For proper operation the end state that meta-id needs to arrive at is to have it join your pre-existing wifi network as a pure station. However, in order to get there meta-id will start out as an access point and you'll have to join its network to configure it. The short version is:
ESP_012ABC
(some modules
use a different SSID form, such as ai-thinker-012ABC
)http://192.168.4.1/
${hostname}.local
hostname
(depends on your DHCP/DNS config)meta-id does not support STA+AP mode, however it does support STA mode and AP mode. What happens is that STA+AP mode is used at boot and when making STA changes to allow for recovery: the AP mode stays on for a while so you can connect to it and fix the STA mode. Once STA has connected, meta-id switches to STA-only mode. There is no setting to stay in STA+AP mode. So... if you want to use AP ensure you set meta-id to AP-only mode. If you want STA+AP mode you're gonna have to modify the source for yourself. (This stuff is painful to test and rather tricky, so don't expect the way it works to change.)
After you have serially flashed the module it will create a wifi access point (AP) with an
SSID of the form ESP_012ABC
where 012ABC is a piece of the module's MAC address.
Using a laptop, phone, or tablet connect to this SSID and then open a browser pointed at
http://192.168.4.1/, you should then see the meta-id web site.
Now configure the wifi. The desired configuration is for the meta-id to be a station on your local wifi network so you can communicate with it from all your computers.
To make this happen, navigate to the wifi page and you should see the meta-id scan for available networks. You should then see a list of detected networks on the web page and you can select yours. Enter a password if your network is secure (highly recommended...) and hit the connect button.
You should now see that the meta-id has connected to your network and it should show you its IP address. Write it down. You will then have to switch your laptop, phone, or tablet back to your network and then you can connect to the meta-id's IP address or, depending on your network's DHCP/DNS config you may be able to go to http://meta-id.local
At this point the meta-id will have switched to STA mode and be just a station on your
wifi network. These settings are stored in flash and thereby remembered through resets and
power cycles. They are also remembered when you flash new firmware. Only flashing blank.bin
via the serial port as indicated above will reset the wifi settings.
There is a fail-safe, which is that after a reset or a configuration change, if the meta-id
cannot connect to your network it will revert back to AP+STA mode after 15 seconds and thus
both present its ESP_012ABC
-style network and continue trying to reconnect to the requested network.
You can then connect to the meta-id's AP and reconfigure the station part.
One open issue (#28) is that meta-id cannot always display the IP address it is getting to the browser used to configure the ssid/password info. The problem is that the initial STA+AP mode may use channel 1 and you configure it to connect to an AP on channel 6. This requires the ESP8266's AP to also switch to channel 6 disconnecting you in the meantime.
You can set a hostname on the "home" page, this should be just the hostname and not a domain name, i.e., something like "test-module-1" and not "test-module-1.mydomain.com". This has a number of effects:
hostname.local
.hostname.local
work for everyone (as of v2.1.beta5 mDNS is disabled due
to reliability issues with it)You can also enter a description of up to 128 characters on the home page (bottom right). This allows you to leave a memo for yourself, such as "installed in basement to control the heating system". This descritpion is not used anywhere else.