Ethernet instead of WiFi

[chrskly]

On the back of a conversation around the flakiness of WiFi I did a little experiment to see if there was a simple way to add ethernet to an OI board. Turns out there is!

Olimex do an esp32 board which includes an ethernet port.

@0xBedz has already implemented an esp32 version of the firmware. I took this, added a couple of tiny tweaks to enable ethernet and it appears to be working.

Code is over in Github here.

I started writing up some info in the wiki here.

This is also good for paranoid people like me who don't want their car accessible over WiFi

To do

1. See what the power consumption of the board is to see if it can reasonably powered by the OI board.
2. Right now, the ethernet port comes up as a DHCP client. I'll see if there is a simple way to have the board act as a DHCP server. This might be a more intuitive way for people to use it. I.e., plug in laptop, laptop acts as DHCP client, gets IP from esp32 board.
3. It has a few serial ports. I'd like to use one of these modules in my two-brain, dual-motor Prius board so I can access both brains easily at the same time. This might necessitate extending the web interface so it knows how to deal with more than one serial port.
4. I have a WT32-ETH01 board on its way to me as well. I'll see if I can get this one working too. It's a bit smaller, so might be handier.

[Bratitude]

This is awesome, perfect for my raspberry Pi dash display

[johu]

Pure awesomeness There are also double sided Ethernet sockets to pass the signal through the enclosure

[slociviccoupe]

Any reason no high speed usb?

[johu]

USB quickly conks out when inverter generates EMI.

[espriev]

I would really like to do this, much more along the lines of what I am used to with systems like MS2, but I am illiterate when it comes to Ethernet protocol.
Would you consider providing some "idiots guide" instruction on installing and implementing this?
I would be happy to contribute funds to the forum in gratitude!

[chrskly]

I would really like to do this, much more along the lines of what I am used to with systems like MS2, but I am illiterate when it comes to Ethernet protocol.
Would you consider providing some "idiots guide" instruction on installing and implementing this?
I would be happy to contribute funds to the forum in gratitude!

There's not much to it...

1. Use platformio to build and upload the firmware to the esp32.
2. Connect the serial port on the esp32 to the OI board.
3. Power the esp32 from the OI board or another power supply. Either way, you'll need to be sure the esp32 gnd connects to the OI board gnd.
4. Use a normal cat5 cable to connect the esp32 to your laptop/desktop. The laptop/desktop will need to be configured as a DHCP client - this is usually the default. The esp32 will act as a DHCP server. I.e. the esp32 hands out IP addresses to other systems. If you want to connect multiple esp32 together in a network, you'll need to modify the code a bit so that only one of them acts as a DHCP server and the others act as clients. If you have multiple DHCP servers on the same network, things can get wonky. You would also need an ethernet hub/switch to make the connections.

[kevcouk]

Hello

I'm trying to get this working using a WT32-ETH01

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iHaospace-WT32 ... B095HJ1TJC

I'm trying to get the ethernet to act as a DHCP server, any pointers/help would be greatly appreciated.

[chrskly]

Hello

I'm trying to get this working using a WT32-ETH01

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iHaospace-WT32 ... B095HJ1TJC

I'm trying to get the ethernet to act as a DHCP server, any pointers/help would be greatly appreciated.

What have you tried?