Wifi2LocationESP

A MicroPython-based firmware to collect MAC addresses of access points at specific locations, so you can generate your personal wifi location database.

You need some kind of mobile access point (iPhone/Android, VoCore, 4G router, etc.) to start a scan and an active internet uplink to get the current time via NTP (it will work without NTP but won't include correct timestamps).

This has been tested with ESP8266 board Tinchen made by @ubahnverleih, but it should work with any ESP8266 or ESP32 board, maybe even other MCUs. Please try and submit PRs ;-)

How do I use it?

preparing

1. flash your ESP with MicroPython
2. edit config.py to your needs
   • set AP_NAME/AP_PASS to the SSID and password of your hotspot
   • if your hotspot is slow to connect, increase the WIFI_CONNECT_TIMEOUT
3. copy main.py and config.py to your ESP, for example with rshell

on the road

1. enable your hotspot
2. power on the ESP
3. connect your phone or notebook to the hotspot
4. figure out the IP address of your ESP
   • with a router: there is probably a webinterface which lists all connected devices and their IP addresses
   • with an iOS or Android Device: use HE Network Tools, under ARP / NDP
   • with a notebook:
     • query your ARP table (Google: show arp table $yourOperatingSystem)
     • scan the network with nmap: nmap -sP ip.of.your.notebook/24
5. open http://ip.of.your.esp/SomeNameForYourScan in a browser/with curl/etc. - instructions how to stop are shown
6. the ESP will wake up every 3 seconds, scan for wifis and save them in a file - Caution: this requires a lot of power!

back home

1. copy the files from your ESP, for example with rshell