How to make a simple ESP32 Wifi network scanner

In a previous article we looked at the Heltek WiFi Kit 32 – A look at an ESP32 board with a built in OLED display

The example would scan for networks and display them via the serial port, a better example would be to use the oled display on the board and display any detected networks on it

Parts List

You can pick one of these up for under $9 using the link below, a very good price for a board with these features

Code

You need to install the u8g2 library, the easiest way is using the library manager

Open Arduino IDE, then Select Sketch->Include Library->Manage Libraries... Search u8g2 and install it

Enter the following into the IDE

[codesyntax lang=”cpp”]

// Heltech WiFi Kit 32 Wifi Scanner

#include "WiFi.h"
#include <U8g2lib.h>

U8G2_SSD1306_128X64_NONAME_F_HW_I2C   u8g2(U8G2_R0, 16, 15, 4);

void setup()
{
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  // Initialize the graphics library.
  u8g2.begin();
  u8g2.setFont(u8g2_font_6x10_tf);
  u8g2.setFontRefHeightExtendedText();
  u8g2.setDrawColor(1);
  u8g2.setFontPosTop();
  u8g2.setFontDirection(0);
}

void  loop()
{ 
    int nNetworkCount = WiFi.scanNetworks();
    u8g2.clearBuffer();
    // Display networks.    
    if(nNetworkCount == 0) 
    {
        // No networks found.
        u8g2.drawStr(0, 0, "0 networks found.");
    } 
    else 
    {
        
        char    chBuffer[128];
        char    chEncryption[64];
        char    chRSSI[64];
        char    chSSID[64];
      
        sprintf(chBuffer, "%d networks found:", nNetworkCount);
        u8g2.drawStr(0, 0, chBuffer);

        for(int nNetwork = 0; nNetwork < nNetworkCount; nNetwork ++) 
        {
            // Obtain ssid for this network.
            WiFi.SSID(nNetwork).toCharArray(chSSID, 64);
            sprintf(chRSSI, "(%d)", WiFi.RSSI(nNetwork));
            sprintf(chEncryption, "%s", WiFi.encryptionType(nNetwork) == WIFI_AUTH_OPEN ? " ": "*");
            sprintf(chBuffer, "%d: %s %s %s", nNetwork + 1, chSSID, chRSSI, chEncryption);
            u8g2.drawStr(0, 8 + ((nNetwork + 1) * 8), chBuffer);
        }
    }

  u8g2.sendBuffer();
  delay(2000);
}

[/codesyntax]

Once this uploaded you should see any networks listed on the OLED