ESP8266 Community Forum

- Fri Jun 16, 2017 8:26 pm #67259

I would like to understand the working of WifiManager.h library. What should I do?
How should I begin?

I suggest (yes really, just to understand things better) to remove the WifiManager from the sketch for now.

The WifiManager is a clever (and handy) way of settings the WiFi-properties (AP to connect to, complete with password) of your ESP, without having to hardcode these parameters in your sketch and having them stored in EEPROM.
For a short explanation, see this YouTube-clip of Brian Lough.

But, to start at the beginning, first use the default (and old) way of setting your WiFi-connection using hardcoded constants inside your sketch.
So, your sketch (derived from the one by TS) will look something like this:

Code: Select all#include <ESP8266WiFi.h> 

WiFiServer server(4998);
WiFiClient client;

const char* ssid = "Astrid"; // Change SSID and password to your environment
const char* password = "MySecretPassword";

char data[1500];
int ind = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
 
  Serial.print("Trying to connect to: "); 
  Serial.println(ssid); 
  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

  server.begin();
  Serial.println("Server started");
  Serial.setDebugOutput(true);
}

void loop() {
  if(!client.connected())
  {
    client = server.available();
  }
  else
  {
    if(client.available() > 0)
    {
      while(client.available())
      {
        data[ind] = client.read();
        ind++;
      }   
      client.flush();

      for(int j=0;j < ind; j++)
      {
        Serial.print(data[j]);
      }
      ind = 0;
    }
  }
}

Note: before compiling this sketch, make sure you enter the correct SSID and password for your setup (the const char*'s in lines 6 and 7).

Once you got the hang of things, you can use things like the WiFiManager and it will all become clear.

Assumption is the mother of all f*ckups. At least: that's what I'm assuming.