ESPectre
Choose your hardware
ESPectre supports six ESP32 chip families. This guide explains how to choose among them.
Supported chips
All chips below use the same detection pipeline. ESP32-S2 runs ESPHome, Native, and Streamer but not Matter; the other listed chips also have a Matter image.
| Chip | Practical notes |
|---|---|
| ESP32-C3 | Small, inexpensive, and widely available. A C3 devkit or super-mini board is a practical starting point. |
| ESP32-C6 | A practical 2.4 GHz option for a new installation. |
| ESP32-S3 | Offers additional compute headroom when the board will also do other work. Many S3 devkits expose an external antenna connector. |
| ESP32-S2 | A single-core Wi-Fi option with no Bluetooth radio. Use Improv Serial or the ESPHome fallback access point for provisioning; Matter is not available. |
| ESP32 (classic) | Widely available and well supported. Fine for reusing boards you already own. |
| ESP32-C5 | Dual-band capable. Native firmware defaults to 2.4 GHz and exposes 5 GHz or automatic band selection through Direct Configure; a changed band applies after restart. Detection quality on 5 GHz is not yet characterized. USB Wi-Fi provisioning in the flasher is not available yet on C5. |
What matters
- The antenna: an external antenna connector (U.FL/IPEX) lets you choose and position the antenna independently of the board. This can help when the enclosure, mounting position, or link distance makes the built-in PCB antenna difficult to place.
- The power supply: use a stable 5 V USB supply. If readings remain erratic in an otherwise good position, compare them with another power adapter.
- The placement: keep the sensor out of metal cabinets and, when the room allows it, start 3–8 m from the access point. The placement guide covers distance, orientation, obstacles, and room testing in detail.
- The USB cable: for flashing you need a data cable; for permanent installs any power-only cable is fine.
Shopping checklist
- A devkit-style board with native USB for one of the chips above (search for "chip name devkit").
- Optionally, a version with an external antenna connector plus a 2.4 GHz antenna.
- A known-good USB data cable and a decent 5 V power supply.
- No other sensors, shields, or modules: the Wi-Fi radio is the sensor.
Treat one board per room as a starting point, then test the actual coverage boundary. Every published firmware can operate alongside other ESPectre devices.