Newbie questions

[signal15]

I'm new to this and I'm really not getting anywhere. I have numerous problems, the most significant of which is sensors not showing up in inclusion mode. So, I want to take a step back and ask the questions I should have probably asked before I even got started. First, here's my setup:

• Latest Arduino IDE, with libraries from GitHub Master branch of Mysensors (appears to be version 1.5)
• ESP8266 board from amazon for the gateway with the higher output NRF with antenna, also tried with a regular NRF
• 47uf caps added to all radios, adding shielding on the high power one later tonight.
• Nano's for the sensors
• Vera on UI5

So, here are my questions:

1. Am I using the version of the libraries I should be? Or, is something in the dev branch considered more stable or reliable?
2. If I'm NOT using the correct version of the libraries, does that mean I will have to also update the version running on Vera?
3. I see a lot of issues with the ESP8266 in the forums. Should I be building a W5100 ethernet gateway instead?
4. I tried clearing the EEPROM in my ESP8266 using the clear EEPROM example code included with MySensors. I'm not sure if it worked, as I get nothing on the serial interface like I do when clearing a Nano. Should I be using a different sketch to clear the ESP?
5. I see that someone has built a raspberry pi serial gateway. How easy would it be to make it into an ethernet gateway? Would that be a more reliable option?
6. For the RF24 scanner code, it says to "// Set up nRF24L01 radio on SPI bus plus pins 9 & 10". What does this mean? There are 7 pins that are normally connected, do I only hook up a subset of these? https://maniacbug.github.io/RF24/scanner_8pde-example.html

I know the high power radio needs an external power supply to work reliably. I get intermittent "radio init fail" if I try to power it from the ESP8266 3v3 pin, but I don't get these failures when I power it externally.

Initially, I'm trying to do 2 things. I'm trying to do smart control of an attic fan, and monitor the depth in a septic tank which has the predisposition to overflow.

If anyone has any info that will help me get going, I would be eternally grateful. I'm at the point now where I'm just spinning my wheels and not making any progress.

[signal15]

Well, it's working now. I put a new power supply on it, and shielded the radio. Before I go dotting my house with sensors, is there anything I should do in MyConfig.h or anywhere else? It looks like debugging is turned on by default. Should I leave it?

Also, even though I got it working, any insight to the above questions would certainly still be appreciated.