Wifi modules

jim N8RHQ

About a year ago there was quite a bit of interest in wifi modules. Since the Parallax effort has been
shelved, has anyone moved on? Tried someone else's wifi? I would like to poll the forum for it's
experience and recomendations for 802.111bgn. I know there are lots of wireless systems out there,
but I have a project in mind using existing open wifi networks. Anyone care to share?

jim

tonyp12

This is kind of new, needs a pretty powerful mcu to pair it with and I think the prop would be a good match.
http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/Devices.aspx?dDocName=en548014
$12.50/each at 5k units.

Don M

Here's another that already has TCP/IP stack incorporated. http://rovingnetworks.com/products/Wi_Fi_Products

Leon

tonyp12 wrote: »

This is kind of new, needs a pretty powerful mcu to pair it with and I think the prop would be a good match.
http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/Devices.aspx?dDocName=en548014
$12.50/each at 5k units.

I've got a couple of the Microchip PICtail boards that use those modules:

http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=en549227

They are intended to plug straight into Microchip boards like the Explorer 16, but could be used with a Propeller board. Propeller software might be a problem, though; Microchip provides software for use with their chips.

Mike Green

I've been able to use the RovingNetworks WiFly RN-XV module with a Propeller and a Stamp. I can open a Telnet connection between my iPhone or iPad running MochaSoft's Mocha Telnet Lite and the RN-XV module which can drop into an xBee socket like on Parallax's xBee adapter boards or the Prop BOE.

RobotWorkshop

There was also some talk of using the WiFi modules in the XBee footprint:

http://www.digi.com/products/wireless-wired-embedded-solutions/zigbee-rf-modules/point-multipoint-rfmodules/xbee-wi-fi#overview

I would expect that these could work with the Parallax XBee adapter boards. I'm not sure if anyone here has tried them yet.

Robert

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

I tested the Digi WiFi modules. They seemed adequate for transparent comms (i.e. cable eliminator), but they were not designed for the stuff we really want to do (e.g. hosting webpages and such). They have a much higher current requirement than the XBees and require very heavy capacitive filtering on Vdd due to current surges during transmission. Even though they are nominally plug-compatible with the XBees, not all adapters will be able to power them properly without modification. My sense is that, due to their functional limitations, Parallax has decided not to provide the necessary power augmentation and filtering for them in their adapters.

-Phil