7 ms·

Warwalking WiFi Networks with ESP8266 IoT Module

72 points by demouser7 10y ago

Sarkie 10y ago
Are TP Link good devices btw? I need a cheap VDSL Wifi Router in the UK and they keep popping up.
blakesterz 10y ago
"Originally ray's code "latched" onto the open access point and requested an IP address just to prove the WiFi was truly open; but various laws govern connecting anonymously to private WiFi networks, so the project was changed to simply identify their presence." Interesting, I hadn't heard about that. Are these US Laws? Is this the Richard Stanley ruling? (and just a random observation, what's the deal with the footer here? "© 1999 LiveJournal, Inc." The post seems to be from earlier this year, has LiveJournal really not updated things in that long?)
- curried_haskell 10y ago
  At this point I bet they leave the 1999 there on purpose.
- halviti 10y ago
  You can probably find various rulings on this subject in different countries because Google accidentally did this all over the world. https://googleblog.blogspot.is/2010/05/wifi-data-collection-update.html https://googleblog.blogspot.is/2010/05/wifi-data-collection-...
milge 10y ago
I've been playing with these ESP8266 devices lately and they're incredible. They sip power, they cost 2 bucks, and are incredibly versatile. Watch these chips in the future. They're really gonna push the envelope for the IoT.
- icebraining 10y ago
  The range is quite impressive as well. A real world test[1] showed 366m (almost a quarter mile) with just the PCB antenna. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BYdZ_24yg0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BYdZ_24yg0
  - milge 10y ago
    That's great to know. I'm just finishing up an sms messaging water detector. My next project is going to be a small mesh network in the woods. Haven't seen any range tests yet, so this is great news.
    - 1024core 10y ago
      > I'm just finishing up an sms messaging water detector. Sounds interesting. I'd love to know more about it; if you could share the details with us, it would be highly appreciated.
      - milge 10y ago
        Sure. I only have a short video of it working right now. Please forgive the music: https://www.instagram.com/p/BEywYH2Q6n_/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BEywYH2Q6n_/ I'm using an amica nodemcu board paired with a sainrite water level sensor. It's powered off of a cell phone battery charger for now. The code is all in C. I use twilio to send texts. The final thing I need to build is a way to wake the device up from sleep when water is detected. Doing so should let it run for a very long time. (year(s)) I have a few ideas for a solution, but have been swamped lately.
        StavrosK 10y ago
        If your sensor outputs high when it detects water, use a transistor or MOSFET to pull RST low when water is detected, and send a message. I used that trick to make my emergency food button (a button that orders food when you press it): https://www.stavros.io/posts/emergency-food-button/ https://www.stavros.io/posts/emergency-food-button/ You won't get away with not powering the detector, though, so depending on its power draw it might be moot.
birdmanjeremy 10y ago
I wonder how long the battery lasts? I've been playing with the ESP8266 chips as well, and they're great. Haven't had a chance to hook them up to a battery yet or test more precise power consumption.
- StavrosK 10y ago
  It depends on the battery, of course. I don't have my kit with me right now, or I'd measure for you, but I think it's about 70 mA connected to a nearby wifi.
- gh02t 10y ago
  Running all the time you'll drain a 1000 mAh battery in an hour or two, but if you aggressively deep sleep and wake infrequently you can easily get a month. That's about the limit though, you aren't going to be able to do a year or so like you can with other technologies, at least not in a device that reports data at a useful frequency. Wifi is high bandwidth and ubiquitous, but it uses a lot of power. Other options are better if power or long range is your goal.
  - jessaustin 10y ago
    ...1000 mAh... I know I'm being silly, but I always giggle when I see it written like this.
    - gh02t 10y ago
      Normally I do to, but in this case there's good reason to talk about thousands of mAh's instead of Ah's, which is that the typical sort of things you'd power with these batteries have current draw in the mA range, so mA's are the natural unit to use. It's like measuring energy in Joules normally versus talking about electron volts for chemistry or mega-/giga-/tera- electron volts for nuclear physics (depending on the flavor).
brudgers 10y ago
Original source for hack: https://www.hackster.io/rayburne/warwalking-a9c021 https://www.hackster.io/rayburne/warwalking-a9c021
xd1936 10y ago
Looks like a neat proof of concept, but what sorts of things could this evolve to as a hobby project? Cracking WEP/WPA on the go?
- dogma1138 10y ago
  Not really, you have much better hardware for that, one that could actually do hacking (not that many people still use WEP these days since it's not the default anymore on pretty much all routers). There isn't that much use for it, it's very small so people find it cool and spystuff like, it might have some uses like a cheap rogue access point detection system in places where you don't want any wireless networks but beyond that kinda nothing.
- h4waii 10y ago
  No, the Espressif SDK doesn't include the ability to do packet injection. They are likely going to completely remove the RFMON features if people start "abusing" them.
  - lorenzhs 10y ago
    I think there's an old version somewhere that can do some injection, like sending disassociation packages and other nastiness.
    - h4waii 10y ago
      Indeed, for anyone interested => https://github.com/pulkin/esp8266-injection-example/issues/1 https://github.com/pulkin/esp8266-injection-example/issues/1
hanniabu 10y ago
Does anybody know of a low powered chip that's standalone can be used as an addon to the ESP8266,which is capable of sending rf signals in the 60ft range? Basically I'm trying to have a setup with a few low powered devices that can talk to a central device. I figured each one having wifi would be too expensive and power consuming so I was think of sending rf signals to communicate. I'm more than open to ideas since this is my first project of this sort. Please and thank you!
- revelation 10y ago
  If you're looking for some sort of RF network, you might like the RF212b: http://www.atmel.com/devices/AT86RF212B.aspx http://www.atmel.com/devices/AT86RF212B.aspx which is simply controlled through SPI.
- milge 10y ago
  These boards are dirt cheap. 2 dollars cheap. It depends if you'll be running these devices from an outlet or battery. The ESPs will do exactly what you want but there's a learning curve. I don't know your experience with all of this, but I recommend picking up an arduino starter kit, some rf shields, a good soldering iron, and misc wires/caps/transistors etc. Play around with that stuff first and it'll be easier to transition into the ESPs.
  - StavrosK 10y ago
    Here are my half-written notes, complete with shopping list: https://www.stavros.io/notes/hardware/ https://www.stavros.io/notes/hardware/ I've been meaning to write a "getting started" guide for the ESP but I haven't yet. I don't see why people should get an Arduino. Get a WeMos D1 mini, it does the same things and has WiFi.
    - milge 10y ago
      You're doing way better than I am at the writeups. I suggest the arduino starter kit because it comes with a bunch of other components that are helpful to a beginner besides the arduino.
platz 10y ago
seems like a better fit to transmit output to a mobile phone hotspot instead of an oled output?
nxzero 10y ago
Seems like for a non-GPS tracker that these would be pretty effective based on their footprint.
technofiend 10y ago
It's too bad they don't have GPS but maybe tower location is good enough. It would be cool as anything to have these get cheap enough you could attach one to every runner's bib in the New York City Marathon and watch the resulting data set. I could see both real-time location services (where's my wife on the course?), cheating prevention (why is this tag in the back of a taxi on 8th avenue?) and so on. People would probably pay $5-$10 extra to have that attached to their bib for their family to see. Sure you can accomplish the same using any number of iphone / android tracking apps but they're all battery suckers.
- lorenzhs 10y ago
  You can get a GPS module on aliexpress for around $6, whereas an ESP8266 is <$2. So it's still very affordable, but GPS is quite a bit more complicated than WiFi and correspondingly more expensive.
blacksmith_tb 10y ago
But the ESP8266 also can be used as the perfect countermeasure against warwalking/driving - it's easy to have one spoof SSIDs, hundreds and hundreds of them: http://ruralhacker.blogspot.pt/2016/01/esp8266-jamming.html http://ruralhacker.blogspot.pt/2016/01/esp8266-jamming.html
yardie 10y ago
Does anyone have a good tutorial to get started? I have a few ESP8266s for a project I'm working on. I have a solar regulator that outputs the load over serial connection. I'd like to do this over wifi so i don't have to run a 50ft serial cable.

72 points by demouser7 10y ago

Are TP Link good devices btw? I need a cheap VDSL Wifi Router in the UK and they keep popping up.

"Originally ray's code "latched" onto the open access point and requested an IP address just to prove the WiFi was truly open; but various laws govern connecting anonymously to private WiFi networks, so the project was changed to simply identify their presence." Interesting, I hadn't heard about that. Are these US Laws? Is this the Richard Stanley ruling? (and just a random observation, what's the deal with the footer here? "© 1999 LiveJournal, Inc." The post seems to be from earlier this year, has LiveJournal really not updated things in that long?)

curried_haskell 10y ago
At this point I bet they leave the 1999 there on purpose.
halviti 10y ago
You can probably find various rulings on this subject in different countries because Google accidentally did this all over the world. https://googleblog.blogspot.is/2010/05/wifi-data-collection-update.html https://googleblog.blogspot.is/2010/05/wifi-data-collection-...

milge 10y ago

I've been playing with these ESP8266 devices lately and they're incredible. They sip power, they cost 2 bucks, and are incredibly versatile. Watch these chips in the future. They're really gonna push the envelope for the IoT.

icebraining 10y ago
The range is quite impressive as well. A real world test[1] showed 366m (almost a quarter mile) with just the PCB antenna. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BYdZ_24yg0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BYdZ_24yg0
- milge 10y ago
  That's great to know. I'm just finishing up an sms messaging water detector. My next project is going to be a small mesh network in the woods. Haven't seen any range tests yet, so this is great news.
  - 1024core 10y ago
    > I'm just finishing up an sms messaging water detector. Sounds interesting. I'd love to know more about it; if you could share the details with us, it would be highly appreciated.
    - milge 10y ago
      Sure. I only have a short video of it working right now. Please forgive the music: https://www.instagram.com/p/BEywYH2Q6n_/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BEywYH2Q6n_/ I'm using an amica nodemcu board paired with a sainrite water level sensor. It's powered off of a cell phone battery charger for now. The code is all in C. I use twilio to send texts. The final thing I need to build is a way to wake the device up from sleep when water is detected. Doing so should let it run for a very long time. (year(s)) I have a few ideas for a solution, but have been swamped lately.
      - StavrosK 10y ago
        If your sensor outputs high when it detects water, use a transistor or MOSFET to pull RST low when water is detected, and send a message. I used that trick to make my emergency food button (a button that orders food when you press it): https://www.stavros.io/posts/emergency-food-button/ https://www.stavros.io/posts/emergency-food-button/ You won't get away with not powering the detector, though, so depending on its power draw it might be moot.

birdmanjeremy 10y ago

I wonder how long the battery lasts? I've been playing with the ESP8266 chips as well, and they're great. Haven't had a chance to hook them up to a battery yet or test more precise power consumption.

StavrosK 10y ago
It depends on the battery, of course. I don't have my kit with me right now, or I'd measure for you, but I think it's about 70 mA connected to a nearby wifi.
gh02t 10y ago
Running all the time you'll drain a 1000 mAh battery in an hour or two, but if you aggressively deep sleep and wake infrequently you can easily get a month. That's about the limit though, you aren't going to be able to do a year or so like you can with other technologies, at least not in a device that reports data at a useful frequency. Wifi is high bandwidth and ubiquitous, but it uses a lot of power. Other options are better if power or long range is your goal.
- jessaustin 10y ago
  ...1000 mAh... I know I'm being silly, but I always giggle when I see it written like this.
  - gh02t 10y ago
    Normally I do to, but in this case there's good reason to talk about thousands of mAh's instead of Ah's, which is that the typical sort of things you'd power with these batteries have current draw in the mA range, so mA's are the natural unit to use. It's like measuring energy in Joules normally versus talking about electron volts for chemistry or mega-/giga-/tera- electron volts for nuclear physics (depending on the flavor).

brudgers 10y ago

Original source for hack: https://www.hackster.io/rayburne/warwalking-a9c021 https://www.hackster.io/rayburne/warwalking-a9c021

xd1936 10y ago

Looks like a neat proof of concept, but what sorts of things could this evolve to as a hobby project? Cracking WEP/WPA on the go?

dogma1138 10y ago
Not really, you have much better hardware for that, one that could actually do hacking (not that many people still use WEP these days since it's not the default anymore on pretty much all routers). There isn't that much use for it, it's very small so people find it cool and spystuff like, it might have some uses like a cheap rogue access point detection system in places where you don't want any wireless networks but beyond that kinda nothing.
h4waii 10y ago
No, the Espressif SDK doesn't include the ability to do packet injection. They are likely going to completely remove the RFMON features if people start "abusing" them.
- lorenzhs 10y ago
  I think there's an old version somewhere that can do some injection, like sending disassociation packages and other nastiness.
  - h4waii 10y ago
    Indeed, for anyone interested => https://github.com/pulkin/esp8266-injection-example/issues/1 https://github.com/pulkin/esp8266-injection-example/issues/1

hanniabu 10y ago

Does anybody know of a low powered chip that's standalone can be used as an addon to the ESP8266,which is capable of sending rf signals in the 60ft range? Basically I'm trying to have a setup with a few low powered devices that can talk to a central device. I figured each one having wifi would be too expensive and power consuming so I was think of sending rf signals to communicate. I'm more than open to ideas since this is my first project of this sort. Please and thank you!

revelation 10y ago
If you're looking for some sort of RF network, you might like the RF212b: http://www.atmel.com/devices/AT86RF212B.aspx http://www.atmel.com/devices/AT86RF212B.aspx which is simply controlled through SPI.
milge 10y ago
These boards are dirt cheap. 2 dollars cheap. It depends if you'll be running these devices from an outlet or battery. The ESPs will do exactly what you want but there's a learning curve. I don't know your experience with all of this, but I recommend picking up an arduino starter kit, some rf shields, a good soldering iron, and misc wires/caps/transistors etc. Play around with that stuff first and it'll be easier to transition into the ESPs.
- StavrosK 10y ago
  Here are my half-written notes, complete with shopping list: https://www.stavros.io/notes/hardware/ https://www.stavros.io/notes/hardware/ I've been meaning to write a "getting started" guide for the ESP but I haven't yet. I don't see why people should get an Arduino. Get a WeMos D1 mini, it does the same things and has WiFi.
  - milge 10y ago
    You're doing way better than I am at the writeups. I suggest the arduino starter kit because it comes with a bunch of other components that are helpful to a beginner besides the arduino.

platz 10y ago

seems like a better fit to transmit output to a mobile phone hotspot instead of an oled output?

nxzero 10y ago

Seems like for a non-GPS tracker that these would be pretty effective based on their footprint.

technofiend 10y ago

It's too bad they don't have GPS but maybe tower location is good enough. It would be cool as anything to have these get cheap enough you could attach one to every runner's bib in the New York City Marathon and watch the resulting data set. I could see both real-time location services (where's my wife on the course?), cheating prevention (why is this tag in the back of a taxi on 8th avenue?) and so on. People would probably pay $5-$10 extra to have that attached to their bib for their family to see. Sure you can accomplish the same using any number of iphone / android tracking apps but they're all battery suckers.

lorenzhs 10y ago
You can get a GPS module on aliexpress for around $6, whereas an ESP8266 is <$2. So it's still very affordable, but GPS is quite a bit more complicated than WiFi and correspondingly more expensive.

blacksmith_tb 10y ago

But the ESP8266 also can be used as the perfect countermeasure against warwalking/driving - it's easy to have one spoof SSIDs, hundreds and hundreds of them: http://ruralhacker.blogspot.pt/2016/01/esp8266-jamming.html http://ruralhacker.blogspot.pt/2016/01/esp8266-jamming.html

yardie 10y ago

Does anyone have a good tutorial to get started? I have a few ESP8266s for a project I'm working on. I have a solar regulator that outputs the load over serial connection. I'd like to do this over wifi so i don't have to run a 50ft serial cable.