Internet of Things with ESP8266

Hardware requirements

Let's now take a look at the things we need to make the ESP8266 chip work. It is usually, but incorrectly, assumed that you just need this little chip and nothing else to make it work, but we are going to see that it is not true.

First, you will need some way to program the ESP8266. You can use an Arduino board for that, but for me the really great thing about the ESP8266 is that it can function completely autonomously, using the onboard processor.

So to program the chip, I will use a USB FTDI programmer.

Note

Note that it has to be compatible with the logic level of the ESP8266 chip, so 3.3V.

I have used a module that can be switched between 3.3V and 5V:

You will also need a dedicated power supply to power the chip. This is a ...