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[on:]

Has anyone made a project with 2 or more "WiFly's"?  I want to connect them to my Arduino UNO and have them do something cool...  I have the pinout documentation but I am looking for more of a step by step guide/website that will outline the projects (newbie .   Thanks in advance!!

[Reply #1 on:]

You might have to specify what you mean by WiFly.

If you're talking about the RN-XV (WiFly in XBee form factor), you probably won't be successful. These modules are quite picky about the serial interface, so you can communicate with them only over the hardware serial with reasonable speeds (highest speed I got reasonable results was 4800). Because the UNO has only one hardware serial, you'll be in trouble. Why do you wanna connect two WiFlys to one Arduino? How does that make sense? Would a Mega2560 be a possible alternative (4 hardware serials)?

[Reply #2 on:]

You can go much faster than 4800.  They work with SoftwareSerial.

[Reply #3 on:]

The Wifly model I have is made by Roving Networks RN-111B.  I just wanted to do something cool over a wireless network with them.  The way they came was connected to a Primex board and were used as temperature sensors.  If I could just connect one as is (connected to the Primex board and setup as a temp sensor) to my Arduino board and retrieve temp readings of my house I would be very happy.  Please advise on where to start.

Thanks!

[Reply #4 on:]

pylon:

(highest speed I got reasonable results was 4800).

Were you using SoftSerial here, or the main hardware UART, to talk to the RN-XV?
If using SoftSerial, the baudrate problem may be there, and not in the RN-XV. Despite
what sbright said, I've never had good luck with SoftSerial myself.

[Reply #5 on:]

I haven't used anything as of yet.  I'm a newbie just trying to get started in this world.  Any direction you can point me in to set up these wireless modules would be very much appreciated!!

[Reply #6 on:]

You are correct that SoftSerial is not as fast or reliable as the hardware UART, but both go faster than 4800 with many devices.  It really depends on the hardware device you connect to.  I have gotten 500K+ baud with XBee and UART.

@welshsc-  The wiring is trivial with my Wifly board and Uno.  Just 4 wires I think?  Pwr, Gnd, serial I/O x2.  Make sure you use the correct voltage for power.  I don't have anything in front of me now to look.  Try to find some example code to test your hardware first?  It's easier if your Router is open security to test this.

[Reply #7 on:]

The other thing is be careful with RN-XV and most XBee modules. They all take 3.3V
power, and 5V will kill them. Also, for the data lines, RN-XV datasheet says,

Rx Pin (3.3VDC ONLY)
CTS Pin (3.3VDC ONLY)\

Note that some XBee shields do not have 5V to 3.3V level-shifters.

[Reply #8 on:]

@OP: You haven't told us yet, why you think you need more than one WiFly. Maybe there's another solution to your problem than connecting two WiFlys.