Hi,
I am considering using ESP32 relays, and I am not sure if I should go for something similar to the below considering this does not have a USB port. The advantage in this is that no wiring is required once programmed with the correct WiFi details.
or else I go fan 8266 connected to a relay board, but considering I will use 8 channels there will be too much wires.
Any suggestions and experience?
You have all the pins up in the right corner for flashing.
Why do you need the USB?
most probably i am missing something … but how can I connect to my PC?
ftdi adapter - Sök på Google
Or I believe you can use a different ESP with USB connection in between. But I have never tried that method.
thanks … the adaptor is a good option too and it is cheap.
do I need soldering when using the FTDI adaptor?
No…
Not in this case.
The connection points on the specific board you added an image to is very simple to just use Dupont cables and put som pressure sideways to get good connection.
If it’s a board where the connectors are not inline like this then it can be hard to hold everything in place when also clicking on the computer.
If you never used an FTDI before then makes sure you get one that is both 3.3 and 5 volt capable, make sure you use the correct connection.
And cross the RX and TX. So RX → TX, TX → RX.
So as alternative you buy 2 Esp32 relay boards in your first image, solder the pins to them, and buy FTDI adapter to flash them?
I think you will spend 3x money and time to set them up compared connecting general Esp32 devboard to 8ch relay module with 10 Dupont wires.
thanks for the info!
Makes more sense, I still personally wouldn’t go that route.
At least be careful, if you fry the chip, you have a lot to solder…
or just replace the whole thing.
but do you have other suggestions?
I don’t see any reason to be scared of an FTDI adapter and the relayboard.
It will be fine.
The only problematic is that IO0 is in the middle and needs to be disconnected while flashing.
If I would be doing it then I would use both sides of the board.
One side I would connect the FTDI, and on the other side a male-male dupont between gnd and IO0.
That way it will be fairly easy disconnect the IO0 without interrupting the other connections.
No, just the old same one, Esp32 devboard and separate relay board.
There are also relay shields for generic Esp32 boards, but probably hard to source:
And if you are familiar with Shelly devices, they have new Shelly X line with 4ch relay board as well…
are you aware of a tutorial online?
what is the name of that board? I was looking for something exactly like that.
re Shelly, are you referring to this: https://www.shelly.com/products/shelly-i4-gen3
No that doesn’t have any relays, it’s just for buttons. The 4ch relay board is Shelly X mod1. If you are comfortable with esphome, I don’t even recommend it. But for someone not interested in flashing and coding yaml, it might be easy alternative.
ESP-Home has some documentations about this.
https://esphome.io/guides/physical_device_connection.html
If you are looking for a video then I suggest searching for videos flashing Tuya devices with cables.
The device is different but the method is the same.
Some videos are using a wireless solution but that is not the same.
I would not say I am comfortable with ESPHome 
but learned to use it and have 4 devices running (temp, humidity, motion, distance sensors). And in the past I programmed a small display too. I prefer to use ESPHome since I am accustomed to it.
thanks found some videos
