141–150 of 151 posts
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Does anyone know what CPU this uses? Is it their own first party design?
Not sure I understand your question, but the ESP32-S3[1] is the "CPU" here.
I'm not sure why you are not sure - S3 was using Cadence's Xtensa 32-bit LX7 dual-core microprocessor, but the article on S31 only mentions "dual core" without too much detail.
Perfect timing. I just started planning to build a DIY smartwatch and was looking into the S3. Having native zigbee support could be nice.
The S3 (and other Espressif chips) are pretty power-hungry. May want to keep looking for a smartwatch application.
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That's half the equation. The other half is the reliability and security of wifi, which is less than that of ethernet for people without physical access to my wall innards
Reliability of wifi is not as good I guess, although these days it is extremely good for decent devices. For poor quality devices, I have also heard of PoE routers blowing ports and devices that don't work properly. Is security of wifi an actual practical concern? I've not heard of it since WPA2. For average residential user, even most hobbyist / enthusiast, I doubt those things will matter. Almost everybody who want…
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Reliability of wifi is not as good I guess, although these days it is extremely good for decent devices. For poor quality devices, I have also heard of PoE routers blowing ports and devices that don't work properly. Is security of wifi an actual practical concern? I've not heard of it since WPA2. For average residential user, even most hobbyist / enthusiast, I doubt those things will matter. Almost everybody who want…
Reliability and security of wifi isn't good when jamming of it is so easy and available. It's a lot harder to jam ethernet at a distance.
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Well, that depends on what you count as a backdoor, but Espressif has had some questionable flaws: - Early (ESP8622) MCUs had weak security, implementation flaws, and a host of issues that meant an attacker could hijack and maintain control of devices via OTA updates. - Their chosen way to implement these systems makes them more vulnerable. They explicitly reduce hardware footprint by moving functionality from hardwa…
Obviously... They are not made for safety critical systems. It's for hobbyists.
They are definitely beyond a hobby device.
They're made well, designed well and the libraries are some of the best in class.
My concern is purely on risk.
What would any responsible state security agency spend to have devices behind every single firewall of an adversary?
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Reliability and security of wifi isn't good when jamming of it is so easy and available. It's a lot harder to jam ethernet at a distance.
Pretty niche requirement for personal user though. Protection against eavesdropping is the main thing required, and PoE is actually much worse for that than WiFi is you have any drops in less secured ares (e.g., outdoor cameras).
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Yes and in some uses cases it works against you. 2.4 is incredibly crowded without adding 802.11 to the mix. My IoT admins would have less complaints if they could take advantage of my small cell 5Ghz spectrum. This isn't 2005 with widely deployed asymmetrical wireless networks.
Can't you just underpower the antenna on a 2.4 radio if you need networks that don't bleed into each other as badly? Unless it's an issue because of the tiny antennas that usually come on microcontrollers.
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The S3 (and other Espressif chips) are pretty power-hungry. May want to keep looking for a smartwatch application.
S3 was just for me to do an initial prototype. Longer term was going to try with the C3, though I'm open to suggestions :)
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Can't you just underpower the antenna on a 2.4 radio if you need networks that don't bleed into each other as badly? Unless it's an issue because of the tiny antennas that usually come on microcontrollers.
True for devices under your control. But think venues with large BYOD counts. Add in that all client devices generally transmit at full power. End result is an environment with not a lot of headroom in the 2.4 space.
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True for devices under your control. But think venues with large BYOD counts. Add in that all client devices generally transmit at full power. End result is an environment with not a lot of headroom in the 2.4 space.
2.4ghz isn't the only problem - even cell towers have problems with large amounts of devices. And "large BYOD" events are not a normal use case for wireless, and even 5GHz will have problems in those situations.