Low Power Wifi Module with stack

[veryevil]

Hi, I'm about to start looking into WiFi modules and wondered if anyone had any experience with any out there as at a quick glance there are a lot out there.

I'm looking to be battery powered and be able to publish MQTT data to a broker in the order of minutes and need a WiFi module that is low power and quick to re-connect. SSL/TLS would be a bonus.

The more of the software that's done for me the better!

the RAK modules look promising although the low power and the integrated MQTT  + security devices seem to be mutually exclusive and also I would prefer to have something I can get from a supplier that isn't Aliexpress.

Thanks for any insight

[lucazader]

Have a look into the ESP8266 or the ESP32.

Really cheap and powerful devices, than can be configured to have relatively low power consumption if you are careful.

[Mr.B]

Have a look into the ESP8266 or the ESP32.

Really cheap and powerful devices, than can be configured to have relatively low power consumption if you are careful.

+1

I have used plenty of ESP07s modules in battery powered equipment pushing data to ThingSpeak.

[veryevil]

Haven't looked too closely at the ESP range as I was under the assumption they pulled several milliamps even when asleep?

Need something almost off when not connected / between beacons.

I'll have another look.

[Mr.B]

ESP07 and ESP07s have no LEDs on the board.
I can DeepSleep() my projects to 11 microamps, plus about 20 microamps of LDO regulator quiescent current.
Regulator I use is MCP1802. 300mA max output - you need it when the ESP8266 is transmitting.

[pigrew]

The ESP32 uses perhaps 10 or 20 mA while connected to the network. For hobby projects, it's a good choice.

While disconnected, it is supposed to be able to sleep at a few uA (but seems to get down to 100 uA or so).

The libraries are still a work in progress, and some of the peripherals are beta-quality (the ADC is pretty awful, for example), but the WiFi part of it works pretty well.

I've not used the particular MCU, but I find TI's products quite well designed, with a learning curve. You could look into the CC3200. It claims about 1 mA while connected and sleeping. (I've used their CC2650 BLE module and various other MCUs).

Note that both of the above are MCUs with integrated wifi stacks. There are also some external Wifi peripherals (like how ESP8266 is often used), but I don't have experience with them.

[hamster_nz]

The ESP32 uses perhaps 10 or 20 mA while connected to the network. For hobby projects, it's a good choice.

While disconnected, it is supposed to be able to sleep at a few uA (but seems to get down to 100 uA or so).

I've tested quite a few ESP32 board (ie. ESP32 on a carrier with VRM, USB/Serial bridge and maybe battery mgmt) in deep sleep.
- 50mA running without Wifi
- 125mA ro 140mA with Wifi active
- Sleep current usually dependent on regulator.
- Has an ultra-low power processor that can do housekeeping.

In deep sleep some were 10mA or higher,  good modules (out of about 10 different models I tested) were 125nA. Price does not usually does not indicate which are better in this respect.

Got a 8-10 weeks out of 3xAAAs, pushing temp/humidity to Thinkspeak over HTTPS, until environmental issues got the better of them.

 

[asmi]

I have a very positive experience with WINC1500 module.

[mdijkens]

I have ESP12E's powered with a single 18650 for over a year
in deep sleep with a HT7333 LDO they use <20uA
transmitting takes 6 to 8 seconds at ~71mA

[BillB]

I have a very positive experience with WINC1500 module.

+1 for the WINC1500 (WINC1510), and also for the TI SimpleLink (CC3200).