Networking for Espressif

Expressif Networking Modes Explained
Espressif SoC devices ESP32 and ESP8266 can use a few WiFi network modes (applies to layers 1–3 in ISO-OSI model). ESP8266 or ESP32 SoC can act as an Access Point (AP) - a device to connect to like connecting a notebook to the Internet router, and as a client - ESP then behaves like any WiFi-enabled device, e.g. tablet or mobile phone, connecting to the Internet infrastructure. Interestingly, Espressif SoCs can act simultaneously in both modes simultaneously, even if they have only one WiFi interface! Espressif SoCs can operate in the following modes:

• as WiFi client connected to WiFi router (figure 1),

• as independent WiFi access point (figure 2),

• as a repeater with devices connected to ESP and ESP connected to an external router (figure 3),

• as client and server in mesh network (figure 4).