Lilygo Meshtastic and Captive portals

Using LilyGo devices to activate captive portals and Meshtastic nodes is a great idea! LilyGo devices, such as the T-Beam or T-Display, are popular for IoT projects due to their ESP32-based architecture, which supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LoRa capabilities. Below is a step-by-step guide to help you achieve your goal:

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### **1. Understand the Components**
– **Captive Portal**: A web page that users are redirected to when they connect to a Wi-Fi network. It’s often used for authentication or information sharing.
– **Meshtastic**: A project that uses LoRa to create a mesh network for communication without relying on traditional infrastructure like cellular networks or the internet.

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### **2. Hardware Setup**
– **LilyGo T-Beam**: Ideal for Meshtastic due to its built-in LoRa module and GPS.
– **LilyGo T-Display**: Great for captive portals due to its built-in display for user interaction.
– Ensure you have the necessary antennas (LoRa and GPS for T-Beam) and a power source.

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### **3. Software Setup**
#### **For Captive Portal**
1. **Install Arduino IDE or PlatformIO**:
– Download and install the Arduino IDE or PlatformIO (recommended for advanced projects).
– Add the ESP32 board package via the Board Manager.

2. **Install Required Libraries**:
– Install the `ESPAsyncWebServer` and `AsyncTCP` libraries for handling the captive portal.
– Use the `DNSServer` library to redirect users to the portal.

3. **Write the Captive Portal Code**:
– Create a Wi-Fi access point (AP) using the ESP32.
– Set up a DNS server to redirect all requests to your portal.
– Serve a simple HTML page for user interaction.

Example code snippet:
“`cpp
#include <WiFi.h>
#include <AsyncTCP.h>
#include <ESPAsyncWebServer.h>
#include <DNSServer.h>

const char* ssid = “LilyGo-Portal”;
const char* password = “12345678”;

DNSServer dnsServer;
AsyncWebServer server(80);

void setup() {
WiFi.softAP(ssid, password);
dnsServer.start(53, “*”, WiFi.softAPIP());

server.on(“/”, HTTP_GET, [](AsyncWebServerRequest *request){
request->send(200, “text/html”, “<h1>Welcome to LilyGo Captive Portal</h1>”);
});

server.begin();
}

void loop() {
dnsServer.processNextRequest();
}
“`

4. **Upload the Code**:
– Connect your LilyGo device to your computer via USB.
– Select the appropriate board (e.g., `LilyGo T-Beam` or `LilyGo T-Display`) and upload the code.

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#### **For Meshtastic**
1. **Install Meshtastic Firmware**:
– Download the Meshtastic firmware from the [official Meshtastic GitHub repository](https://github.com/meshtastic/Meshtastic-device).
– Use the Meshtastic Flasher tool to upload the firmware to your LilyGo T-Beam.

2. **Configure Meshtastic**:
– Use the Meshtastic app (Android/iOS) or the web interface to configure your node.
– Set up the LoRa frequency, encryption keys, and other parameters.

3. **Test the Mesh Network**:
– Deploy multiple nodes and ensure they can communicate with each other.

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### **4. Combine Captive Portal and Meshtastic**
– Use the LilyGo T-Beam for Meshtastic communication and the T-Display for the captive portal.
– Alternatively, if using a single device (e.g., T-Beam), you can alternate between Wi-Fi (for the portal) and LoRa (for Meshtastic) by switching modes in your code.

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### **5. Advanced Integration**
– Use the ESP32’s dual-core capabilities to run both Wi-Fi (captive portal) and LoRa (Meshtastic) simultaneously.
– Implement a user interface on the T-Display to show Meshtastic messages or portal status.

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### **6. Resources**
– [LilyGo GitHub Repositories](https://github.com/Xinyuan-LilyGO)
– [Meshtastic Documentation](https://meshtastic.org/docs/)
– [ESPAsyncWebServer Library](https://github.com/me-no-dev/ESPAsyncWebServer)
– [Arduino ESP32 Core](https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32)

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Let me know if you need help with specific code or configurations!