I am struggling to connect a ESP32-S3 (on an Arduino Nano) to a RUTX50-provided Wifi network. The two devices start the authentication handshake but are not able to complete it. Logfiles indicate at the ESP at some point not responding (in time?). Configuration / Things tried:
Network is 2.4 GHz only
WPA2 AES (only, not 2/3 mixed)
Bandwidth 20 MHz
Beacon interval 100
DTIM interval 1
Disassociate on low acknowledgement: off
The ESP has also been tested to connect to an iPhone hotspot with exactly same configuration.
We need go connect more than 25 of these ESP devices so giving up is not an option, and I also prefer to not establish a separate hotspot infrastructure.
I’ve been informed that ESP32’s have a very fragile WiFi antenna cable (they are very small/flimsy), which might come broken from the factory.
For reference, a colleague of mine has ordered 4 x ESP32-S3s, and only 1 came with a good WiFi antenna, which allowed them to connect it to the RUTX10 device, placed around 3 meters away (and this is considered a good outcome).
The other 3 units, most of the time, fail to connect while being nearby 0.5 meters away from the router, and their antenna cable must be slightly moved/tweaked around in order for the ESP to successfully connect to the router.
When ESP fails to connect to WiFi due to its bad antenna, visible logs indicate that there are initial steps for WiFi connection, but “handshare” fails to proceed.
Steps for you to try:
a) slightly adjusting ESP32-S3 antenna cable, periodically checking if it is connected to RUTX50’s WiFi AP (periodic reboots of ESP32-S3 might be needed, since after some time, nothing happen no matter if the antenna is moved. I.e. reboot is needed to re-initiate the process) b) try placing the ESP device closer to the router (at least for testing purposes), since that might increase chances for a better connection. c) try using another unit (from your 25 device collection) and try to connect it to RUTX50 device, hoping that it would connect.