ESP8266 Node MCU board specifications and pins descriptions. Frequently asked questions related to WI-FI board esp8266 node MCU





NodeMCU is an IoT Module based on the ESP8266 wifi chip Module. NodeMCU uses the Lua Scripting language and is an open-source Internet resource (IoT) platform. This module has CH340g USB to TTL Converter IC on board.


The ESP8266 NodeMCU CP2102 board has ESP8266 which is a highly integrated chip designed for the needs of the new IoT-connected world. Provides a complete solution and contains a Wi-Fi network, allowing it to host an application or download all Wi-Fi communication activities from another app processor.


The ESP8266 has the ability to process and store capabilities allowing it to be integrated with sensors and other device-specific devices through its GPIOs with a few earlier improvements and fewer loading during operation. Its high level of chip integration allows for minimal external rotation, and the entire solution, including the front module, is designed to accommodate a small PCB area.


ESP8266 NodeMCU development board - a real plug-and-play solution for less expensive projects using WiFi. The module comes up first with the NodeMCU firmware so they are ready to go - just install your USB driver.


The ESP-12 Lua Nodemcu WIFI Development Board Internet Of Things board contains a complete ESP8266 WiFi module with all broken GPIO, a complete USB-serial interface, and power in a single packet of the breadboard.


The board is pre-loaded with NodeMCU - Lua-based firmware for ESP8266 that allows easy control with pure scripting language - Lua - so you're ready to go in just a few minutes.


ESP-12 Lua NodeMCU WIFI Dev Board Internet Of Things with ESP8266 is a very easy-to-use Wi-fi microcontroller + in one platform to build projects with WiFi and IoT-Internet of Things.


The board is based on the ESP8266 WiFi Module chip with the ESP-12 SMD footprint. The WiFi upgrade board has already installed on its board all the ESP8266 (ESP-12E) code for organizing and uploading the code. It has built-in USB serial chip upload codes, a 3.3V voltage regulator, and a logic level converter circuit so you can quickly download codes and connect your circuits.



If you are familiar with Arduino, using NodeMCU is the next step if you are looking for a compatible alternative, with WiFi. NodeMCU is based on ESP8266-12E WiFi System-On-Chip. Loaded with open source, Lua-based firmware. Getting started with NodeMCU is very easy.


Ideal for IoT Applications, and other wireless connectivity applications. This chip has a lot in common with Arduino - both of these microcontroller-armed prototyping boards can be configured using the Arduino IDE. ESP8266 is more recently released than Arduino and has stronger meanings. It has a 32-bit RISC processor clocked at 80MHz, as well as a RAM supply and supports up to 16 MB of external flash storage.


The device is especially useful for IoT applications, due to its small footprint and built-in WiFi support. ESP8266 Integrates 802.11b / g / n HT40 Wi-Fi transceiver, so it can only connect to a WiFi network and interact with the Internet. It can also set up its own network, allowing other devices to connect directly to it. There is a board controller that ensures very clean power on the MCU itself, as well as a push-button reset and USB connection to make it easier to connect to your computer. 


So we start with its power requirements. The operating voltage of ESP8266 is 3 to 3.3v. The NodeMCU board has produced an LDO voltage regulator that maintains a power level of 3.3v. In case it provides 600mA reliably.


Also Read
Node MCU ESP8266 interface with PIR Motion Sensor circuit diagram with code



Energy requirements:

Operating voltage: 2.5 to 3.3 v.

Onboard power control 3.3v 600mA

It currently operates 800mA



Switching Board and LED Indicator:

The ESP8266 comes with 2 switches one is reset and the other is a flash button, a reset button to use of course reset nodemcu and a flash button is used to download and use while updating firmware. 


The board is also built into the LED indicator connected to the D0 pin and can be adjustable.


Nodemcu installs the CP2102 USB-to-UART Bridge Controller, which helps to convert the USB signal to serial and allows your computer to configure and connect to the ESP8266 chip. It also has a connection speed of 4.5Mbps.


I / O pins 

The ESP6266 Nodemcu board comes with 17 GPIO, these anchors assign all kinds of structural functions like-

  • 10 bit ADC channel.
  • PWM output.
  • UART display.
  • SPI, I2C, I2S display: to connect all kinds of sensors and devices.
  • I2S: sound installation for your project.
  •  Due to the pin multiplexing feature of ESP8266 (multiple parameters multiplied by one GPIO pin). which means that one GPIO pin can work as a PWM / UART / SPI.


Esp8266 is a microchip in a QFN package with both TCP / IP suite capabilities and a microcontroller. Esp8266 brings a highly integrated WiFi solution that meets the Internet industry's needs for things like low cost, efficient power consumption, reliable performance, and integrated architecture. Manufactured by Espressif Systems in Shanghai, China.


The full power of the WiFi network can serve as a slave to the microcontroller manager or as a standalone application. When we say a host microcontroller host it means it can be used as a WiFi adapter on any microcontroller using SPI or UART interface. While used as a stand-alone device it can enable microcontroller and WiFi networking.


Esp8266 is based around the Tensilica L106 Diamond series which is a 32-bit processor and has on-chip SRAM. It also includes power modules, RF balun, RF receiver and transmitter, analog and transmitter-receiver, digital baseband, amplifier, filters, and other small components.



Details of ESP8266 NodeMCU Board


The Esp8266 specification is divided into three parts: Hardware, Software, and Wi-Fi. 

By Hardware specification, its package size is QFN 32pins with a size of 5mm x 5mm. Performance ratings range from 2.5V to 3.6V. The chip uses 80mA current on average. 

Its CPU is a Tensilica L106 32bit processor with on-chip SRAM.

The border interface contains UART, SDIO, SPI, I2C, I2S, IR remote control, GIPO's, ADC, PWM, LED Light, and buttons.


Its firmware can be updated using OTA and UART. It uses IPv4, TCP, UDP, and HTTP as network protocols. The user can configure to use pre-configured AT commands, Cloud Server, and run the mobile app.


Wi-Fi frequency ranges from 2.4G to 2.5G. It uses the Wi-Fi protocol IEEE 802.11 b / g / n. The power of Esp6266 Wi-Fi is guaranteed by the Wi-Fi Alliance.



ESP8266 NodeMCU Release:


1) Power Pins

There are four power pins namely- a VIN pin and three 3.3V pins. 

The VIN pin can be used to directly supply ESP8266 and its components if you have a controlled 5V voltage source.

The 3.3V pins are the output of the voltage board controller. These pins can be used to supply power to external parts.


2) GND- Ground

It is the ground pin of the ESP8266 NodeMCU development board.


3) I2C Pins

These are used to integrate all types of I2C sensors and parameters in the project. 

Both I2C Master and I2C Slave are supported. 

The performance of the I2C optical connector can be systematically detected, and the clock frequency is 100 kHz at maximum speed. It should be noted that the frequency of the I2C clock should be greater than the frequency of the slowest clock of the slave device.


4) GPIO Pins

The ESP8266 NodeMCU has 17 GPIO anchors that can be assigned to various functions such as I2C, I2S, UART, PWM, IR Remote Control, LED Light, and Button respectively. Each GPIO digitally-enabled can be adjusted to internal drag or drop or set to high intensity. When set as input, it can also be set to Edge-trigger or level-trigger to produce CPU interference.


5) ADC channel

NodeMCU is embedded 10-bit with SAR ADC accuracy. These two functions can be performed using the ADC viz. VDD3P3 pin power supply and TOUT pin power input. However, they cannot be used simultaneously.


6) UART 

The ESP8266 NodeMCU has 2 UART domains, namely UART0 and UART1, which offer different connections (RS232 and RS485), and can communicate up to 4.5 Mbps. UART0 pins (TXD0, RXD0, RST0 & CTS0) can be used for communication. Supports fluid control. However, the UART1 (TXD1 pin) includes a data transfer signal only, so it is used to print the log.


7) SPI Pins

ESP8266 incorporates two SPIs (SPI and HSPI) into slave and master modes.

These SPIs also support the following SPI features:

4-time modes for SPI format transfer

Up to 80 MHz with split clocks of 80 MHz

Up to 64-Byte FIFO


8) SDIO Pins

ESP8266 incorporates the Secure Digital Input / Output Interface (SDIO) which is used to connect directly to SD cards. 

4-bit 25 MHz SDIO v1.1 and 4-bit 50 MHz SDIO v2.0 are supported.


9) PWM Pins

The board has 4 Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) channels.

PWM output can be programmed and used to drive digital engines and LEDs. 

The frequency range of PWM ranges from 1000 μs to 10000 μs, eg between 100 Hz and 1 kHz.


10) Control Pins

These anchors are used to control ESP8266. 

These anchors include Chip Enable pin (EN), Reset pin (RST), and WAKE pin.


11) EN Pin(Enable)

The ESP8266 chip is enabled when the EN pin is pulled INSIDE. When pulled LOW the chip works at low power.


12) RST Pin(Reset)

The RST pin is used to reset the ESP8266 chip.


13) Wake Pin

The use of Wake pin is used to wake up the chip from a deep sleep.









Frequently asked questions on WI-FI board esp8266 Node MCU


1) What's nodemcu and the way it works?

Nodemcu is an open supply IoT platform. It includes firmware that runs on the esp8266 wireless soc from espressif structures, and hardware, that's primarily based on the esp-12 module. It's miles based at the elua undertaking and constructed on the espressif non-os sdk for esp8266. It makes use of many open supply initiatives, together with lua-cjson.


2) Nodemcu a microcontroller?

The nodemcu is an open-source software program and hardware improvement environment that is built around a very cheaper system-on-a-chip (soc) referred to as the esp8266. And, you have to software it in low-level gadget commands that may be interpreted by the chip hardware.


3) which is better arduino or nodemcu board?

In comparison to the arduino uno the nodemcu has an extra powerful processor than the arduino's atmega328, a 4mb flash plenty extra ram. It basically has almost the whole thing that an uno has to offer, plus tons greater. It has gpio, adc and pwm options than the uno board, but supports serial conversation protocols nicely.


4) How do i start nodemcu?

After installing the esp8266 boards, you can start writing code to your new nodemcu board. First, join the micro-usb cable to the nodemcu and plug-in the other facet of the cable to the laptop. Now, once more visit tools -> board -> esp8266 boards inside the arduino ide and select “nodemcu 1.0-12e module”.


6) What are the features of Nodemcu?

Nodemcu has 128 kb ram and 4mb of flash memory to save records and programs. Its excessive processing electricity with in-constructed wi-fi and deep sleep operating capabilities make it best for IoT initiatives. Nodemcu may be powered by the use of a micro USB jack and vin pin . It supports uart, spi, and i2c interface.


7) How many gpio pins does nodemcu has?

17 gpio pins

Esp8266 nodemcu has 17 gpio pins which may be assigned to numerous features inclusive of i2c, i2s, uart, pwm, led light and button programmatically.


8) What's the distinction between nodemcu and esp8266?

Some improvement boards use basic esp8266 modules and some combine the chip, flash memory and the antenna at the PCB. Nodemcu is an improvement board with esp8266 and firmware with the same name. 


9) Can nodemcu replace arduino?

Well, the answer of the query "can it update arduino" - yes, in many instances it is able to.


10) How do i connect nodemcu to my laptop? How do I try my first program on nodemcu board?

Step 1: open the example blink program from the "instance for nodemcu 1.0" phase inside the instance example menu

Step 2: join the nodemcu along with your computer using the micro USB cable. 

Step3: select board and port and add this system, this is it, now the built-in led needs to start blinking.


11 ) Which is better raspberry pi or nodemcu?

Both the systems have their personal execs and cons, and depending on what the consumer prioritizes- speed, electricity consumption, or ease of connectivity, any of them can be used. The raspberry pi is better at 'speakme' to the web, at the same time as the arduino and nodemcu are higher at 'real time' applications.


12) What is cause of addng rx and tx pin in nodemcu board?

2 pins out of 11 are commonly reserved for rx and tx as a way to talk with a bunch pc from which compiled object code is downloaded.


13) Why my nodemcu isn't running?

It way this type of two things: hassle 1 – your esp isn't always in flash mode (double-check if gpio 0 is hooked up to gnd on power up)

Trouble 2 – your FTDI programmer can not supply enough modern-day in your esp.


14) Does nodemcu have 5v output?

Nodemcu 1.0 and 1.1

The Vin pin is not at once related to the USB's 5v deliver (as a minimum at the 3v board). This indicates the pin can't be used as a 5v deliver output. You can't manipulate that voltage. It's far usually on, and usually 5v (or something your USB port occurs to provide - 4.75v - 5.25v).


15) What does the flash button on Nodemcu do?

The flash button on esp8266 nodemcu is connected between io 0 and ground(GND) you may use it as a button. Set pinmode(0, input_pullup) and you may read io 0 low if the button is pressed.


16) What number of analog pins are in Nodemcu?

Only 1 analog pin(A0). However, you may increase the range of analog inputs with an analog multiplexer.


17) Does nodemcu have i2c support?

Nodemcu has i2c functionality support on its gpio pins.


18) How can I software program on nodemcu with python?

To start the use of nodemcu with zerynth studio-Zerynth is a software implementation of the Python programming language for programming microcontrollers. It targets 32-bit microcontroller platforms and is designed to mix Python with C code. It connects the microcontrollers to the Cloud for developing Internet of Things products., you need to update the zerynth fashionable forums package deal, where you can locate all of the modules needed. Then you may flash the zerynth virtual system into the board. There's no need to run creepy scripts or to copy/paste code from here and there inside the net.


19) How do I use Nodemcu gpio pins?

Initialize pin to gpio mode, set the pin in/out path, and optional internal weak pull-up. Study virtual gpio pin value. Serialize output is based totally on a chain of delay instances in µs. Establish or clear a callback function to run on interrupt for a pin.


20) How do I join a Nodemcu to relay module?

  • Attach nodemcu board on breadboard.
  • Join vcc of the relay with pin 3.3v of nodemcu.
  • Join gnd of the relay with gnd of nodemcu.
  • Connect pin signal of the relay with any pin gpio of nodemcu or which is added in program.
  • Join one terminal of bulb (blue wire) with pin NC (generally close) of the relay.


21) How do I activate or power nodemcu without a USB?

You can use +5v usb cellphone charger, and you are equipped to head! If your energy deliver is 5v, join it to vin and and gnd pins. In case your power deliver is 3.3v, join it to three.3v and gnd pins.


22) How do you power a nodemcu with a 9-volt battery?

With a 9v block battery, you may use the vin pin of the esp8266 nodemcu, that is internal connected with the 3.3v ams1117 voltage regulator and therefore you want no external components.


23) How much power consume by esp8266 nodemcu board?

From the datasheet, we discover nominal voltage of the esp8266 is 3.3v. The minimum voltage for stable operation is 2.5v and the most allowable restrict is 3.6v. So for properly jogging an esp8266 device, the battery voltage has to be within 2.5 to 3.6v. An esp8266 chip can draw maximum 170ma current.


24) How long does it take to flash nodemcu?

Every so often the flash write completes right away (in less than 10 seconds)or some few minutes.


25) How do I can getting 5v in nodemcu?

To control the 5v sensor with the assist of gpios pins on nodemcu you may want a logic shifter related to your sensor and gpio pin thats raise the 3v3 to 5v.


26) Am I able to power nodemcu with 12v?

Simply find yourself a small 12v->5v dc converter. I suppose nodemcu has an ams1117 linear regulator at the same time as it could receive 12v doing so might exceed the max power dissipation of it disposing of all of the extra voltage as heat.\ and may damage the on Board IC Chip.


27) How do you connect nodemcu analog sensor?

Join the gnd pin to the Ground(gnd) pin at the nodemcu. Join the analog pin to the a0 pin on the nodemcu. Connect nodemcu to pc through a usb cable. After you finished with wiring connections, then upload the code on board and see the result on the serial monitor or on your sensor module. 


28) Does nodemcu have analog input?

A nodemcu has 10 bit adc because of this it scales an analog sign in a variety of 0 to 1023.


29) How many i2c gadgets may be connected to nodemcu?

"you've got a 7-bit cope with. That means you could deal with up to 127 slaves."


30) Does nodemcu assist python?

Yes, you get all of the basic capability of python3 on nodemcu.


31) Are gpio pins analog or digital?

All 17 of its gpio pins are digital. They can output high and low levels or study high ranges. This is exceptional for sensors that provide a digital enter to the pi but now not so first rate in case you want to use analog sensors.


32) How many relay may be connected to nodemcu?

1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 channels relay modules can connect to nodemcu board.

The wide variety of channels determines the variety of outputs we're going to be capable of manipulate. There are relay modules whose electromagnet can be powered by way of 5v and with 3.3volts. Both may be used with the esp8266 – you could both use the vin pin (that gives 5v) or the 3.3v pin.


33) Does wifi go through walls?

In ideal, wi-fi indicators are able to pass through partitions and other limitations highly without problems. However, in truth, a few partitions are thicker or use bolstered concrete and can block a number of the signals. Materials that include drywall, plywood, other forms of wood and glass may be without difficulty penetrated with the aid of wireless signals.


34) How do I connect my nodemcu power deliver to board?

Strength to the esp8266 nodemcu is provided via the onboard micro USB connector. As a substitute, if you have a regulated 5v voltage supply, the vin pin may be used to directly supply the esp8266 and its peripherals.


35) Does nodemcu have a voltage regulator?

The nodemcu board has in-built voltage regulator which keeps the voltage stage at 3.3v.


36) How do I connect a nodemcu and temperature sensor?

The circuit connections are made as follows:

  • Pin 1 of the DHT11 Temperature sensor is going into +3v of the nodemcu.
  • Pin 2 of the DHT11 Temperature sensor is going into analog pin a0 of the nodemcu.
  • Pin 3 of the DHT11 Temperature sensor goes into GND pin (gnd) of the nodemcu.


37) Can nodemcu act as a hotspot?

You may use wifi with the nodemcu (esp8266) even without a wifi router. All you want to do is create a nodemcu wifi access factor and the tool will now act as a wifi gateway.





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