Why continue to use NRF24L01?
-
Hi, sorry if question is stupid. I really like the overall remote low-power sensor thing and already kind of reproduced what you are trying to do here.
But, I find it difficult to advocate myself for continue to use NRF24L01 chip if there is ESP8266 and I can connect directly to anything using my WiFi network rather than custom-designed and custom-configured network based on NRF chips. What is the advantage of NRF chip copared to ESP?
-
@sgonch A couple. No IP-adress for instance. I for one don't believe in HTTP as a good protocol for IoT, But that's just my fifty cents.
-
Mostly power. Check how much power the ESP & wifi use vs NRF & atmel. For non-battery things it's probably not much of an issue though.
Also the mesh network and repeaters, again less of an issue if you have solid wifi coverage everywhere you would want a sensor.
There's also a more robust set of libraries and tools for working with various physical sensors on the arduino / atmel side than there is ported to the esp side.
But if you are just embarking on this now, and none of this items are an issue, there might be some logic in going all ESP/WiFi...
-
Another reason: number of inputs. The arduino has a lot more pins so for more complicated sensors, the ESP just doesn't cut it. Pairing them together isn't a bad idea though. Can the ESP do over the air boot loading? That's a nice feature in the radios.
I think both are good ideas. In my "future plans", I want to replace my Insteon remote switches and outlets with home made ones and I think using an ESP is perfect for that. They aren't battery powered, the ESP is much smaller than an arduino+radio, cheaper, and it only needs to control a single relay.
-
@TD22057 said:
reply
TD22057, I love this idea. However, how are you going to power the ESP? I'd like to do the same thing but don't want to take the thing out to replace a battery. I also don't want to try and fit a 5v or 3.3v power supply in there...just curious if you thought of that yet.
-
@neech said:
TD22057, I love this idea. However, how are you going to power the ESP? I'd like to do the same thing but don't want to take the thing out to replace a battery. I also don't want to try and fit a 5v or 3.3v power supply in there...just curious if you thought of that yet.
Search for HLK-PM01 - there are a bunch of threads on how to power from 120/240V mains.
-
You will also find out that there is a limit in your WiFI AP(s) on how many nodes you can handle simultaneously.
-
I'm using the NRF24L01 for my setup because I don't want my "security grid" to go offline if my router for example breaks down. Next to that it's safer in my eyes to keep the 2 networks separated. It's easier to hack a wifi network than your own custom build security network.
-
You could still do that with a separate WiFi router, right? I am starting to think about a new system that will have a dedicated router for my "things".
-
@neech Sure.
Depending on your router you could even make a different VLAN with a different SSID and keep it seperated in this way. Only allow the most essential ports from one network to the other.
-
@neech I'm extending my local Intranet Of Things eco-system, my conclusion is the same as yours. I'll be adding a separate local router. By that I'm also creating a DMZ, which will make it harder for hackers to get to my local network. And I'll be able to add a VPN in the DMZ. With the VPN I'll be able to connect to my local network when I'm not at home.
Since I already want an extra router, I'll have no extra costs when I'll be adding some ESP8266 sensors. But my point is, that most people don't know how to add an extra router, besides it adds cost at least 100 dollar or more your solution. I haven't checked how much cheaper the ESP8266 is, but you'll have to take the extra cost for purchasing an extra router and the power consumption of that router into account. How many NRF24L01 sensors can you build for that kind of money?
-
What about battery power? Is it on par with nrf24 and rfm69 with respect to power consumption?
-
It is true that the NRF24L01 use a lot less power (apparently). I haven't used them so I would be concerned about the range of these types of devices? How many gateways would I have to build to cover my whole home?
On the Ethernet side, I am looking to do smart outlets: for that the ESP8266 makes sense because I could use the 120VAC power and convert it to 5VDC with a pretty small board using one of those transformer-less DC power supplies.
Maybe I'll test both scenarios before scaling up.
Thanks,
neech
-
You only need one GW. If nodes are out of reach, use relay nodes. That's the whole point. The radios provide a mesh network.
-
@neech The first answer is 1 Gateway. Depending on the size of your house you might need some repeater nodes. But you could also use the radio's with the larger antenna's. I have one larger antenna which is currently mounted to my Gateway. I installed it recently. Didn't have any troubles concerning the distance. But I'm planning on building a weather station. It just a better safe than sorry thing.
For smart IoT devices a Pi or Pi zero would make much more sense than an ESP8266. At least in my opinion. Until this moment I'm more than happy with the NRF24L01+ wouldn't change it.
-
here is someone that did a test: https://hallard.me/nrf24l01-real-life-range-test/
-
Another option, would be to go with rfm69.. It's sub gHz, so it would have longer range (Even compared to esp8266). Power consumption is equal to nrf24 (as far as I know).
