ESP8266 Community Forum

- Tue Feb 21, 2017 6:41 am #62832 Hi Guys,

I'm new to this forum and also looking to experiment with the ESP8266. Been reading around about Wifi Direct with the ESP8266 but can't really find anything. Any news on this aspect?

I really need Wifi Direct functionality so I'm trying to find out whether it's possible with the ESP8266, or whether I need another MCU. Implementing Wifi-direct yourself with microcontrollers still seems kind of experimental as I've only one project using Wifi-direct with the Arduino MKR1000. But then again, I might not be looking in the right places.

KR, Crimson.

- Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:35 am #64652 +1
I desperately need to be able to hook up with my local device via WiFi from Android without losing the Internet mobile connection in the process!
Any solutions to this WiFi Direct mode on ESP8266?

--
Bo B
Sweden

- Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:11 am #64861 Hi BobAGI,

No further progression on my behalf. But it does seem like your demands have a second hurdle to overcome by trying not to lose the internet mobile connection. Could you explain your project in a bit more detail?

KR,

Crimson

- Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:07 pm #64893 OK:
We have developed a portable (battery powered) data collection equipment to be used in the field and it has to communicate with an Android tablet used as front end (GUI) for the equipment.
Currently we use a commercial WiFi module we have put on a board of our own and configured to implement a WiFi Access Point to which the tablet connects.
Then our App on the tablet will open a TCP port (2101 I think it is) on the WiFi module to control the equipment and download data from the system. The WiFi module is connected to the equipment using RS232 at 38400 baud. So port 2101 just transfers data between the network and RS232 without doing anything with the passing data. This works OK as it is right now.

The problem here is that all the time our tablet connects to the equipment AP it instantly loses Internet connectivity so the data retrieved cannot be forwarded to the home server for processing.

My hope is that WiFi Direct could be used since by what I have read it implies that the Android device does not lose the Internet connection via mobile broadband in the process.
Can the ESP8266 do this?
If so is there some sample project available to study?

--
Bo B
Sweden