NodeMCU Wifi Configuration

Pradeep Singh | 1st April 2016

ESP8266 with NodeMCU Firmware can be configured as an Access Point, Wifi Client (Host / Station) or both as Client and AP at the same time. It has capability work with 802.11b, 802.11b and 802.11n networks. In this article we will check some of the WiFi configuration methods with sample code.

WiFi Device Mode:

We can configure the role (Client, AP or Both)of ESP8266 Wifi chip from any of following options –

1. wifi.STATION
2. wifi.SOFTAP
3. wifi.STATIONAP

We can configure NodeMCU for role using “wifi.setmode()”. Following is an example to configure the module as WiFi Endpoint –

wifi.setmode(wifi.STATION)

WiFi Signal Standard:

The WiFi networking standard (802.11b, g or n) can be configured from any of the following options –

1. wifi.PHYMODE_B
2. wifi.PHYMODE_G
3. wifi.PHYMODE_N

We can configure NodeMCU to work with any of these WiFi Standards using “wifi.setphymode()”. Following is an example to configure module with 802.11n –

wifi.setphymode(wifi.PHYMODE_N)

Config Validation:

You can check WiFi Module related configuration using following methods –

print(wifi.getmode())
print(wifi.getphymode())
print(wifi.getchannel())

You can check WiFi Station related configuration using following methods –

print(wifi.sta.getmac())
print(wifi.sta.getip())

You can check WiFi SoftAP related configuration using following methods –

print(wifi.ap.getmac())
print(wifi.ap.getip())
print(wifi.ap.getbroadcast())

--- This block will print list of all the Clients connected to AP ---
for mac,ip in pairs(wifi.ap.getclient()) do
    print(mac,ip)
end

 

Sample Code to List All Available Access Points:

---

Following is an example to list all available WiFi Networks (GitHub Link for Code File)-

-----------------------------------------------
--- Set Variables ---
-----------------------------------------------
--- AP Search Params ---
ap_list_cfg={}
--- Enter SSID, use nil to list all SSIDs ---
ap_list_cfg.ssid=nil
--- Enter BSSID, use nil to list all SSIDs ---
ap_list_cfg.bssid=nil
--- Enter Channel ID, use 0 to list all channels ---
ap_list_cfg.channel=0
--- Use 0 to skip hidden networks, use 1 to list them ---
ap_list_cfg.show_hidden=1

--- AP Table Format ---
--- 1 for Output table format - (BSSID : SSID, RSSI, AUTHMODE, CHANNEL)
--- 0 for Output table format - (SSID : AUTHMODE, RSSI, BSSID, CHANNEL)
ap_list_table_format = 1

-----------------------------------------------

--- Print Output ---
function print_AP_List(ap_table)
 for p,q in pairs(ap_table) do
 print(p.." : "..q)
 end
end

--- Call Get AP Method ---
wifi.sta.getap(ap_list_cfg,ap_list_table_format, print_AP_List)
-----------------------------------------------

 

Sample Code to Configure NodeMCU as WiFi Client:

---

Following is an example to connect NodeMCU to existing WiFi Network (GitHub Link for Code File)-

-----------------------------------------------
--- Set Variables ---
-----------------------------------------------
--- WIFI CONFIGURATION ---
WIFI_SSID = "yourSSID"
WIFI_PASSWORD = "yourPassword"
WIFI_SIGNAL_MODE = wifi.PHYMODE_N

--- IP CONFIG (Leave blank to use DHCP) ---
ESP8266_IP=""
ESP8266_NETMASK=""
ESP8266_GATEWAY=""
-----------------------------------------------

--- Connect to the wifi network ---
wifi.setmode(wifi.STATION) 
wifi.setphymode(WIFI_SIGNAL_MODE)
wifi.sta.config(WIFI_SSID, WIFI_PASSWORD) 
wifi.sta.connect()

if ESP8266_IP ~= "" then
 wifi.sta.setip({ip=ESP8266_IP,netmask=ESP8266_NETMASK,gateway=ESP8266_GATEWAY})
end
-----------------------------------------------

--- Check the IP Address ---
print(wifi.sta.getip())

Sample Code to Configure NodeMCU as WiFi Access Point:

---

Following is an example to to use NodeMCU as an AP (GitHub Link for Code File)-

---------------------------------------
--- Set Variables ---
---------------------------------------
--- Set AP Configuration Variables ---
AP_CFG={}
--- SSID: 1-32 chars
AP_CFG.ssid="pradeep"
--- Password: 8-64 chars. Minimum 8 Chars
AP_CFG.pwd="wifipassword"
--- Authentication: AUTH_OPEN, AUTH_WPA_PSK, AUTH_WPA2_PSK, AUTH_WPA_WPA2_PSK
AP_CFG.auth=AUTH_OPEN
--- Channel: Range 1-14
AP_CFG.channel = 6
--- Hidden Network? True: 1, False: 0
AP_CFG.hidden = 0
--- Max Connections: Range 1-4
AP_CFG.max=4
--- WiFi Beacon: Range 100-60000
AP_CFG.beacon=100

--- Set AP IP Configuration Variables ---
AP_IP_CFG={}
AP_IP_CFG.ip="192.168.10.1"
AP_IP_CFG.netmask="255.255.255.0"
AP_IP_CFG.gateway="192.168.10.1"

--- Set AP DHCP Configuration Variables ---
--- There is no support for defining last DHCP IP ---
AP_DHCP_CFG ={}
AP_DHCP_CFG.start = "192.168.10.2"
---------------------------------------

--- Configure ESP8266 into AP Mode ---
wifi.setmode(wifi.SOFTAP)
--- Configure 802.11n Standard ---
wifi.setphymode(wifi.PHYMODE_N)

--- Configure WiFi Network Settings ---
wifi.ap.config(AP_CFG)
--- Configure AP IP Address ---
wifi.ap.setip(AP_IP_CFG)

--- Configure DHCP Service ---
wifi.ap.dhcp.config(AP_DHCP_CFG)
--- Start DHCP Service ---
wifi.ap.dhcp.start()
---------------------------------------

Sample Code to Configure NodeMCU in Hybrid Mode (AP + Client):

---

Following is an example to to use NodeMCU in Hybrid Mode  (GitHub Link for Code File)-

-----------------------------------------------
--- Set Variables ---
-----------------------------------------------
--- Set Client Configuration Variables ---

WIFI_SSID = "yourssid"
WIFI_PASSWORD = "yourpassword"

--- IP CONFIG (Leave blank to use DHCP) ---
ESP8266_IP=""
ESP8266_NETMASK=""
ESP8266_GATEWAY=""
-----------------------------------------------
--- Set AP Configuration Variables ---

AP_CFG={}
--- SSID: 1-32 chars
AP_CFG.ssid="pradeep"
--- Password: 8-64 chars. Minimum 8 Chars
AP_CFG.pwd="wifipassword"
--- Authentication: AUTH_OPEN, AUTH_WPA_PSK, AUTH_WPA2_PSK, AUTH_WPA_WPA2_PSK
AP_CFG.auth=AUTH_OPEN
--- Channel: 1-14
AP_CFG.channel = 6
--- Hidden Network? True: 1, False: 0
AP_CFG.hidden = 0
--- Max Connections 1-4
AP_CFG.max=4
--- WiFi Beacon 100-60000
AP_CFG.beacon=100

--- Set AP IP Configuration Variables ---
AP_IP_CFG={}
AP_IP_CFG.ip="192.168.10.1"
AP_IP_CFG.netmask="255.255.255.0"
AP_IP_CFG.gateway="192.168.10.1"

--- Set AP DHCP Configuration Variables ---
--- There is no support for defining last DHCP IP
AP_DHCP_CFG ={}
AP_DHCP_CFG.start = "192.168.10.2"
---------------------------------------

--- Configure ESP8266 into Hybrid Mode (AP and Client Mode) ---
wifi.setmode(wifi.STATIONAP)
--- Configure 802.11n Standard ---
wifi.setphymode(wifi.PHYMODE_N)

-----------------------------------------------
--- WiFi Client Setup ---

--- Configure Client with Router SSID and Password ---
wifi.sta.config(WIFI_SSID, WIFI_PASSWORD) 
wifi.sta.connect()

--- Configure Static IP (If Available) ---
if ESP8266_IP ~= "" then
 wifi.sta.setip({ip=ESP8266_IP,netmask=ESP8266_NETMASK,gateway=ESP8266_GATEWAY})
end

-----------------------------------------------
--- WiFi Access Point Setup ---

--- Configure WiFi Network Settings ---
wifi.ap.config(AP_CFG)
--- Configure AP IP Address ---
wifi.ap.setip(AP_IP_CFG)

--- Configure DHCP Service ---
wifi.ap.dhcp.config(AP_DHCP_CFG)
--- Start DHCP Service ---
wifi.ap.dhcp.start()
---------------------------------------