Resilient wifi

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thalesmaoa
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Resilient wifi

#1 Post by thalesmaoa » 31 Jul 2022, 01:21

I've been using ESPEasy in my house for quite some time now. I want to make the next step and take it to the industrial level.
I have some boards that work only for sensor purposes. I can replace my own code with ESPEasy. My only concern is about communication failure.

Let's suppose the AP fails. All ESPEasy devices will enter to AP mode. This will not fix the problem, since informations are not arriving.
My idea is to make a second layer of communication, probably RF24. For that, I'm considering using Generic - Dummy Device. However, I have a doubt. I have to manually filter serial communication (ESPEasy to my RF24 controller). Is that correct?

Does it worth to write a plugin for RF24? Maybe, not a plugin, but a Controller?

TD-er
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Re: Resilient wifi

#2 Post by TD-er » 31 Jul 2022, 01:27

If it is about sending data to other node(s) then a controller would make sense.
A plugin is more about interacting with something and getting some sample values.

I have to check the RF24 as I have no idea what that does or can do.

Another idea to keep in mind...
If the network must really be stable, why not consider Ethernet?
IMHO wired network always beats wireless regarding stability.

thalesmaoa
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Re: Resilient wifi

#3 Post by thalesmaoa » 31 Jul 2022, 04:54

I do agree. I just wanna avoid cables for connection. I have to install sensors in some places where it is difficult to put communication cables. Just to mention an example (https://www.terabee.com/shop/level-moni ... onitoring/)

In an industrial plant, physical layers and their protocols are well defined (Modbus, Profibus, CAN, IO-Link and others).
On the other hand, wireless communications are not established.

I hear a lot about LoRa and Zigbee. But, I believe that 802.11 and RF24 (nRF24L01) are reliable and cheaper. The best example is our dally life using wifi. I'm decided to use 802.11g, but I'm concerned about failure.
- I can define one ESPEasy to became the AP and let the others connect to them.
- Use P2P and connect serial to my plant controller.

The idea of using RF24 is to increase reliability and promote another level of trust. Maybe, it can be a crazy idea.

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Re: Resilient wifi

#4 Post by TD-er » 31 Jul 2022, 09:25

I already have support for LoRaWAN on TTN using the RN2483 module.

This way you can send data to both MQTT and LoRaWAN.

If you need to keep track of recorded data which may never get lost and in case of some network failure can be pulled manually (or scripted) after the network connectivity has been restored, then you may want to look into the "Cache controller" which stores data on the flash.
I used that a lot on vehicles to keep track of environmental data along with a GPS module.
It is also being used at the Delsbo Electric event for the last 4 events to record the energy consumption of the teams.
And due to Covid the 2020 and 2021 event were without spectators so for the live event I added the mentioned LoRaWAN modules to get coverage along the track to get live data.

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chromo23
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Re: Resilient wifi

#5 Post by chromo23 » 31 Jul 2022, 10:55

thalesmaoa wrote: 31 Jul 2022, 01:21 Let's suppose the AP fails.
If it is only about that (and assuming that information exchange is only necessary in your lan of course), the easiest solution would be to have an second ap for redundancy since you can enter a fallback ssid/key in espeasy.
and this ap could be another esp because its cheap and doesn’t take so much power....

thalesmaoa
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Re: Resilient wifi

#6 Post by thalesmaoa » 31 Jul 2022, 20:59

TD-er wrote: 31 Jul 2022, 09:25 I already have support for LoRaWAN on TTN using the RN2483 module.

This way you can send data to both MQTT and LoRaWAN.

If you need to keep track of recorded data which may never get lost and in case of some network failure can be pulled manually (or scripted) after the network connectivity has been restored, then you may want to look into the "Cache controller" which stores data on the flash.
I used that a lot on vehicles to keep track of environmental data along with a GPS module.
It is also being used at the Delsbo Electric event for the last 4 events to record the energy consumption of the teams.
And due to Covid the 2020 and 2021 event were without spectators so for the live event I added the mentioned LoRaWAN modules to get coverage along the track to get live data.
Before you mention. I found your original post about this development. I will look closer for the proposed solutions.
chromo23 wrote: 31 Jul 2022, 10:55 and this ap could be another esp because its cheap and doesn’t take so much power.
Yes. This is what I've mentioned. I can use an Espeasy to turn into AP, while the other connect to them. I can also use P2P and communicate using serial.

In fact, I'm looking for a way to make a real contribution to the project, but, before start coding, I need to be sure that I'm not crazy.

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