Arduino - WiFi
About Arduino with WiFi
There are many ways to connect Arduino to the Internet using WiFi. Among them, we introduce some ways.
For Arduino UNO, we can use:
- Arduino UNO + ESP8266 (ESP-01 or ESP-05)
※ NOTE THAT:
Arduino WiFi Shield is not mentioned in this post because it is retired.
Some other Arduino boards have built-in WiFi:
The advantages of ESP8266 are that it is a very cheap module and very popular. However, It is not quite easy for beginners to get started. It is in module type, and not breadboard friendly. This makes it untidy when wiring. ESP8266 has some module types. Some modules can be used as a WiFi module for Arduino and/or a programmable module. This makes beginner confuse when getting started.
On the contrary, PHPoC is more expensive than ESP8266. However, It is very easy for beginners to get started. It is in shield type. We just need to stack the shield on Arduino without wiring. Besides, PHPoC comes with many powerful features that not available on ESP8266. For example, built-in web server, built-in web app, Gmail support, RTC support...
If the cost is no matter for you, we recommend using the PHPoC WiFi shield.
If you need to save costs, ESP8266 is the best choice.
Tutorials for Each Shield
- How to use Arduino with ESP8266(coming soon)
More about ESP8266
- ESP8266 ESP-05: can be used as a WiFi module only.
- ESP8266 ESP-01: can be used as a WiFi module. It can also be used as a programmable module.
- Other ESP8266: can be used as a programmable module only.
When ESP8266 is used as a programmable module, You can directly program for it without Arduino.
