The ESP8266 is dirt cheap. You don't need me to tell you that. It is much cheaper than a comparable xbee or zigbee radio. But I want to know if two of them could be used in a p2p mode(WiFi Direct possibly?) To directly communicate to each other. I want to be able to send plain text from one to the other and vica versa. Not files. Text. Has anyone done this before? If it cannot be done with two, Could a third one be setup in a Access Point mode to act as a middleman between the two radios? I have looked through the documentation but am having trouble understanding it.
Not sure about using the ESP the way you described (i.e. no clue if they can be rigged the way you described), but if what you need is only direct communication between Arduinos I think you might be on an easier ride using Nrf24L01. I set up a wireless remote control for my home air conditioning system using a pair of those and Arduinos.
The below forum may have info.
http://www.esp8266.com/viewforum.php?f=11&sid=df3e37a6c0303851cab8879b4bcc4d08
configure #1 as a access point
configure #2 to access #1
then normal communication between the two should work
warning- so far it does not seem possible to use encryption
this is a bit more complicated than using eg nRF24l01+ or the likes, and also uses a lot more power.
but it is possible
depends a lot on what exactly you want to do
FigZ:
configure #1 as a access point
configure #2 to access #1
then normal communication between the two should work
Did this work for ryan27968?