Terminology proposal: introduce OTIP (Over-The-IP) as a broader term encompassing OTA

[Velnius]

Describe the improvement

Hi ESPHome team 👋

While working on an ESP32-POE-ISO-WROVER device as a Bluetooth Proxy, I noticed something conceptually unclear — both in the docs and in common usage — about the term "OTA" (Over-The-Air).

Technically, "OTA" implies wireless transmission (typically over Wi-Fi). However, ESPHome supports firmware updates over Ethernet, which is not "over the air" — it's just over IP.

So the term "OTA" becomes slightly misleading in modern use cases where:

• Devices connect only via Ethernet (e.g. Olimex ESP32-POE series),
• IP connectivity comes through other means (LTE, Thread, etc.),
• There is no wireless "air" transmission involved.

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💡 Proposal

Introduce or acknowledge a broader conceptual term:

OTIP — Over-The-IP

This would represent all firmware updates done over a TCP/IP network (regardless of the physical transport). Then:

OTA becomes a specific case of OTIP, where the transport happens to be Wi-Fi.

This parallels physics concepts where:

Classical Newtonian physics is a special case of relativistic physics when v ≪ c.

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✅ Benefits

• Clarifies that ESPHome OTA works perfectly over Ethernet.
• Helps new users understand that Wi-Fi is not a requirement.
• Future-proofs documentation for upcoming protocols (e.g. Thread over IP, Matter).
• Allows educational content to explain update mechanisms more accurately.

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🙏 I'm not suggesting renaming YAML keys, APIs, or breaking anything.

Just offering this as a potential improvement to the documentation and general terminology. It could help distinguish between "OTA over Wi-Fi" and "OTIP over Ethernet" in educational materials or FAQs.

Thanks for reading! Would love to hear your thoughts.
– Velnius

Anything else?

No response

[Spamfast]

I see your point. But OTA update is common usage these days in the embedded device industry (in which I work) and it is generally taken as read that it covers wired as well as wireless networks.

After all, most wired networks use Ethernet which travels over copper wire or optical fibre rather than the luminiferous æther but we don't get confused about that. :-)