[GH-ISSUE #1525] ESP8266 Issue with using WM and painlessMesh together #1302

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opened 2026-02-28 01:29:29 +03:00 by kerem · 2 comments

kerem commented

2026-02-28 01:29:29 +03:00

Owner

Originally created by @wok1909 on GitHub (Nov 27, 2022).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/tzapu/WiFiManager/issues/1525

Basic Infos

Hardware

WiFimanager Branch/Release: Master

Esp8266/Esp32: Esp8266

Hardware: NodeMCU

Core Version: Don't know

Description

Problem description

I am currently trying to use WM and painlessMesh together.
The reason is, I want to make one NodeMCU to connect to both WiFi and Mesh and the rest of the NodeMCUs to be connected only in Mesh. The NodeMCU that is connected to both WiFi and Mesh will collect all the message from other NodeMCUs and send MQTT message through WiFi.

However, I am currently having a big trouble doing this. I have seen the previous issues with WM and painlessMesh using together and I also have checked that example of using both could be considered (https://github.com/tzapu/WiFiManager/issues/850#issuecomment-638220325). What I have tried didn't work and want to ask some help for solving this.

This is my code.

#include <DNSServer.h>
#include <ESP8266WebServer.h>
#include "WiFiManager.h"          //https://github.com/tzapu/WiFiManager
#include "EspMQTTClient.h"
#include "painlessMesh.h"

#define   MESH_PREFIX     "my_mesh"
#define   MESH_PASSWORD   "my_passwd"
#define   MESH_PORT       5555


// MQTT Client setting params
#define mqtt_broker "my_ip"
#define mqtt_id "my_id"
#define mqtt_pswd "my_passwd"
#define mqtt_user "mesh_test"

// MESH
Scheduler userScheduler; // to control your personal task
painlessMesh  mesh;

// MQTT Client params
EspMQTTClient *client = NULL;
String ssid;
String pswd;


// Needed for painless library
void receivedCallback( uint32_t from, String &msg ) {
  Serial.printf("Received from %u msg=%s\n", from, msg.c_str());
}

void newConnectionCallback(uint32_t nodeId) {
    Serial.printf("--> startHere: New Connection, nodeId = %u\n", nodeId);
}

void changedConnectionCallback() {
  Serial.printf("Changed connections\n");
}

void nodeTimeAdjustedCallback(int32_t offset) {
    Serial.printf("Adjusted time %u. Offset = %d\n", mesh.getNodeTime(),offset);
}

// Setting Up MQTT Client
void setup_mqttclient() {
  if(client != NULL) {
    delete client;
    client = NULL;
  }
    
  client = new EspMQTTClient(
          ssid.c_str(),
          pswd.c_str(),
          mqtt_broker,  // MQTT Broker server ip
          mqtt_id,   // Can be omitted if not needed
          mqtt_pswd,   // Can be omitted if not needed
          mqtt_user,     // Client name that uniquely identify your device
          1883              // The MQTT port, default to 1883. this line can be omitted
        );
}

// Wi-Fi Dynamically Connecting 
void wifiConnect(bool isReset) {
  WiFi.begin(ssid.c_str(), pswd.c_str(), 0, 0, true);
  WiFiManager wifiManager;

  if(isReset)
    wifiManager.resetSettings();

  bool res;
  res = wifiManager.autoConnect("esp8266 AutoConnectAP");  
 
  if(!res) {
      Serial.println("Failed to connect");
      // ESP.restart();
  } 
  else {
    // Wi-Fi Connected
    Serial.println(F("WIFIManager connected!"));
    
    ssid = wifiManager.getWiFiSSID();
    pswd = wifiManager.getWiFiPass();

    Serial.println(ssid);
    Serial.println(pswd); 

    setup_mqttclient();
  }
}

void onConnectionEstablished() {
  client->subscribe("iot/21600437", [](const String & payload) {
     Serial.println(payload);
  });

  client->publish("my_mesh/iphone", "Connection with ESP Success!");
  Serial.println("\nConnection with ESP Success!");
}

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(115200);
  
  

  mesh.setDebugMsgTypes( ERROR | STARTUP );  // set before init() so that you can see startup messages
  mesh.init( MESH_PREFIX, MESH_PASSWORD, &userScheduler, MESH_PORT );

  mesh.onReceive(&receivedCallback);
  mesh.onNewConnection(&newConnectionCallback);
  mesh.onChangedConnections(&changedConnectionCallback);
  mesh.onNodeTimeAdjusted(&nodeTimeAdjustedCallback);

  
  wifiConnect(true);
}

void loop()
{
    
}

This is a very simple test I wrote for checking if both WM and painlessMesh works.

The result I get after connecting to a WiFi using WifiManager is like this.
Here is my Serial Monitor result.

03:52:10.762 -> *wm:[2] NUM CLIENTS:  0
03:53:01.652 -> {l�l⸮⸮|�⸮d⸮|⸮d⸮c<ǃ⸮⸮{⸮c⸮b⸮⸮og⸮l'o⸮⸮⸮#p⸮⸮${l{$p⸮'⸮*wm:[1] resetSettings 
03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[1] SETTINGS ERASED 
03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[1] AutoConnect 
03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[2] Connecting as wifi client... 
03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[2] setSTAConfig static ip not set, skipping 
03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[1] No wifi saved, skipping 
03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[2] Connection result: WL_NO_SSID_AVAIL
03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[1] AutoConnect: FAILED 
03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[2] Starting Config Portal 
03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[2] Disabling STA 
03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[2] Enabling AP 
03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[1] StartAP with SSID:  esp8266 AutoConnectAP
03:53:03.605 -> *wm:[2] AP has anonymous access! 
03:53:04.114 -> *wm:[1] AP IP address: 10.21.199.1
03:53:04.114 -> *wm:[1] Starting Web Portal 
03:53:04.114 -> *wm:[2] HTTP server started 
03:53:04.149 -> *wm:[2] WiFi Scan ASYNC started 
03:53:04.149 -> *wm:[2] Config Portal Running, blocking, waiting for clients... 
03:53:06.298 -> *wm:[2] WiFi Scan ASYNC completed in 2187 ms
03:53:06.331 -> *wm:[2] WiFi Scan ASYNC found: 25
03:53:24.910 -> *wm:[2] <- Request redirected to captive portal 
03:53:25.022 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Root 
03:53:25.385 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 19059 ms ago
03:53:25.745 -> *wm:[2] <- Request redirected to captive portal 
03:53:25.783 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Root 
03:53:25.817 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 19497 ms ago
03:53:26.168 -> *wm:[2] <- Request redirected to captive portal 
03:53:26.204 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Root 
03:53:26.242 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 19899 ms ago
03:53:27.295 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Wifi 
03:53:27.295 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 20971 ms ago
03:53:27.295 -> *wm:[1] 25 networks found
03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -56 HAIL221-2G
03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -64 DIRECT-riC48x Series
03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -67 Hailers221
03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -81 Policylaw_center
03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -82 iptime
03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -83 DIRECT-x0C460 Series
03:53:27.367 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -86 fuzzer-wifi
03:53:27.367 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -86 kkim2.4G
03:53:27.367 -> *wm:[2] AP:  -91 RepetierServer
03:53:27.477 -> *wm:[2] <- Request redirected to captive portal 
03:53:27.477 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Root 
03:53:27.534 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 21188 ms ago
03:53:31.516 -> *wm:[2] NUM CLIENTS:  1
03:53:36.225 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP WiFi save  
03:53:36.474 -> *wm:[2] processing save 
03:53:38.253 -> *wm:[2] Connecting as wifi client... 
03:53:38.253 -> *wm:[2] setSTAConfig static ip not set, skipping 
03:53:38.253 -> *wm:[1] Connecting to NEW AP: DL-Lab 2G
03:53:38.360 -> *wm:[1] connectTimeout not set, ESP waitForConnectResult... 
03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[2] Connection result: WL_CONNECTED
03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[1] Connect to new AP [SUCCESS] 
03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[1] Got IP Address: 
03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[1] 192.168.0.2 
03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[2] shutdownConfigPortal 
03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[2] restoring usermode STA
03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[2] WiFi Reconnect, was idle 
03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[2] wifi status: WL_IDLE_STATUS
03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[2] wifi mode: STA
03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[2] configportal closed 
03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[1] config portal exiting 
03:53:43.030 -> WIFIManager connected!
03:53:43.030 -> SSID
03:53:43.030 -> PASSWD

What I expect to see is after connecting to the WiFi, it should reach to function onConnectionEstablished() and print out "Connection with MQTT Broker Success!" on my Serial monitor but nothing comes out even after minutes passed. Usually it should come up right away when painlessMesh is not implemented.

Is there anyway that I can use WM and painlessMesh together?

Originally created by @wok1909 on GitHub (Nov 27, 2022). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/tzapu/WiFiManager/issues/1525 ### Basic Infos #### Hardware WiFimanager Branch/Release: Master Esp8266/Esp32: Esp8266 Hardware: NodeMCU Core Version: Don't know ### Description Problem description I am currently trying to use WM and painlessMesh together. The reason is, I want to make one NodeMCU to connect to both WiFi and Mesh and the rest of the NodeMCUs to be connected only in Mesh. The NodeMCU that is connected to both WiFi and Mesh will collect all the message from other NodeMCUs and send MQTT message through WiFi. However, I am currently having a big trouble doing this. I have seen the previous issues with WM and painlessMesh using together and I also have checked that example of using both could be considered (https://github.com/tzapu/WiFiManager/issues/850#issuecomment-638220325). What I have tried didn't work and want to ask some help for solving this. This is my code. ```C++ #include <DNSServer.h> #include <ESP8266WebServer.h> #include "WiFiManager.h" //https://github.com/tzapu/WiFiManager #include "EspMQTTClient.h" #include "painlessMesh.h" #define MESH_PREFIX "my_mesh" #define MESH_PASSWORD "my_passwd" #define MESH_PORT 5555 // MQTT Client setting params #define mqtt_broker "my_ip" #define mqtt_id "my_id" #define mqtt_pswd "my_passwd" #define mqtt_user "mesh_test" // MESH Scheduler userScheduler; // to control your personal task painlessMesh mesh; // MQTT Client params EspMQTTClient *client = NULL; String ssid; String pswd; // Needed for painless library void receivedCallback( uint32_t from, String &msg ) { Serial.printf("Received from %u msg=%s\n", from, msg.c_str()); } void newConnectionCallback(uint32_t nodeId) { Serial.printf("--> startHere: New Connection, nodeId = %u\n", nodeId); } void changedConnectionCallback() { Serial.printf("Changed connections\n"); } void nodeTimeAdjustedCallback(int32_t offset) { Serial.printf("Adjusted time %u. Offset = %d\n", mesh.getNodeTime(),offset); } // Setting Up MQTT Client void setup_mqttclient() { if(client != NULL) { delete client; client = NULL; } client = new EspMQTTClient( ssid.c_str(), pswd.c_str(), mqtt_broker, // MQTT Broker server ip mqtt_id, // Can be omitted if not needed mqtt_pswd, // Can be omitted if not needed mqtt_user, // Client name that uniquely identify your device 1883 // The MQTT port, default to 1883. this line can be omitted ); } // Wi-Fi Dynamically Connecting void wifiConnect(bool isReset) { WiFi.begin(ssid.c_str(), pswd.c_str(), 0, 0, true); WiFiManager wifiManager; if(isReset) wifiManager.resetSettings(); bool res; res = wifiManager.autoConnect("esp8266 AutoConnectAP"); if(!res) { Serial.println("Failed to connect"); // ESP.restart(); } else { // Wi-Fi Connected Serial.println(F("WIFIManager connected!")); ssid = wifiManager.getWiFiSSID(); pswd = wifiManager.getWiFiPass(); Serial.println(ssid); Serial.println(pswd); setup_mqttclient(); } } void onConnectionEstablished() { client->subscribe("iot/21600437", [](const String & payload) { Serial.println(payload); }); client->publish("my_mesh/iphone", "Connection with ESP Success!"); Serial.println("\nConnection with ESP Success!"); } void setup() { Serial.begin(115200); mesh.setDebugMsgTypes( ERROR | STARTUP ); // set before init() so that you can see startup messages mesh.init( MESH_PREFIX, MESH_PASSWORD, &userScheduler, MESH_PORT ); mesh.onReceive(&receivedCallback); mesh.onNewConnection(&newConnectionCallback); mesh.onChangedConnections(&changedConnectionCallback); mesh.onNodeTimeAdjusted(&nodeTimeAdjustedCallback); wifiConnect(true); } void loop() { } ``` This is a very simple test I wrote for checking if both WM and painlessMesh works. The result I get after connecting to a WiFi using WifiManager is like this. Here is my Serial Monitor result. ``` 03:52:10.762 -> *wm:[2] NUM CLIENTS: 0 03:53:01.652 -> {l�l⸮⸮|�⸮d⸮|⸮d⸮c<ǃ⸮⸮{⸮c⸮b⸮⸮og⸮l'o⸮⸮⸮#p⸮⸮${l{$p⸮'⸮*wm:[1] resetSettings 03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[1] SETTINGS ERASED 03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[1] AutoConnect 03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[2] Connecting as wifi client... 03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[2] setSTAConfig static ip not set, skipping 03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[1] No wifi saved, skipping 03:53:03.096 -> *wm:[2] Connection result: WL_NO_SSID_AVAIL 03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[1] AutoConnect: FAILED 03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[2] Starting Config Portal 03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[2] Disabling STA 03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[2] Enabling AP 03:53:03.134 -> *wm:[1] StartAP with SSID: esp8266 AutoConnectAP 03:53:03.605 -> *wm:[2] AP has anonymous access! 03:53:04.114 -> *wm:[1] AP IP address: 10.21.199.1 03:53:04.114 -> *wm:[1] Starting Web Portal 03:53:04.114 -> *wm:[2] HTTP server started 03:53:04.149 -> *wm:[2] WiFi Scan ASYNC started 03:53:04.149 -> *wm:[2] Config Portal Running, blocking, waiting for clients... 03:53:06.298 -> *wm:[2] WiFi Scan ASYNC completed in 2187 ms 03:53:06.331 -> *wm:[2] WiFi Scan ASYNC found: 25 03:53:24.910 -> *wm:[2] <- Request redirected to captive portal 03:53:25.022 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Root 03:53:25.385 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 19059 ms ago 03:53:25.745 -> *wm:[2] <- Request redirected to captive portal 03:53:25.783 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Root 03:53:25.817 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 19497 ms ago 03:53:26.168 -> *wm:[2] <- Request redirected to captive portal 03:53:26.204 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Root 03:53:26.242 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 19899 ms ago 03:53:27.295 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Wifi 03:53:27.295 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 20971 ms ago 03:53:27.295 -> *wm:[1] 25 networks found 03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP: -56 HAIL221-2G 03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP: -64 DIRECT-riC48x Series 03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP: -67 Hailers221 03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP: -81 Policylaw_center 03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP: -82 iptime 03:53:27.329 -> *wm:[2] AP: -83 DIRECT-x0C460 Series 03:53:27.367 -> *wm:[2] AP: -86 fuzzer-wifi 03:53:27.367 -> *wm:[2] AP: -86 kkim2.4G 03:53:27.367 -> *wm:[2] AP: -91 RepetierServer 03:53:27.477 -> *wm:[2] <- Request redirected to captive portal 03:53:27.477 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP Root 03:53:27.534 -> *wm:[2] Scan is cached 21188 ms ago 03:53:31.516 -> *wm:[2] NUM CLIENTS: 1 03:53:36.225 -> *wm:[2] <- HTTP WiFi save 03:53:36.474 -> *wm:[2] processing save 03:53:38.253 -> *wm:[2] Connecting as wifi client... 03:53:38.253 -> *wm:[2] setSTAConfig static ip not set, skipping 03:53:38.253 -> *wm:[1] Connecting to NEW AP: DL-Lab 2G 03:53:38.360 -> *wm:[1] connectTimeout not set, ESP waitForConnectResult... 03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[2] Connection result: WL_CONNECTED 03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[1] Connect to new AP [SUCCESS] 03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[1] Got IP Address: 03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[1] 192.168.0.2 03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[2] shutdownConfigPortal 03:53:42.029 -> *wm:[2] restoring usermode STA 03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[2] WiFi Reconnect, was idle 03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[2] wifi status: WL_IDLE_STATUS 03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[2] wifi mode: STA 03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[2] configportal closed 03:53:43.030 -> *wm:[1] config portal exiting 03:53:43.030 -> WIFIManager connected! 03:53:43.030 -> SSID 03:53:43.030 -> PASSWD ``` What I expect to see is after connecting to the WiFi, it should reach to function onConnectionEstablished() and print out "Connection with MQTT Broker Success!" on my Serial monitor but nothing comes out even after minutes passed. Usually it should come up right away when painlessMesh is not implemented. Is there anyway that I can use WM and painlessMesh together?

kerem closed this issue

2026-02-28 01:29:29 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-02-28 01:29:29 +03:00

Author

Owner

@wok1909 commented on GitHub (Nov 28, 2022):

One solution that I have thought of is using WM only for getting the WiFi SSID and Password from user.
If WM can open HTML page to show user which WiFi is available to connect and read WiFi SSID and Password from user, I think I can just pass this info to MQTTClient and connect WiFi right through without using WM.

Will this be possible for only using WM to get WiFi SSID and Password?

@wok1909 commented on GitHub (Nov 28, 2022): One solution that I have thought of is using WM only for getting the WiFi SSID and Password from user. If WM can open HTML page to show user which WiFi is available to connect and read WiFi SSID and Password from user, I think I can just pass this info to MQTTClient and connect WiFi right through without using WM. Will this be possible for only using WM to get WiFi SSID and Password?

kerem commented

2026-02-28 01:29:29 +03:00

Author

Owner

@tablatronix commented on GitHub (Nov 28, 2022):

I would assume since you are managing wifi client yourself you should NOT be using a constructor that also does wifi negotiation. Why are you passing wifi credentials to espmqttclient?

@tablatronix commented on GitHub (Nov 28, 2022): I would assume since you are managing wifi client yourself you should NOT be using a constructor that also does wifi negotiation. Why are you passing wifi credentials to espmqttclient?