[mike2872]

Right now it is a requirement that the device running TOMMY (e.g. Home Assistant) and the ESP32 nodes are on the same network. The communication between the ESP32's are peer-to-peer without needing the router, but the data needed for analysis is sent from the sensors to TOMMY through the router.

[atmanactive]

What if all of the ESPs were ethernet? Would that work? Setting a separate SSID for their WiFi.

[mike2872]

Yes that would work. They don't need to be connected to the router on Wi-Fi, it can be ethernet too. The ESP's will connect with each other peer-to-peer.

[atmanactive]

Great news, thank you. Is such a scenario supported in the software currently?

[mike2872]

Yes, if I understand you correctly then it already works with that setup.

So you can have the ESP32s over ethernet and it still works as long as it's on the same network as TOMMY (Home Assistant Add-on or Docker). Only thing to keep in mind is that the ESP32s need to have Wi-Fi inbuilt with antenna (either PCB or external).

[atmanactive]

... and it is possible to configure a non existing SSID which would then be created as a separate mesh network (no access point), correct?

[mike2872]

You actually won't need to configure a SSID at all. The peer-to-peer communication is handled by the devices internally without any manual setup.