ESP8266 WiFi Serial Transceiver module – ESP01 ESP 01

Woh! Super low-cost WiFi module is here, we are carrying it now! The ESP-01S ESP8266 WiFi Module is a self-contained SOC with integrated TCP/IP protocol stack that can give any microcontroller access to your WiFi network. The ESP8266 is capable of either hosting an application or offloading all Wi-Fi networking functions from another application processor. Each ESP8266 module comes pre-programmed with an AT command set firmware, meaning, you can simply hook this up to your Arduino device and get about as much WiFi-ability as a WiFi Shield offers (and that’s just out of the box)! The ESP8266 module is an extremely cost-effective board with a huge, and ever-growing, community. There are plenty of discussion and happening in the official community: http://www.esp8266.com

This module has a powerful enough on-board processing and storage capability that allows it to be integrated with the sensors and other application-specific devices through its GPIOs with minimal development up-front and minimal loading during runtime. Its high degree of on-chip integration allows for minimal external circuitry, including the front-end module, which is designed to occupy minimal PCB area. The ESP8266 supports APSD for VoIP applications and Bluetooth co-existence interfaces, it contains a self-calibrated RF allowing it to work under all operating conditions and requires no external RF parts.

There is an almost limitless fountain of information available for the ESP8266, all of which has been provided by amazing community support. Under the Resources section, you will find many resources to aid you in using the ESP8266, even instructions on how to transforming this module into an IoT (Internet of Things) solution!

This module is very low cost, but very simple. It doesn’t support SSL, or communcation over SPI – just UART! It also doesn’t have a regulator on board and it can use big spikes of 300mA or more current at 3.3V so if using with an Arduino, an external 3V regulator is essential! (Seriously don’t try to power it from the 3.3V power pin the Arduino!) Also, the connector is kind of annoying and not breadboard-friendly, some female-to-male wires can help out in that case to make it easy to plug into a breadboard.

That said, it does do the job, and can be used as a UART-at-9600-baud to WIFI adapter using example code for Arduino or, for the really adventurous, programmed directly using an SDK