wifi News - Page 47 of 97 - CNX Software

April 3, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Intel Launches WiFi 6 AX200 M.2 Wireless Card

WiFi 6 (aka 802.11ax) can deliver up to 10 Gbps in theory, and provides better handling of high density scenario in train stations, conferences, etc… We’ve seen it implemented in some routers and smartphones, but most laptops don’t support the new WiFi standard, so in order to solve this little issue, Intel has now launched AX200 M.2 WiFi 6 card in the M.2 2230 and M.2 1216 form-factors. Intel AX200 works in the 2.4GHz band up to 574 Mbps, and in the 5.0 GHz band up to 2.4 Gbps. The “Cyclone Peak” card works with both USB and PCIe signals, support 2×2 MU-MIMO, and also supports Bluetooth 5.0. Drivers are/will be available for Windows 10 64-bit, Google Chrome OS, and Linux via the “IWLWIFI” driver. Pricing for the cards is said to be $10 and $17, but I could not find it listed anywhere just yet. A few more details […]

March 30, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ReButton WiFi Button Features MXCHIP EMW3166 Module

We’ve previously covered WiFi buttons based on ESP8266 processor, but Seeed Studio has just launched ReButton “developer device” that serves the same purpose but features STM32 based MXCHIP EMW3166 WiFi module instead, exposes one I2C grove connector, and is preloaded with sample firmware that triggers Azure IoT Central or Azure IoT Hub. ReButton hardware specifications: MCU module – MXCHIP EMW3166 module including STM32F412 Arm Cortex M4F MCU @ 100 MHz with 256KB SRAM, 1MB+2MB SPI Flash, and Cypress BCM43362 WiFi chip Input – 1x Push button Output – 1x RGB LED Extension – 1x I2C Grove connector (3.3V I/O) Debugging – 1x SWD pads, 1x UART for debugging Misc – 1x Jumper switch Power supply 2x AAA Alkaline batteries (LR03) Internal supply voltage – 3.3V Dimensions – 70 x 70 x 25mm The ReButton comes preloaded with an Arduino sketch that handle key presses and send a trigger to Azure […]

March 24, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

ESP-WROOM-5C is a Side-Mounted ESP8285 WiFi Module

You’d think by now we’d have enough ESP8266 or ESP8285 WiFi modules, but based on an FCC listing, we now know that Espressif Systems has been working on another ESP8285 WiFi module – ESP-WROOM-5C – designed to be side-mounted. ESP-WROOM-5C specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP8285 Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 @ 2412 MHz ~2462 MHz; Station/SoftAP/SoftAP + Station modes WPA/WPA2 security with EP/TKIP/AES encryption PCB antenna Peripheral interface I2C/IR Remote Control GPIO/PWM Operating voltage – 2.7V ~ 3.6V Operating current – Average: 80 mA Minimum current delivered by power supply – 500 mA Dimensions – 19 x 16 x 3.2 mm Temperature Range – -40°C ~ 105°C Reliability Tests – HTOL/HTSL/uHAST/TCT/ESD The module supports firmware upgrade over UART or OTA (Over-The-Air). Software development can be done with the IDF SDK for custom firmware, but “Cloud Server development” is also possible, and an Android/iOS app can be provided for user […]

March 20, 2019March 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

MT3620 Mini Dev Board is a Cheaper Microsoft Azure Sphere Board

Announced nearly one year ago, Microsoft Azure Sphere is an ecosystem comprised of Azure MCUs with Microsoft Pluton Security System, Linux based Azure Sphere OS, and a secure cloud service called Azure Sphere Security Service. The first official Azure development board – MT3620 Development Board for Azure Sphere – was launched last year for $84.95. The kit may not have attracted a large number of developers, so there’s now a cheaper version – MT3620 Mini Dev board – going for $34.90 on Seeed Studio. Note that’s a pre-order and shipping is scheduled for May 13, 2019. MT3620 Mini dev board specifications: CPU Module – AI-Link WF-M620-RSA1 module with Mediatek MT3620AN single core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ 500 MHz with 4MB SRAM, dual core Arm Cortex-M4F real-time core @ 200 MHz with 64KB RAM, Pluton security sub-system, and WiFi. Storage – 2x 8MB dual channel quad SPI (TBC) Connectivity – Dual band […]

February 16, 2019May 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Xiaomi Mi A2 Review with Android 9.0 Pie

I had been using Xiaomi Mi A1 Android One smartphone since the end of 2017, and was mostly satisfied with it thanks to regular (monthly) firmware update, although I was a bit disappointed by the camera overtime. Eventually I had a serious issue with Mi A1’s eMMC flash, and stopped using it at the end of last year, or roughly after one year of service, since the phone became unusable, unbearably slow. Xiaomi Mi A2 and A2 Lite where released last summer, and having seen Mi A2 was getting an Android 9.0 firmware in Q4 2018, I asked GearBest whether they could send a sample to review the latest Xiaomi Android One phone. They accepted, and I posted the first part of the review in early December. However, at this time, I did not get the update, since it was not released in Thailand, but soon enough Xiaomi Mi A2 […]

February 6, 2019April 15, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Novasom SBC-U1 is a Tiny Industrial grade ESP32 Single Board Computer

Novasom Industries is an international company specializing in SBCs (Single Board Computers) with offices in Romania and the US. Most of their products are based on Arm and Intel processors, and they have two product lines their U-Line for low power IoT devices, and M-Line for applications requiring multimedia processing with various Rockchip, Qualcomm, and Intel processors. One model in the U-Line caught my attention, as beside an NXP i.MX6ULL SBC, the company is also offering an industrial temperature grade ESP32 SBC named SBC-U1 / SBC-U1A. SBC-U1/SBC-U1A board specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32 dual core Tensilica LX6 processor @ 240 MHz, 384KB RAM Storage – 4MB flash, micro SD card slot up to 32GB Connectivity – 802.11 b/n/g WiFi 4, Bluetooth 4.1 LE I/Os – 24-pin 2.54mm pitch header with up to 15 GPIO @ 3.3V, I2C, SPI, 2-ch 12-bit ADC, 2-ch 10-bit DAC, 2x protected inputs up to […]

January 30, 2019January 31, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

MXCHIP EMW3060 WiFi IoT module sells for less than $2

Over the last few years, we’ve seen several Arm based WiFi IoT modules trying to compete with Tensilica based ESP8266 including Pine64 PADI IoT Stamp and Air602 WiFi IoT modules with similar functionalities and price (around $2) as the Espressif modules. I have not seen many projects with any of those Arm based wireless modules, likely because Espressif Systems software ecosystem is mature, and it’s hard to compete for new entrants. Nevertheless there’s a new Arm WiFi IoT module, not based on Cortex-M core, but instead, MXCHIP EMW3060 is equipped with an older ARM9 core, 256KB RAM, and 2MB flash, and sells for just $1.79 on Seeed Studio in single quantity. The price further drops to $1.55 per unit if you order 50 pieces or more. MXCHIP EMW3060 WiFi IoT module specifications: SoC ARM9 core clocked at 120 MHz System Memory – 256KB SRAM Storage – 2MB flash Connectivity – […]

January 12, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

tinyWiFi-5G is a NanoPi NEO Air Clone with 5 GHz WiFi

NanoPi NEO Air is a tiny Allwinner H3 board with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi connectivity that launched in 2016 for $17.99 and is now available as NanoPi NEO Air-LTS (Long Term Support) for $28 and up. A company – or group of software developers – called tinyDebian decided to create a clone based on NanoPi NEO Air design, but replacing the 2.4 GHz Ampak AP6212 802.11n WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0 LE module by a dual-band Realtek RTL8821CS module that supports 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.2 LE. Meet tinyWiFi-5G. NanoPi NEO Air comes with two different storage configuration (8GB or 32GB flash), but tinyDebian did not provide the full specifications of the board, so tinyWiFi-5G board specifications below are preliminary: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad-core Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC Flash + micro SD card slot Connectivity […]