Okay with the wifi turned off and the planner turned up to 32 (instead of 16) I am getting above 90mm/s before there is any noticeable slowing and that is only at certain spots. It runs pretty much the same at 120mm/s. That buffer planner can go up to 120, wonder what would happen…
Now I know that part works I will mess with the wifi side a bit more. There seems to be a bug there though. It will freeze even with the buffer turned up.
Just to keep it clear, all the other uses are completely fine with wifi any other CNC related functions should be fine.
So in learning all this stuff. I was against anything other than AP (hotspot) mode. Turns out connecting it to your network is less resource intensive. Being wired, wifi off, is the least intensive. Learning a lot these days.
WINNING!!!
So most of the issues have to do with the direct connection to lightburn while any wifi is on. Easy fix $Wifi/Mode=off, it turns back on when you reboot.
The added memory helps a ton, wonder what the downside is?
So in AP mode I was getting well over 80mm/s before hesitation, and at 120mm/s it was still not horrible. So to be safe 70mm/s is solid with this amount of planner/memory (32).
I think this means it is a go!!!
15 more on order, and I need to get some more drivers.
When you have some of these available I would love to get my hands on one. My LR3 is printed and half assembled but I decided to NOT disassemble the MPCNC which is running Bart’s board. I want to run the LR3 on FluidNC as I have been happy as a clam running the MPCNC on it. Have been toying with the MKS TinyBee but honestly would rather have one of yours.
Please let me know when I can get a hold of one!
Right on!
I guess I will just add them to the store sometime today or tomorrow, and start an instructions page as well.
They will trickle in at first, and the first 100 are going to have a goofy fitting esp32, but things will get sorted out ASAP.
Cool! I will keep an eye out. Have to find the control case files and get them printed then!
Will there be an option to delete the ESP? I have been thinking I want the one with the external antenna.
I’m not sure yet, it’s added complexity in ordering and currently that is by far the most constructive criticism I get…too complicated to order.
Lol! 
On-board ESP with external antenna. Done. One option, LR or Primo machine definion.
I’m in!
One thing that didn’t occur to me is that the ESP32 isn’t in a great orientation for antenna performance, so I’d be prepared for disappointment, there. It’s a lot better to have the PCB antenna as far out into ‘free’ space’ as possible, or at least above an area of the board with no copper. That might inform the level of appetite for using the external antenna versions.
In the past, I’ve just let the USB connector come out in the middle of the board, but I was only ever using it for initial programming so a little bit of short-term goofiness is preferable given that the WiFi and BT performance was critically important for me.
Would you expect a large as possible PCB cutout under the ESP32 would meaningfully help with Wifi performance, and heat dissipation even? Requires shuffling some components, traces and ensuring no regressions in quality of signal traces.
It’s really tough to say, and my experience is really as a user of these things, not a designer. That frequency level devolves into what seems like witchcraft pretty quickly.
So I’d think not, sadly. The copper plane around the edge of that cutout basically makes a ‘shorted turn’, which is essentially a small, infinitely thin waveguide. 2.4GHz has a wavelength of 125mm so that opening may well be small enough that it appears as a very lossy conductive plane to the 2.4/5.8GHz carriers. Even if the slot were big enough, all the other conductive components around it are likely enough to upset things.
Turning the ESP32 around is probably a ‘decent’ approach. Or maybe I just start my campaign for the next version to not use a dev board and to mount the ESP32 castellated module directly…
Or just use the external for those that might wander more than 30 feet away or connect to the network.
I will do some more tests but the signal is good. Across the big garage with the tiny esp01 in AP mode on the skr there is no signal loss and it still shows more than half the signal through two walls to the far side of my house. that is installed on a skrpro with wires everywhere on the LR.
I am confident the esp32 has a better signal. I believe this to be a non issue, but we will see.
Cant wait to buy them all and scalp it on the forum …
Ok enough of jokes!!!
I want 3
Hopefully. It is definitely an issue, but likely dependent on orientation. What you’ll find is that it’s fine flat on the desk like you’re testing it now, but completely and utterly unworkable vertical or on its side if the AP it’s connecting to is ‘behind’ the PCB.
Something that can be worked around as long as people are aware of it.
I am referring to the esp01 that I have been running with the skrpro for a long while now. It is hooked up in a real world scenario and I can get quite far from it in AP through walls and doors and there is not an issue. I use that just about every other day for production. That board is directly over components and surrounded by wires, worst case scenario but most likely average for how most wire their machines.
I am pretty sure the esp32 has more power but if not I still don’t see it being an issue for the average user. Is there a more ideal way to gain a little more distance, sure, but at the same time a new $3.70 esp32 with an external antenna will solve it without reworking the entire board. I can offer them that way but I am also very confident there will be more issues with the antenna connection than the added distance an external will get you. I can offer both but I am hesitant to deal with the connector and added inventory.
I can try offering both but I just got reamed in the other thread for too many options. I just don’t see this to be a reason to rework the board to turn the esp and not be able to easily access the usb port, and adding the esp directly to the board means forcing the choice of internal or external. This way there is a very inexpensive option of swapping the version you want… That also adds the option of upgrading to future esp’s (there is an S3 now), if they are pin compatible.
Speaking of my own personal experiences with ESP32s. Likely in different orientations. I’m glad you’ve had luck in your orientation, but I can categorically say that having a PCB antenna above a board like that will see board shadowing.
Whether that’s an issue for people is up to their personal setups and how they orientate the board.
Power is only half the story because there’s also the receive path to consider. It may also be different in other countries with stricter power limits than the somewhat blase approach that the US takes. No amount of power is getting 2.4GHz through a solid copper plane 
In the past, we’ve seen 20-30dB increases in signal strength going from a built-in PCB antenna to an external whip, so I’m not sure why you’d expect more issues there? There’s definitely a loss in signal any time you have connectors and coax, but it’s not hard to do better than a PCB antenna because most are kinda appalling.
Also, in the years I’ve been watching all this stuff, by far the biggest issues people have with WiFi are speed and reliability, both of which are often the result of signal strength issues, especially in areas with significant spectrum congestion.
I definitely don’t see any issue with saying ‘just replace the ESP32 with an external antenna option’ if you want. I don’t see that there’s a need to offer both. It’s hardly a huge burden for someone to end up with a spare extra ESP32, they’re absurdly cheap. I’m just pointing out that it’s a compromised design as it stands. That’s your decision, of course, what you do with that information. An ESP32 on the board definitely locks it in one way or the other, but also in a way that makes the most of the on-board stuff if there wasn’t going to be an option.
People physically breaking them, not signal issues. It is a very small connection and in my experience very delicate. What about all the static we generate while we cut and vacuum? That is also an antenna to grab that. On the LR the hose will pass very close to the board.
One side is usually down, or mounted to the side of a table, or like my test aimed at the lowrider. Not having one side is not that big of a deal. The antenna side is always facing away from the structure. What sort of board box design will support lots of antenna orientations?
Fine I will offer an external antenna option and links to amazon and aliexpress options like always.
Choices have to be made and people should not be out of eyesight of any running CNC. Range is not my biggest concern, although I do feel through real world testing the range is fine. The other choice is how I choose to support this. The preferred way to connect, in the instructions. The way I will ask people to connect while troubleshooting. For me, that is going to be AP mode and direct USB. I have no interest in supporting home network connections. I will provide basic instructions and best practices on doing so but I will as always stress being close to your machine while running, and in this case using AP mode.
I guess the bottom line here, how I feel about this is you should never be more than 15 feet from a running machine. At 15 feet there is no signal loss. If your home network is in range more power to you, if not just use AP mode there is no functional difference. I am not understanding the desire not to be on AP mode? If you need internet while you are working on the same machine, switch networks, it is two clicks. Once my machine has started, I do not touch it again unless I am doing a tool change, and at that point I am not playing on the internet while I am waiting to do so. The other option is to be connected physically.
Option two is by the SKR bundle for more than double the cost and use the attached screen. I have always tried to offer two options.
