Create hidden network with EspruinoWifi

[espruino-discuss]

Posted at 2018-12-28 by georgemandis

Hi everybody,

Based on the documentation and what I can see in the GitHub repository it looks like I should be able to create a hidden wireless network, but in practice it never seems to work? I'm using the EspruinoWiFi with firmware version 2.0.

According the documentation here it looks like I should be able to pass hidden: 1 as an option to create a hidden network. My code looks like this:

const wifi = require("Wifi");

wifi.startAP("My Secret Network", {
    "authMode": "open",
    "password": "12345678",
    "hidden": 1
}, (err) => {
    console.log(err);
});

It uploads fine and the network is created, but I'm able to see it from literally every device I own (iPhone, Android phone, tablets, macOS laptops, Windows...).

Am I doing something wrong? Or do I have an incorrect assumption surrounding how this is supposed to work? I've tried replacing hidden: 1 with hidden: true and hidden: "1" but none of that seems to make a difference.

[espruino-discuss]

Posted at 2018-12-28 by @MaBecker

Hi @georgemandis

Am I doing something wrong? Or do I have an incorrect assumption surrounding how this is supposed to work? I've tried replacing hidden: 1 with hidden: true and hidden: "1" but none of that seems to make a difference.

No, this feature is waiting for a volunteer helper to be implemented.
It is missing for the Wifi module used by "ESP8266 connected to an Espruino board"

If you like take a look at the source code https://github.com/espruino/EspruinoDocs/blob/master/devices/EspruinoWiFi.js

I am not sure if this feature is available for the used AT command set. If you like, take a look at the source code and check the espressif documentation.

Edit: updated the link

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Posted at 2018-12-28 by georgemandis

Thanks! I've looked into it a little and found this entry on the Espressif forums that seems promising:

https://bbs.espressif.com/viewtopic.php?t=2458

I have a hunch of where to make changers to ESP8266WiFi.js. However, the solution to this person in the Espressif forum's problem was to update the AT firmware.

Is there a way to find out what AT version is running on the EspruinoWifi? And is it possible to upgrade it if needed?

I'm a little new to dabbling with my Espruino in this way, so please bear with me if my questioning is a little off :)

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Posted at 2018-12-29 by @MaBecker

Sorry named the wrong module, edit post #2

Try this snippet to find the AT version on the espressif board:

var WIFI_SERIAL = Serial2;
WIFI_SERIAL.setup(115200, { rx: A3, tx : A2});
at = require("AT").connect(WIFI_SERIAL);

//at.debug();

at.cmd("AT+GMR\r\n", 1000, function cb(d) {
      console.log(d);
});

The one on my desks response

AT version:0.40.0.0(Aug  8 2015 14:45:58)

Sorry hidden AP it is not supported in 0v40.

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Posted at 2018-12-30 by georgemandis

Thanks MaBe! Got it working and, alas, mine is running the same the same version (0.4.0).

I imagine getting an updated version of AT into the Espruino firmware is a process, but would you be able to point me in the right direction if I wanted to explore making that kind of contribution to the project?

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Posted at 2019-01-07 by @gfwilliams

It's a shame the v40 firmware doesn't support it. I believe that is the firmware built into all Espruino WiFi boards.

You should be able to update the firmware using the code at http://www.espruino.com/ESP8266#use-espruino

(The pins you need are in https://github.com/espruino/EspruinoDocs/blob/master/devices/EspruinoWiFi.js#L1)

but it's a slow old process as you have to use Espruino as a USB-Serial bridge. You can read out the firmware first which gives you a good way of detecting if what you're doing is working without risking bricking anything :)

You could actually just use a separate USB-TTL converter and stick it into the correct holes in the ESP8266 and do it that way though?

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Posted at 2019-01-07 by georgemandis

Thanks Gordon! I'll bookmark this for the weekend, give it a shot and let you know how it goes.

Do you think future versions of the EspruinoWifi will or could ship with an updated version of AT? I'm just curious. I wanted to write a little tutorial about setting up a hidden wifi network using the EspruinoWifi before I realized this feature wasn't baked into the firmware. I don't mind going through the update process because it's interesting and not something I've done with the Espruino yet, but am realizing it would be a lot of extra steps in my tutorial :)

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Posted at 2019-01-07 by @MaBecker

It's a shame the v40 firmware doesn't support it. I believe that is the firmware built into all Espruino WiFi boards.

Yes result of post #4 comes from a Espruino Wifi board

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Posted at 2019-01-08 by @gfwilliams

Yes, hopefully newer Espruino WiFis will ship with new AT firmwares - but I still have quite a lot of the current revision in stock so I don't really see that happening for at least a year I'm afraid.

There had been some talk about adding a JS based ESP8266 flasher to the Web IDE - in that case I'd be able to add some code to make it work transparently through the Espruino WiFi to make updates nice and easy. Unfortunately at the moment I think that's probably a way off as well though as there was surprisingly little interest.