RAKwireless RAK11160 is a new low-cost, low-power LoRaWAN, WiFi 4, and Bluetooth LE module based on ESP32-C2 (ESP8684) wireless microcontroller and STM32WLE5 LoRa SoC for LPWAN IoT applications.
The company noticed that many people would combine their STMicro STM32WL-based RAK3172 WisDuo LoRaWAN module with an ESP32 module to add WiFi and/or Bluetooth connectivity to their projects besides LoRaWAN. So RAKwireless decided to offer a module combining both STM32WL and ESP32-C2 to offer a cheap and much more compact solution to their customers. RAK1160 was born.
RAwireless RAK11160 specifications:
- LPWAN SoC/SiP – STMicro STM32WLE5
- Core – Arm Cortex-M4 MCU @ 48 MHz
- Memory – 64 KB RAM
- Storage – 256 KB flash memory with ECC
- Wireless – Sub-GHz radio based on Semtech SX126x
- LoRaWAN 1.0.4 specification compliant
- Supported bands – EU433, CN470, IN865, EU868, AU915, US915, KR920, RU864, and AS923
- LoRaWAN Activation by OTAA/ABP
- LoRa Point-to-Point (P2P) communication
- Tx Power Output – up to +22 dBm
- Rx Sensitivity – -134 dBm for LoRa (BW = 125 kHz, SF = 12)
- Range – Up to 10 km with optimized antenna
- TCXO Crystal
- WiFi and Bluetooth SoC/SiP – ESP32-C2 (ESP8684H2)
- CPU – 32-bit RISC-V processor up to 120 MHz; 305.42 CoreMark; 2.55 CoreMark/MHz
- Memory – 272 KB SRAM (16 KB for cache)
- Storage – 576 KB ROM, 2MB flash (SiP)
- Wireless
- 802.11 b/g/n-compliant WiFi 4 1T1R
- Up to 72.2 Mbps link rate
- Support for 20 MHz bandwidth
- Station mode, SoftAP mode, Station + SoftAP mode
- Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM)
- Antenna diversity
- Bluetooth 5.3 LE
- Up to 20 dBm power
- 125 Kbps, 500 Kbps, 1 Mbps, and 2 Mbps data rates supported
- 802.11 b/g/n-compliant WiFi 4 1T1R
- Host interface – UART with AT Command Set via UART interface
- Other I/Os – SPI, I2C, ADC, GPIO
- Antenna – 2x IPEX connectors for LoRa and WiFi/Bluetooth antennas
- Supply Voltage – 1.8 V ~ 3.6 V
- Power Consumption – 2.8 μA in sleep mode when ESP8284 is powered down
- Dimensions – 23 x 15 mm
- Temperature Range – -40°C to 85°C
Developers can develop custom firmware using RUI3 for STM32WL + ESP-IDF, or the Arduino IDE for ESP32-C2. Two sets of AT commands are provided to configure the STM32WLE5 LoRa settings and ESP8684 Wi-Fi and BLE settings, both via a shared UART interface.
The documentation website has more hardware details like pinout, power consumption, Rx sensitivity, and more, as well as instructions to get started and an AT command manual. The photo below was taken at Embedded World 2025, showing an early prototype of the RAK11160 module and the upcoming ESP32-S3 + SX126x-based RAK3112 module, alongside a large board with RAK3172 + ESP32 module.
| Feature / Model | RAK3172 | RAK11160 | RAK3112 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCU | STM32WLE5 | STM32WLE5 + ESP32-C2 | ESP32-S3 + SX1262 |
| Connectivity | LoRa / LoRaWAN | LoRa + WiFi + BLE | LoRa + WiFi + BLE |
| Architecture | Single MCU | Dual MCU (STM32WL controls ESP32 via EN) | Single MCU with higher processing power |
| Power Strategy | Ultra Low Power | STM32 handles LoRa, ESP32 fully powered off when idle | Low power supported; ESP32-S3 optimized sleep modes |
| Application Focus | Low-power LoRaWAN sensors | Battery-powered sensors with cloud sync via WiFi/BLE | High-performance IoT, mUI, Meshtastic, Edge AI |
| Storage | Up to 256 KB Flash (STM32) | 256 KB Flash + ESP32-C2 (1–2 MB Flash) | ESP32-S3 with 2 MB Flash (variant-dependent) |
| Development Platform | RUI3 SDK / AT Commands | RUI3 for STM32WL + ESP-IDF / Arduino for ESP32-C2 | ESP-IDF / Arduino / PlatformIO |
| Form Factor | 15 x 15.5 mm stamp pad | 15 mm x 23 mm x 3 mm stamp pad | 15 mm x 23 mm x 3 mm stamp pad |
The RAK11160 module can be purchased for $6.50 on the RAKwireless store and should soon be listed on AliExpress alongside the existing RAK3172 LoRa module that sells for $5.99 and up. That means users pay around 50 cents extra to get an ESP32-C2 WiFi and Bluetooth LE chip integrated into the module.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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