[Question] ESP32 WROOM 32U devkit suitable replacement

[JMVS]

Hello. First of all let me tell you I've been looking for something like for looong time! Thanks for sharing.
I'm not well versed in ESP32 (never owned one) and I would like to know if you can recommend a replacement for it as I don't seem to find it in Argentina.

The closest things I was able to find is this: https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-1148515879-modulo-esp32u-wroom-32u-wifi-bluetooth-ble-dual-core-_JM

But I don't know how I would program it.

There are many like this:

But they seem to be missing the external WiFi antenna connector.

I know my way around RPis and some Arduino but as I mentioned before, I never owned an ESP32 to make an informed decision. If you could help me out, it would be appreciated.

[gregmac]

@JMVS that's the same module I used, other than the chip antenna instead of external. Whether it will work or not is a factor of wifi signal strength in your situation. Metal, brick, concrete all seriously reduce or even block the signal -- the generator is metal and my house is brick.

Pretty much any esphome-compatible device is likely to work, so long as you can power it with 5V and the UART bus pins are exposed.

Side note: I initially was trying to use an ESP8266 board, but found it was very unreliable when powered via 5V pin, and required 2-3 power cycles before it would boot. Apparently this is a notorious and well known problem with these, caused by a cheap power regulator. The one I had used a chip antenna. When the generator panel or lid was open it worked but had a pretty weak signal (my house is brick). As soon as I closed the generator, the device dropped offline. Those two things are why I went to ESP32 and external antenna.

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For programming, the script (really, YAML file) I have in this repository is for esphome.io which provides the code framework, base functionality and the tools to write to the hardware. Maybe useful:

• Getting Started with the ESPHome Command Line
• Getting Started with ESPHome and Home Assistant