Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

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lumajo
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Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

#1 Post by lumajo » 07 Dec 2021, 15:14

I am using ESPEasy on numeric devices, but there is one Sonoff basic, pretty old hardware. I am using it with ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_normal_ESP8266_1M Nov 5 2021.
Now the problem is, that this devices is not reachable from time to time. When I switch differnet Tabs, it can happen it is not reachable anymore, I assume it is busy then and the Webserver will not work. it is still visible in my Network.
what I did so far:
deleting all remaining firmware with 0
reflashing
deleted the domoticz server and only stayed with MQTT
deleted all unnecessary devices.
but what else. There is nothing running, no sensor, its purely a switch to switch mains on off.
some 2 or 3 sonoff basics are still around my house mainly working with the very old ESPEasy releases R147 not mega at all.
Does anyone know this behaviour?
Any firmware I should flash with minimum MQTT available?

Many thanks

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Ath
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Re: Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

#2 Post by Ath » 07 Dec 2021, 15:24

Check the RSSI value on the unit, if it is rather low (negative, in the -78 to -85 range) it may need to be 'reminded' that there is a WiFi connection, and that can be achieved by:
- Turn Off the ECO mode
- Enable Periodical send Gratuitous ARP option
- Enable Force WiFi B/G option
- Set Max WiFi TX power to 17.50
- Turn Off Periodical Scan WiFi (if that is still available in that build, don't have that build online to check atm)

Start by changing 1 option at a time, and see if the response improves
/Ton (PayPal.me)

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Re: Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

#3 Post by TD-er » 07 Dec 2021, 15:40

There has been another user recently who reported his Sonoff Basic units started to fail one after the other.
So there might be a possibility that the power supply of those units now may become too unstable to handle a stable WiFi.

If this is a valid theory (until now it is just a theory, no proof yet), then the capacitors may have lost some of there capacitance and you might want to look at those.
Either they may look a bit bigger where the cap may no longer be flat anymore, or some brown stuff appears at the bottom.

But even without visible signs of defective capacitors they may gradually loose some of there capacitance.

lumajo
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Re: Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

#4 Post by lumajo » 07 Dec 2021, 21:52

Wifi Strength is -70 which is enough here. I am using S20 and S23 in the same location.
I tend to agree with TD-er as it is not my first Sonoff basic that dies.
They are pretty old, one of the first I bought couple of years ago.
It also needed a couple of attempts to get the firmware on it, and I did not understand why.

At that time I also used ESP01 with external Relais and Power Supply, those work very reliable in pretty rough environment (Garage ;-) .

As the hardware is pretty cheap and there are other solutions available, I will probably not dig much deeper into this except for curiosity.
Frankly using the ESP01 with a 4M chip makes it much more either in firmware update but also if one dies. Plug it out and exchange it to a new one. done.

thanks for the help I am testing if one of Ath proposals helps and give you feedback.

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Re: Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

#5 Post by TD-er » 07 Dec 2021, 22:38

You can also have a quick look at the capacitors to see if you see any obvious issues like bulged out caps, brown stuff, etc.

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ThomasB
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Re: Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

#6 Post by ThomasB » 08 Dec 2021, 01:29

Does anyone know this behaviour?
If the device is Sonoff Basic R2 V1.0 hardware, then yes it is known behavior when using ESPEasy. There has been valiant attempts (via both hardware and software) to solve it, but the problem still persists. My best advice is to replace the device with something else.

The issue isn't component aging. There is some mysterious issue with the hardware that is interacting with recent firmware builds. Probably related to board layout (i.e. EMI/RFI noise issue), but that is just my best guess.

BTW, the newer Sonoff Basics (EPS8285 chip version) work fine. So if that's what you have then your problem is a mystery to me.

- Thomas

lumajo
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Re: Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

#7 Post by lumajo » 08 Dec 2021, 08:33

@Thomas,
no its an old one with ESP8266.

btw with Periodical send Gratuitous ARP enabled, it looks a bit more stable, but I need to investigate in more detail.

I will give the new ones with ESP8285 a try. nice idea and thanks.
Joachim

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Re: Sonoff Basic overloadad? Webserver sometimes not reachable

#8 Post by TD-er » 08 Dec 2021, 08:38

An ESP8285 has its flash internal, so it cannot be upgraded to use more flash.
All ESP8285's I have seen have only 1M of flash, limiting you in upgrading it.
There is an ESP8285 with 2MB and no idea if Sonoff ever used it. If they did, then I guess that one is preferred.
But if they can save a 100th of a cent, they will, so I doubt they will ever use those 2M ESP8285's

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