module.html
that comes with AT command based firmware

On the bottom page there are two PDF links, one having list of AT commands, however they are different from those in ambd sdk, not sure why they did that, maybe to be compatible with something else(?), however it looks different from esp8266 AT commands too

Anyway they sell it for $6 and looks like there are more GPIOs available on this one. And maybe support from them will be better than random aliexpress shop.

The Cortex M4F + Cortex M0 + relatively big SRAM looks nice, could even run Espruino natively.

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2021-08-26 by @gfwilliams

Interestingly the Seeed one says BW16 which I bet is the successor to the RTL8710 BW12 http://www.ai-thinker.com/pro_view-13.html

AiThinker actually seem like a pretty decent company, and I bet it's way cheaper buying from them than via Seeed

edit: but yes, there seems no reason it couldn't run Espruino natively. It might be quite a good new platform to look at

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2021-09-23 by @fanoush

Today I received the BW16 from https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001320366011.html both the bare module and the board (total $9.70 with VAT+shipping). It arrived flashed with AT based firmware

# ATSV
[ATSV] OK:v2.4.1,amebaD v6.0a(Aug 14 2019)

and AT commands from https://github.com/ambiot/ambd_sdk/blob/master/doc/AN0075%20Realtek%20Ameba-all%20at%20command%20v2.0.pdf work.
can scan and connect to my 5GHz AP and ping some site on internet
can light up RGB led via ATSG=W,PA_x,1 where x = 12,13,14
so overall not bad :-)