Why Did I Pick Wi-Fi over ESPNow?

Previously, I mentioned how the contact  sensor doesn't necessarily need a hub   to function. So today, let's explore that option! I covered the contact sensor in great detail  previously. but for a quick refresher,   the sensor uses very little power just a few  microamps one in low power mode allowing it to   stay in sleep mode for years using a small  LiPo battery once it is activated or when a   door is opened it wakes up and sends out a new  status update to make it very energy efficient   the time it spends a week is minimized by using  a protocol called ESP now to send the status   updates to a hub this keeps the awake time in  microseconds range The Hub is powered on from the   wall connected to Wi-Fi and is always listening  to the ESP now messages now that you are up to   speed let's explore an alternative in which we  bypass the Hub and connect directly to the Wi-Fi   the trade-off of using Wi-Fi is longer wake up  time but that's not always a bad thing as you   know Wi-Fi requires a connection to be established  before updates are sent and that takes multiple   seconds for comparison here is the same exact  sensor sending data over ESP now to the hub versus   sending it directly to the router over Wi-Fi well  you might be wondering why even bother with the   Wi-Fi variant when the Hub route is better all  around while first flexibility and second not   every scenario requires extreme speeds and optimal  power consumptions this is explained easier   using examples so here are some first we use on a  garage door opener the door itself takes around 10   seconds to open so instant reaction is not really  needed my home automation system gets the update   in time from the sensor and turns on the light way  before the garage door is fully opened I also have   the Wi-Fi access point in the garage so I don't  have to worry about the ESP now Hub range another   example of a trigger that doesn't require instant  action is the doorbell when someone Rings my door   I get a notification on my phone within seconds  which is more than adequate in this scenario   another advantage of the Wi-Fi variant is having  direct access to local and Wi-Fi services for   example I can bypass my home automation entirely  and send notifications directly to my phone using   a third-party service like telegram so anything  that can be coded can be performed whether it is   sending emails logging the action publishing  to mqtt consuming an API anything really   implementing this in the sensor itself is pretty  simple it all starts with this skeleton code   and now today's video sponsor PCB way I have  been using PCB way for years and they are my   go-to manufacturer for all my prototypes I've been  averaging a week from the time I place an order to   the time I have them in my hands I'm very happy  with the quality so far and ordering pcbs have   come a long way especially for hobbyists so I  encourage you to give them a visit I will put   a link to their site down below now back to the  sensor when the sensor wakes up it connects to   the Wi-Fi performs whatever it needs to do then  at the end it puts itself in deep Sleep using   this line This signals the ldo to shut down this  block of code here in the middle is what changes   from one application to another in the garage door  I published so an mqtt topic and in the doorbell I   use the telegram API and this really all it takes  to use the contact or temperature sensor directly   with Wi-Fi bypass pressing the Hub another bonus  for not using a hub is minimizing it as a single   point of failure if my hub goes down it takes me a  while to realize that but when my Wi-Fi goes down   I almost notice immediately as you can see there  are many scenarios when using Wi-Fi directly over   ESP now makes sense and it never hurts to have  options now let me ask you something I am looking   to give the sensor a name I was thinking Windsor  it's a play on wireless and sensor what do you   think do you like it do you have a recommendation  for me let me know what you think in the comment   section below the sensor is available on my  store so that's it for me thank you for watching

Channel: MrDIY

Views: 18,495

Keywords: DIY, MrDIY, ESPNow, wifi, hub, esp8266, diy, ESPNow door sensor, window sensor, arduino door sensor, arduino espnow

Id: Zd3YB8cI5dA

Length: 4min 52sec (292 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 09 2022