Problem with ESP8266 and NRF24L01

Projects Networking, Protocols, and Devices
1

Hello,

I'm working on a smart home network with NRF24L01 Modules. So far all nodes are working fine with my temporary control hub using a Arduino Nano.

Now I wanted to make everything work through wifi or with my Amazon Echo. To do this I'm using a ESP8266 12E. The communication with the webserver is working fine, but with the NRF24L01 Module connected to it, there are some strange problems:
Sometimes everything works correctly and my receivers on the other end get the messages. But sometimes, with no change in Code or on the Hardware, the transmisson stops working. I didn't even reset the board. In other cases, even the ESP8266 crashes and restarts. Through the Serial Monitor in found out, that the radio.write() function even returns true, so the ESP thinks it's sent.

I've read of other people, who have also problems with ESP8266 and NRF24L01 and I also changed some things they suggested. But I had no success.
The strange thing is, that it sometimes works, so neither wiring nor the modules are broken.

My final connections are:
GND - GND
VCC - VCC
CE - GPIO2
CSN - GPIO15
SCK - GPIO14
MOSI - GPIO13
MISO - GPIO12
IRQ - not connected
GND - 4.7kOhm - GPIO15
47uF Capacitor between VCC and GND

I also successfully tested the NRF board with my Arduino Nano, which works fine.

So in the end I have no idea, what the problem could be.

I would be really appreciate if someone could help me finding the problem.

Thank you very much!

2

You do know that the ESP8266 12E is more powerful than the Arduino Nano.
You may want to look into using the ESP8266 12E with the NRF board and eliminate the Arduino Nano altogether.

The following may be useful:
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=444832.0

3

You may need to try different channels on the nRF24 in case its wireless and the ESP8266 WiFi are interfering with each other. I would try to keep the two antennas as far apart as possible.

...R

4

Thank you for your replys!

I now tried different channels and also using longer cables, to get the two board away from each other, but nothing worked.

I also tried several other examples sketches and also I tested around with my owm code. The stange thing is, that it even thinks the message was send, when no writingpipe was opened or when I change the adresses to completly different, unused ones.

Do you have any other idea what my problem could be?

5

I have never tried to use an nRf24 with an ESP8266 as the microprocessor.

...R